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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This is a response to Applicant’s communication filed on February 27, 2026. Application No. 17/821,007, filed August 19, 2022, is a U.S. Nonprovisional application, which claims foreign priority to European Patent Office application No. EP21192451.9, filed August 20, 2021. Claims 1-4 and 10-16 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention. Claim 7 is withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species. Claims 5, 6, 8 and 9 are examined below.
Election/Restrictions
Please note that upon finding allowable subject matter in the elected invention of Group II, the nonelected inventions of Groups I and III (claims 1-4 and 11) are not subject to rejoinder as these claims are not limited by the elected invention of Group II (i.e., the cyanine dyes of claims 5-9). In order to advance prosecution of the application to allowance, it is suggested that Applicant cancel claims 1-4 and 11 in response to this office action.
Rejection Maintained
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102(a)(1)
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.
The rejection of claims 5, 6, 8, and 9 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Vazquez Vazquez et al., EP3,572,468 (publ’d November. 27, 2019) (cited on the November 22, 2022, IDS) is maintained for reasons made of record. Applicant amended formula (I) of claim 5 so that “n” is limited to 1 or 2 from 1 to 3. The elected species reads on formula (I), where n is 2. Vazquez Vazquez discloses the elected species 6-TramTO-3, as follows:
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(Vazquez Vazquez et al., EP ‘468, p. 12, para. [0057].)
Conclusion
No claims are allowed.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TIMOTHY R ROZOF whose telephone number is (571)270-5992. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:00 a.m. -5:00 p.m..
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.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Andrew Kosar can be reached at (571) 272-0913. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TIMOTHY R ROZOF/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1625
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