DETAILED ACTION
Status of the Application
Receipt is acknowledged of Applicants’ Amendments and Remarks, filed 11 February 2026, in the matter of Application N° 17/997,414. Said documents have been entered on the record. The Examiner further acknowledges the following:
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1-23 are pending, where claims 2-5, 8-10, and 13-23 remain withdrawn from consideration.
No claims have been added or canceled.
Claim 1 has been amended to add the limitation reciting “wherein the antiviral agent is dispersed uniformly through the base polymer or present in domains dispersed in a matrix of the base polymer”. Support is provided in the originally-filed disclosure for the limitation (see e.g., Spec. ¶[0034]).
No new matter has been added.
Thus, claims 1, 6, 7, 11, and 12 continue to represent all claims currently under consideration.
Information Disclosure Statement
No new Information Disclosure Statements (IDS) have been filed for consideration.
Withdrawn Rejections
Rejections under 35 USC 102/103
Applicants amendment to claim 1 is considered persuasive in overcoming the previously raised rejections. Said rejections are withdrawn.
New Rejections
Applicants’ amendments have necessitated the following ground of rejection:
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the Examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicants are advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the Examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 6, 11, and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guay (US Pre-Grant Publication Nº 2001/0003600 A1).
As amended, the instantly claimed invention is directed to an antiviral filament comprising an antiviral polymer. The antiviral polymer comprises a base polymer and an antiviral agent uniformly incorporated into the base polymer or present in domains dispersed in a matrix of the base polymer.
Guay discloses producing a bilayer substrate wherein said substrate can be in the form of coaxial filaments having a sheath/core arrangement. See ¶[0008]-¶[0009].
Paragraph [0027] discloses that one polymer is used to form a sheath around another polymer (sheath/core), with available suitable polymers being disclosed in ¶[0025]. Paragraph [0031], for instance discloses that the fibers may be made of starch, a disclosure which is considered to support a showing that the sheath and core are prepared using the same material.
Paragraph [0033] discloses suitable active ingredients that may be used and includes chlorhexidine and chlorhexidine salts. Paragraph [0037] discloses that the active ingredient is uniformly distributed across the entire length and width of the textured article (i.e., fiber).
Based on the teachings of Guay, the Examiner submits that a person of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success at producing the instantly claimed composition. Therefore, the invention as a whole would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, and absent a clear showing of evidence to the contrary.
Claims 1, 6, 7, 11, and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Migihiro et al. (JP 2018071007A; machine translation provided and cited).
As amended, the instantly claimed invention is directed to an antiviral filament comprising an antiviral polymer. The antiviral polymer comprises a base polymer and an antiviral agent uniformly incorporated into the base polymer or present in domains dispersed in a matrix of the base polymer.
Migihiro discloses antibacterial/antiviral fibers formed from quaternary ammonium salts and polyester fibers (see e.g., Abstract).
Paragraph [0016] further defines the fibers as possessing a core-sheath structure whereby the polymers of the fibers represent, most preferably, more than 90% by weight or more of the fiber.
Paragraph [0014] defines the quaternary ammonium salt antiviral compound as being present in the fiber in a range of 0.05% to 1.00% owf (on the weight of the fiber). Regarding the uniformity of the applied antiviral, the reference does not expressly use the terms “uniform” or “homogeneous,” but does disclose that the quaternary ammonium compound is applied in the form of an aqueous solution in which the fibers are soaked. This is interpreted by the Examiner as the polymeric fibers absorbing a solution (i.e., a uniform aqueous solution) of the antiviral compound.
Based on the teachings of the reference, the Examiner submits that a person of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success at producing the instantly claimed composition. Therefore, the invention as a whole would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, and absent a clear showing of evidence to the contrary.
All claims have been rejected; no claims are allowed.
Conclusion
Applicants’ amendments necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP §706.07(a). 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 extension fee 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.
Correspondence
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to Jeffrey T. Palenik whose telephone number is (571) 270-1966. The Examiner can normally be reached on 9:30 am - 7:00 pm; M-F (EST).
If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s supervisor, Robert A. Wax can be reached on (571) 272-0623. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Jeffrey T. Palenik/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1615