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
Restriction/Election
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 7-12 in the reply filed on 07/18/25 is acknowledged. Applicant’s election of Calcium carbonate, Silver nitrate and 3-methacryloxypropyl trimethoxysilane (containing a methacryloxy group) is also acknowledged.
Claims 1-6 and 13-19 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 07/18/25.
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.
Claims 7-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu et al. ("Synthesis of Ag-SiO2-APTES nanocomposites by blending poly(vinylidene fluoride) membrane with potential applications on dye wastewater treatment", presented in IDS).
Yu discloses a “multifunctional membrane with antibacterial property and antifouling property, we synthesized Ag-SiO2 nanocomposites successfully and used 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) to functionalize the surface of Ag-SiO2 to obtain superior dispersity in casting solution"), see (page 2, col. 2, paragraph 2), thus Yu discloses an antimicrobial nanohybrid structure as claimed. Yu further teaches saturating a first carrier material with a plethora of metallic salt precursors thereby creating a mixture "as Fig. 1(a) shows, SiO2 (0.6 g) was dispersed in pure water (30 ml) and stirred for 30 min to form a homogenous suspension, see (pg. 3 col. 2 para 1), then " silver ammonia solution (0.849 g silver nitrate as silver ion source was dissolved in 10 mI distilled water, gradually ammonia was added in the mixed solution until the white precipitate just disappeared 0.005 M, 30 ml) was added to the mixture and stirred for 1h at room temperature ... 100 ml 2 wt.% PVP ethanol solution was added to the mixture and heated at 70 DEG C for 7 h. The Ag-SiO2 was separated by centrifugation"; also see pg. 3 Fig. 1a) and see wherein it is taught that (pg 3 col 2 para 1: “3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (20 g) was added dropwise into the mixture under continuous stirring at 110 DEG C for 6 h. The Ag-SiO2-APTES was separated by centrifugation"); and on page 5 col 1 para 2, see "for the Ag-SiO02-APTES nanocomposites, four additional diffraction peaks appear ... corresponding to the ... face- centered cubic (fcc) Ag crystal ... This result affirms that Ag NPs were formed onto the surface of SiO2 nanoparticles”) with inherent antimicrobial properties (pg. 2 col. 2 para 1: “silver with a broad spectrum of antibacterial activities has been demonstrated to be useful and effective in bactericidal applications"). Yu discloses the antimicrobial nanohybrid structure and . Yu further discloses wherein the metallic salt precursor is a material selected from the group consisting of silver (pg. 3 col. 2 paragraph 1 and Fig. 1a), copper, copper oxide, zinc oxide, nickel, selenium, titanium, and titanium dioxide. Yu discloses wherein the coupling agent is an organosilane with an organofunctional group (pg. 3 col. 2 paragraph 1; 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane, (the same compound as disclosed in the instant application). Yu discloses methacryloxy group, isocyanate groups, thiol groups, methoxy groups, and ethoxy groups (pg. 3 col. 2 para 1; 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane).
Yu does not specifically disclose utilizing mechanochemical synthesis for homogenizing the first mixture. However, in view of the above disclosure, it would have been obvious for the person of ordinary skill in the art to adjust the above preparation protocol, in the course of routine experimentation, and utilize the said technique, in order to enhance homogeneity of the prepared mixture before the casting step.
Yu does not specifically disclose wherein the inherent antimicrobial properties include antimicrobial efficacy against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, fungi, and viruses is greater than 90%. However, in view of the above disclosure, it would have been obvious for the person of ordinary skill in the art to adjust the said efficacy to be within the specified range, in the course of routine experimentation, in order to better disinfect the media in need of the said disinfection.
Correspondence
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/SNIGDHA MAEWALL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1612