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 .
Election/Restriction
Applicant’s election, without traverse, of Group I (claims 1-9 and 14-19) in the reply filed on Nov. 18, 2025, to the restriction requirement dated Sept. 9, 2025, is hereby acknowledged. The election of the species “octacalcium phosphate” is also acknowledged.
The claims drawn to the elected species (octa-calcium phosphate) have been searched and are deemed allowable. The species “hydroxyapatite calcium” has subsequently been searched and claims 3 and 6 have been rejoined.
Accordingly, claims 1-3, 5-9, 14-16, 18 and 19 have been examined in the instant Office action. Claims 10-13 and 20-31 have been withdrawn from consideration as drawn to a non-elected invention, whereas claims 4 and 17 have been withdrawn as drawn to a non-elected invention, however, the withdrawn claims remain pending in the present application.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.
Claims 1, 3, 5-9, 14, 16, 18 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §102(a)(1) as anticipated by Mawatari (US 2017/0119932 A1 to Mawatari et al., published May 4, 2017).
Mawatari discloses a bioimplant, and a method of making thereof, that is capable of inhibiting biofilm formation over a long period of time after an operation, wherein the bioimplant comprises a base material of metal, ceramic, or plastic and a thermal spraying film of a calcium phosphate-based material formed at least partially thereon and wherein the silver concentration in the thermal-spray film is 0.05 to 3.00 percent by weight (abstract; [0003]; [0007]; [0012] of Mawatari). The bioimplant comprises the base material and a thermal spraying film made of a calcium phosphate-based material formed thereon, wherein the calcium phosphate-based material is preferably a compound or a mixture of two or more compounds selected from hydroxyapatite, α-tricalcium phosphate, β-tricalcium phosphate, and tetra-calcium phosphate ([0013]; [0014]; claims 1-3, 6 and 7 of Mawatari).
Mawatari discloses its method of making the bioimplant includes controlling the rate of releasing of an antibacterial or antimicrobial agent by adjusting the evanescence speed of hydroxy-apatite and the crystallinity of the coating layer of calcium phosphate-based material, which contains fine crystals of calcium phosphate and silver ions ([0008]; [0024] to [0027]). Mawatari discloses samples of a bioimplant sprayed with a film/coating containing the calcium-based material and silver ions ([0026]; [0027]; [0030] to [0035]; Table 1; Experiments 1-3 of Mawatari).
Thus, the instant claims are anticipated by Mawatari.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2 and 15 are objected to as dependent upon rejected base claim 1 but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Mawatari does not teach or suggest preparing/using a biofilm containing octa-calcium (elected species) as recited in dependent claims 2 and 15.
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. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JOHN J FIGUEROA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1763
March 15, 2026