Office Action Predictor
Application No. 18/091,312

SYNTHESIS OF PARA-ALKYLATED SYRINGYL (METH)ACRYLATE DERIVATIVES AND PHOTOPOLYMERIZABLE COMPOSITIONS FOR ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING IN DENTAL APPLICATIONS

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Dec 29, 2022
Examiner
WHITELEY, JESSICA
Art Unit
1763
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
Align Technology, INC.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
88%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 1m
To Grant
89%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

88%
Career Allow Rate
1312 granted / 1484 resolved
Without
With
+0.9%
Interview Lift
avg trend
2y 1m
Avg Prosecution
50 pending
1534
Total Applications
career history

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.9%
-39.1% vs TC avg
§103
31.4%
-8.6% vs TC avg
§102
34.8%
-5.2% vs TC avg
§112
16.6%
-23.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data

Office Action

§103
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 Election/Restrictions Claims 1-12 and 21-22 have withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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 November 26, 2025. The withdrawn claims have further been cancelled. 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. Claim s 13-20 and 23-33 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choudhary et al (US 2022/0380502) . With regards to claim 13 , Choudhary teaches a photo-curable resins as an orthodontic appliances (abstract) that contains a polymer formed from a polymerizable monomer having the following structure: (0007) wherein (0008-0015) and an oligomer (0382) . Choudhary does not teach the oligomer to have the claimed glass transition temperature. However, w here the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation. In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 124 (CCPA 1955). In this case, one skilled in the art prior to the effective filing date of the present invention would know to alter the glass transition temperature in order to achieve the desired temperature as to when the polymer goes from brittle to rubber like which affects its mechanical properties, thermal stability, and shelf life. With regards to claim 14 , Choudhary teaches the amount of the oligomer to be from 35-50% ( 0384 ). With regards to claim 15 , Choudhary teaches the amount of the oligomer to be from 35-50% (0072). With regards to claim 16 , Choudhary teaches the addition of a crosslinking modifier (0388). With regards to claim 17 , Choudhary teaches the addition of polytetrahydrofuran (0407). With regards to claim 18 , Choudhary teaches the amount of the crosslinking modifier to be present in the amount of 0 to 6% (0388). With regards to claim 19 , Choudhary teaches the addition of a photoinitiator (0387). With regards to claim 20 , Choudhary teaches the composition to have an elongation at break that is greater than or equal to 5% (0073). With regards to claim s 23 - 31 , Choudhary teaches a polymer formed from a polymerizable monomer having the following structure: (0007) wherein (0008-0015) . With regards to claim 32 , Choudhary teaches the vapor pressure to be from 2 to 10 Pa at 60°C (0070). With regards to claim 33 , Choudhary teaches the composition to be used for an aligner (0004). Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following references contain the claimed compound but not the use of the compound in a polymer and/or the composition containing said compound: Holmberg et al (US 2017/0015775) and Matsushima (US 2016/0024279).. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT JESSICA WHITELEY whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)272-5203 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT 8 - 5:00 . Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT Joseph Del Sole can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 5712721130 . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-100 0. /JESSICA WHITELEY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1763
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Prosecution Timeline

Dec 29, 2022
Application Filed
Dec 18, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Mar 20, 2026
Response Filed

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
88%
Grant Probability
89%
With Interview (+0.9%)
2y 1m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1484 resolved cases by this examiner