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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 6-10 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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 2/2/2026.
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I (claims 1-5 and 11-14) in the reply filed on 2/2/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(B) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 1-5 and 11-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
With respect to claim 1, there appears to be an inconsistency between a block copolymer and Formula 1 where m and n can be one, i.e., not a block and not a polymer. Also, it is unclear how R1 or R2 N, O, or S given that their valency is greater than 1. If N, O, or S are to be parts of a connecting group, it is not clear to what they are further connected.
With respect to claims 2-5 and 11-14, they are rejected for failing to cure at least one of the deficiencies of independent claim 1.
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 1-4 and 11-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kricheldorf (Kricheldorf, et al., Makromol. Chem. 186, 955-976 (1985)).
With respect to claims 1-4, Kricheldorf discloses copolymers of glycolide with β-propiolactone (abstract) which reads on claimed Formula 1 when R1, R2, and L are direct bonds and R1 and R2 are hydrogen (also claimed Formula 1-1). In Table 3 on page 962, block copolymers of glycolide with β-propiolactone are exemplified and prepared with different initiators. Example 14 includes a copolymer having a glycolide block with average block length of > 30 (claimed n is at least 30) and a β-propiolactone block with average block length of > 20 (claimed m is at least 20). Block length is the number of monomers in a given block.
With respect to claim 11-14, the block copolymer is a resin that is used in articles such as surgical sutures (i.e., a fiber) (page 955, lines 5-6 of Introduction).
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 of this title, 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.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kricheldorf (Kricheldorf, et al., Makromol. Chem. 186, 955-976 (1985)).
The discussion with respect to Kricheldorf in paragraph 4 above is incorporated here by reference.
Kricheldorf exemplifies a copolymer having a glycolide block with average block length of > 30 and a β-propiolactone block with average block length of > 20. Molecular weight calculated from these block lengths gives a molecular weight of about 3180 g/mol which does not overlap with claimed 10,000-500,000 g/mol.
Even so, the block length is given as “greater than” 30 and “greater than” 20 which suggests far greater average blocks lengths. Also, Kricheldorf teaches that the highest yields were obtained at the longest reaction times (page 965, lines 4-5 of the second paragraph) which is guidance on how to reach longer block lengths, i.e., higher molecular weights.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize higher block lengths and therefore higher molecular weights that would overlap with the claimed weight average molecular weight—absent a showing of unexpected or surprising results.
Conclusion
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/Vickey Nerangis/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1763
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