/A.S.K./Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1761 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 .
Claims 1-8 are pending. Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-6 in the reply filed December 29, 2025 is acknowledged. Claims 7 and 8 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The term “abietane-type” in claim 1 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “abietane-type” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. The term type is indefinite as the examiner is unclear as to what is similar enough to abietane to be included as a type of this compound. For examination purposes the examiner interpreted the term “abietane-type” to include only the species listed in claim 2. Claims 2-6 are also rejected for being dependent upon claim 1 and inheriting the same deficiency.
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 1,2 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (KR100837850B1) in view of Moreira (US 2017/0247409).
Lee teaches a antimicrobial soil tile comprising volcanic ash whose main component is allopen (allophane misspelled) and coated with on the surface with antibacterial agents such as silver and copper (abstract, paragraph 0002) wherein the tile forms a gel membrane (page 3, last paragraph).
Lee does not teach the addition of the abietane-type diterpenoids and does not teach abietic or dehydroabietic.
Moreira teaches surfaces coated with gels of abietane-type diterpenoid compounds such as abietic acid, and dehydroabietic acid that absorb on the surface (paragraphs 0003-0004, 0178-0179; 0181, 0183).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the coated gel membranes and tiles of Lee by using antimicrobial abietic acid and dehydroabietic acids as Moreira teach these are effective antimicrobial agents used in surface coatings and when they absorb onto the surface they provide antimicrobial benefits to the treated surface. Lee invites the inclusion of antimicrobial agents on the surfaces of volcanic ash which comprises allophane particles. Gels and the tiles made from the gels are porous and can accept the coating material to permit it to be adsorbed directly on the surface of the volcanic ash containing allophane particles without a holding material.
Claims 3-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (KR100837850B1) in view of Moreira (US 2017/0247409) and further in view of Sawan (WO 99/40791)
Lee and Moreira are relied upon as set forth above.
Lee and Moreira do not teach inorganic salts and metal ions of silver of copper adsorbed on the surface particle.
Sawan teaches antimicrobial film coatings on surfaces advantageously comprise silver or copper salts to provide immediate antimicrobial disinfection to the surface (page 2, lines 14-20; page 5, lines 19-30).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the coatings of Lee and Moreira by adding the copper, silver or platinum salts which include ions of the metals to provide additional antimicrobial benefit to the treatments as Sawan teaches these salts provide immediate antimicrobial disinfection to the surface in a durably non-leaching manner. The salts would adsorb onto the surface of the porous allophane volcanic ash particles as this is a chemical interaction that occurs by combining the identical components together and a film coating being formed onto the allophane particle.
Claims 1,2 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (KR100837850B1) in view of Moreira (US 2017/0247409) as evidenced by Woignier (Allophane: a natural gel in volcanic soils with interesting environmental properties. J Sol-Gel Sci Techn (2007) 41: 25-30)..
Lee teaches a antimicrobial soil tile comprising volcanic ash whose main component is allopen (allophane misspelled) and coated with on the surface with antibacterial agents such as silver and copper (abstract, paragraph 0002) wherein the tile forms a gel membrane (page 3, last paragraph). Woignier provides evidence that allophane is the particulate component of volcanic soil and ash (page 25, right column, last paragraph).
Lee does not teach the addition of the abietane-type diterpenoids and does not teach abietic or dehydroabietic.
Moreira teaches surfaces coated with gels of abietane-type diterpenoid compounds such as abietic acid, and dehydroabietic acid that absorb on the surface (paragraphs 0003-0004, 0178-0179; 0181, 0183).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the coated gel membranes and tiles of Lee by using antimicrobial abietic acid and dehydroabietic acids as Moreira teach these are effective antimicrobial agents used in surface coatings and when they absorb onto the surface they provide antimicrobial benefits to the treated surface. Lee invites the inclusion of antimicrobial agents on the surfaces of volcanic ash which comprises allophane particles. Gels and the tiles made from the gels are porous and can accept the coating material to permit it to be adsorbed directly on the surface of the volcanic ash containing allophane particles without a holding material.
Claims 3-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (KR100837850B1) in view of Moreira (US 2017/0247409) as evidenced by Woignier (Allophane: a natural gel in volcanic soils with interesting environmental properties. J Sol-Gel Sci Techn (2007) 41: 25-30) and further in view of Sawan (WO 99/40791).
Lee, Moreira and Woignier are relied upon as set forth above.
Lee, Moreira and Woignier do not teach inorganic salts and metal ions of silver of copper adsorbed on the surface particle.
Sawan teaches antimicrobial film coatings on surfaces advantageously comprise silver or copper salts to provide immediate antimicrobial disinfection to the surface (page 2, lines 14-20; page 5, lines 19-30).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the coatings of Lee and Moreira by adding the copper, silver or platinum salts which include ions of the metals to provide additional antimicrobial benefit to the treatments as Sawan teaches these salts provide immediate antimicrobial disinfection to the surface in a durably non-leaching manner. The salts would adsorb onto the surface of the porous allophane volcanic ash particles as this is a chemical interaction that occurs by combining the identical components together and a film coating being formed onto the allophane particle.
Claims 1,2 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gandhi (US2020/0163333) in view of Moreira (US 2017/0247409).
Gandhi teaches preparing antimicrobial compositions including allophane particle carriers (paragraph 0101) and copper antimicrobials (paragraph 0093) for use in medical applications or in food packaging films (porous membrane, paragraph 0007, 0025).
Gandhi does not teach the addition of the abietane-type diterpenoids and does not teach abietic or dehydroabietic.
Moreira teaches surfaces coated with gels of abietane-type diterpenoid compounds such as abietic acid, and dehydroabietic acid that absorb on the surface and can be used in medical devices or food related surfaces (paragraphs 0003-0004, 0050, 0178-0179; 0181, 0183).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the antimicrobial coating and film compositions (porous membranes) of Gandhi by incorporating antimicrobial abietic acid and dehydroabietic acids as Moreira teach these are effective antimicrobial agents used in surface coatings for medical devices of food related surfaces and when they absorb onto the surface they provide antimicrobial benefits to the treated surface. Gandhi invites the inclusion of antimicrobial agents into the medical device coatings and food packaging films. The coatings and films are porous and can accept the coating material to permit it to be adsorbed directly on the surface of the allophane particles without a holding material.
Claims 3-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gandhi (US2020/0163333) in view of Moreira (US 2017/0247409) and further in view of Sawan (WO 99/40791).
Gandhi and Moreira are relied upon as set forth above.
Gandhi and Moreira do not teach inorganic salts and metal ions of silver of copper adsorbed on the surface particle.
Sawan teaches antimicrobial film coatings on surfaces advantageously comprise silver or copper salts to provide immediate antimicrobial disinfection to the surface (page 2, lines 14-20; page 5, lines 19-30).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the coatings of Gandhi and Moreira by adding the copper, silver or platinum salts which include ions of the metals to provide additional antimicrobial benefit to the treatments as Sawan teaches these salts provide immediate antimicrobial disinfection to the surface in a durably non-leaching manner. The salts would adsorb onto the surface of the porous allophane particles as this is a chemical interaction that occurs by combining the identical components together.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AMINA S KHAN whose telephone number is (571)272-5573. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9am-5:30pm EST.
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/AMINA S KHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1761