DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
Applicant's claim of priority under 35 U.S.C.§371 as a national stage entry of PCT/US2021/013262 filed Jan. 13, 2021, and which claims priority to provisional application 62/960,513 filed Jan. 13, 2020, is hereby acknowledged.
Election/Restriction
Applicant’s election, without traverse, of Group I (claims 1-4, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26,30 and 31) in the reply filed on Nov. 7, 2025, to the restriction requirement dated Sept. 24, 2025, is hereby acknowledged.
Accordingly, claims 1-4, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26, 30 and 31 have been examined in the instant Office action whereas claims 5, 8-12, 36, 44 and 45 have been withdrawn from consideration as drawn to a nonelected invention but remains pending with the present application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-4, 20, 21, 24, 26, 30 and 31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §§102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as anticipated by Enayati (“One-Pot Synthesis of Cross-Linked Polymer Networks as a Hydrophilic Super-Adsorbent for Efficient Recovery of Heparin” by Mojtaba Enayati et al., ACS April Polym. Mater. 2019, I, pages 230-238 Department of Food Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States). This article was cited by Applicant in its Information Disclosure Statement filed July 12, 2022.
Enayati discloses a crosslinked polymer compound that serves as a super-absorbent to enhance recovery of heparin, which is based on a polymeric network containing a crosslinked acrylamide compound core (present Formula I, polymerizable compound) that acts as a solid/water swellable support, and (3-acrylamidopropyl)-trimethylammonium chloride (APTMAC)/bis-acrylamide (present Formula II/polymerizable compound) as the heparin adsorbent-binder, wherein the compound is polymerized mostly on the surface of the cross-linked but still growing acrylamide prepolymer network (Abstract; pages 230-232; Scheme 2; Table 1 of Enayati; particularly, cyclic compound depicted in Scheme 2; present claims 1, 4, 20 and 21). In the experimental section, Enayati discloses the polymerized compounds formed from Scheme 2 as absorbent beads (Scheme II; pages 232-233; present claims 2 and 3).
Enayati further discloses that beads can have size of between 400 and 800 microns (page 233, col. 1, third full paragraph; present claims 30 and 31). Moreover, samples of its beads described in the experimental section are formed from an 85:15 weight ratio of acrylamide to bis-acrylamide monomers (page 236, second full paragraph). Thus, the second monomer is present within the 5 to 75 percent by weight as recited in dependent claim 24.
Thus, the instant claims are anticipated by Enayati.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim 23 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. §103 as unpatentable over Enayati
Enayati was discussed above in the instant action.
However, although Enayati discloses beads wherein the acrylamide monomer is present in an amount of 85 percent by weight, it does not disclose a sample of its beads wherein the first monomer (acrylamide) is present between 5 and 75 percent/ratio as recited in present dependent claim 23.
However, it would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art to optimize the molar/weight ratios of the various monomers having the ratio recited in present claim 23, in accordance with a preferred/optimal efficiency of heparin recovery. See In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456 (CCPA 1955) ("where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation" (citations omitted); Pfizer, Inc. v. Apotex, Inc., 480 F.3d 1348, 1368 (Fed. Cir. 2007). Generally, differences in size or in weight/volume ranges will not support the patentability of subject matter encompassed by the prior art unless there is evidence indicating such ranges is critical1955). See also, In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980); In re Hoeschele, 406 F.2d 1403, 160 USPQ 809 (CCPA 1969).
Thus, present claim 23 is unpatentable over Enayati.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN J FIGUEROA whose telephone number is (571)272-8916. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:30 am -6:00 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, JOSEPH DEL SOLE can be reached on 571-272-1130. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOHN J FIGUEROA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1763
February 21, 2026
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