DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
2. The Applicants submitted claim amendments on 2/17/2026 in response to the office action mailed 12/2/2025. The status of the claims are as follows.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
3. Claims 1-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter.
The above noted rejection is withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
4. Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by (US 2020/0332161 A1) to Chung (hereinafter Chung).
The above noted rejection is maintained.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. Claims 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the (US 2014/0271528 A1) to Askari et al. (hereinafter Askari) in view of the teachings of (US 2020/0332161 A1) to Chung (hereinafter Chung).
The above noted rejection is maintained.
6. Claims 2-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the (US 2014/0271528 A1) to Askari et al. (hereinafter Askari) in view of the teachings of (US 2014/0114350 A1) to Sargeant et al. (hereinafter Sargeant) in further view of the teachings of (US 2014/0228452 A1) to Bennett et al. (hereinafter Bennett).
The above noted rejection is maintained.
7. Claims 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the (US 2014/0271528 A1) to Askari et al. (hereinafter Askari) in view of the teachings of (US 2014/0114350 A1) to Sargeant et al. (hereinafter Sargeant) in further view of the teachings of (US 2014/0228452 A1) to Bennett et al. (hereinafter Bennett) in further view of (US 2013/0345334 A1) to Hoogenboom et al. (hereinafter Hoogenboom).
The above noted rejection is maintained.
Response to Arguments
8. Applicant's arguments filed 2/17/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The Applicants argue that Chung fails to disclose a “dopant” that is merely just an additional reactant having “greater number of reactive groups”. This is contrary to the teachings cited. Askari discloses at paragraph [0070] that the multiarm PEG is an amine, specifically a 4 arm PEG-NH2 and a second 8 ARM-PEG-NH2, (this is Applicants claimed doping agent of claim 8) which further includes a PEG-NHS with an ester for biodegradability. These compounds are the SAME as the Applicants claimed dopant and having 8 reactive arms would read upon the dopant, which is merely a crosslinker having increased reactive groups, which is a well known in the art form of crosslinking with higher density. The prior art rejections are maintained as proper.
Conclusion
9. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
10. A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
11. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEFFREY D WASHVILLE whose telephone number is (571)270-3262. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
12. 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.
13. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Randy Gulakowski can be reached at 571-272-1302. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JEFFREY D WASHVILLE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1766
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