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 .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Response to Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I claims 1-17 in the reply filed on 09/02/2025 is acknowledged.
Per conversion with applicant’s representative Mrs. Tanyu Wang on 10/13/2025, applicant further elected the species of 4a as the gold (I) complex recited in the instant claim 12.
Claims 1-8 and 11-17 are readable on the elected species. Claims 9-10 and 18-20 are withdrawn from consideration.
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 1-8, 11 and 13-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Che et al. (J. Chem. Soc., Dalton Trans., 1990, 3215, applicants submitted in IDS).
Regarding claim 1, Che et al. teach gold complex [Au2(Ph2CH2PPh2)]2+2(PF6-) (page 3215) which corresponds to the instant claimed gold (I) complex having the formula I, wherein X1-X4=P, Cy1-Cy8=Ph, L1-L2=CH2, m=2, n=2, A’=PF6, R1-R8=H, n1-8=0, Z1, Z2 and Z3 are absent.
Regarding claims 2-8, 11 as discussed above, the gold complex taught by Che et al. corresponds to the instant claimed gold (I) complex having the formula Ic or Formula IIc, wherein X1-X4=P, Cy1-Cy8=Ph, L1-L2=CH2, m=2, n=2, R9-12=H, A’=PF6, R1-R8=H, n9=1, n1-8=0, Z1, Z2 and Z3 are absent.
Regarding claims 13-17, since the combined reference of Che et al. teach the instant claimed gold(I) complex, the physical properties of the gold(I) complex (i.e. absorbs light at a wavelength of up to 520 nm, extinction coefficient, a radiative decay rate, diffusion-corrected bimolecular quenching rate constant, a reduction potential, etc.) would necessarily follow as set forth in MPEP 2112.01(II).[1]
Allowable Subject Matter
The complexes recited claim 12 of are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The prior art search is extended to the extent necessary to determine patentability of the Markush-type formula as discussed above.
In this case, the Examiner searched the elected species having the formula 4a of claim 12.There was no prior art discovered on the particular gold(I) complex as per applicant elected species. Therefore, the search of the species has been extended to the non-elected electron donor as discussed above.
Conclusion
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YUN . QIAN
Examiner
Art Unit 1732
/YUN QIAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1738
[1][1] “Products of identical chemical composition cannot have mutually exclusive properties.” A chemical composition and its properties are inseparable. Therefore, if the prior art teaches the identical chemical structure, the properties applicant discloses and/or claims are necessarily present. In re Spada, 911 F.2d 705, 709, 15 USPQ2d 1655, 1658 (Fed. Cir. 1990).