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
Claims 1, 6-8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 21 and 23-25 are pending in the application. Claims 1, 6, 7, 16 and 21 are rejected. Claims 8, 10, 12, 14 and 23-25 are withdrawn from further consideration.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on January 29th, 2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment / Argument
Rejections made in the previous Office Action that have been overcome by Applicant's amendments to the claims.
Election/Restrictions
The search and examination has been extended in view of MPEP 803.02 to include the species cited below under 35 USC 102. Additional species (besides the elected species) are withdrawn from consideration. An additional issue under 35 USC 112(d) was discovered incidental to the expanded search and is presented below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends. The fourth and sixth structures recited in claim 7 do not fall within the scope of its parent claim based on the structure of R1. The corresponding option for R1 has been struckthrough in claim 1 in the amendment dated January 29th, 2026. Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 6, 7, 16 and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bergbreiter et al. Tetrahedron Letters 1997, 38, 7843-7846.
BergBreiter et al. teach the following compounds on page 66:
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The compound 7c is embraced by formula (I) of claim 1 where R1 is the last option depicted in claim 1 and R2 is C2 alkyl. Compound 7c further anticipates claim 6 and claim 7 (fourth to last structure). Regarding instant claims 16 and 21, the prior art teaches that the compounds were used in reactions and that “The reactions were carried out homogeneously in H20 or mixed solvents THF/H20, CH3CN/H20 or EtOH/H20” where water can be considered a carrier and irrespective of how the prior art compounds were applied, a solution can be considered a spray.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW P COUGHLIN whose telephone number is (571)270-1311. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 10 am - 6 pm EST.
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/MATTHEW P COUGHLIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1626