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 .
Status of Claims/Application
The claims filed on 03/25/2026 is acknowledged. No claims are amended. Claims 1 – 20 are currently pending.
Priority
The instant application, filed 03/24/2023, claims domestic benefit to U.S. provisional application no. 63/330,054, filed on 04/12/2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted in the instant application on 03/24/2023 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Group I, claims 1 – 10, drawn to a method of making superabsorbent material in the reply filed on 03/25/2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).Claims 11 – 20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Group II, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
The election is made final.
Claims 1 – 10 are examined on the merits herein.
Claim Rejections – 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1 – 3, and 6 – 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2019/088484 (PTO-892) in view of WO 2020/257826 (PTO-892).
WO’484 teaches a method for manufacturing a superabsorbent polymer (SAP) fiber yarn to be manufactured from a natural component and, more specifically, to the manufacture of a natural SAP fiber yarn, in which a SAP fiber yarn is manufactured by a method for preparing a spinning dope from a material, which comprises a κ-carrageenan (KC) component, and carrying out spinning within a cross-linking solution, such that the SAP fiber yarn is eco-friendly and harmless to the human body while having a high water absorption rate, and can be widely used for hygiene products and medical and agricultural purposes and the like, which comprises: a spinning dope preparation step of adding distilled water to a material comprising KC component so as to prepare a mixture solution, and then stirring and heating the mixture solution so as to prepare a spinning dope; a spinning step of obtaining an SAP yarn by cross-linking the spinning dope while wet spinning the same in a solidification tank in which a KCl solution is contained; a dehydration step of removing water while dipping the SAP yarn into an ethanol treatment tank and transferring the same; and a drying step of transferring the SAP yarn, having passed through the dehydration step, into a drying furnace and drawing and drying the same (Abstract).
WO’484 teaches kappa carrageenan (KC), which is produced from red algae, which is known as Eucheuma cottonii or simply Kappaphycus alvarezii, which is simply known as Cottonii (pg. 2, para. 6), and the highly water-absorbing polymeric fiber raw material is prepared by mixing a Kappa carrageenan powder finished product or Kappaphycus alvarezii raw material with distilled water, stirring and heating the mixture solution in a KCl solution, absorbing polymeric fiber yarn after being crosslinked and then impregnated with an ethanol solution to be dehydrated and dried (pg. 3, para. 3). WO’484 teaches that the raw material may be a finished product of kappa carrageenan powder produced by processing seaweed, or may be a method of manufacturing a highly absorbent polymer fiber yarn of a natural component, Kappaphycus cottonii, Kappaphycus alvarezii, a raw material processing step of washing the raw material of Kottoni with distilled water to remove the salt and drying the raw material before the production of the spinning solution (pg. 3, para. 5). WO’484 exemplifies the production of SAP by using KCl as a crosslinking agent in kappa carrageenan in Example 3 (pg. 8, para. 7). The SAP particles pulverized in Comparative Example 3b were classified into particles having particle diameters of less than 200 μm, 200 μm to 500 μm, 500 μm to 710 μm, 710 μm to 1000 μm, and 1000 μm to 1700 μm (pg. 9, para. 4).
Regarding claim 1, WO’484 does not teach seaweed flakes as the starting material to make the superabsorbent material. Regarding claims 6, 7, and 10, WO’484 does not teach the particle size of the raw material, seaweed used in making the superabsorbent polymer, and it does not teach the particle size of the SAP of the instantly claimed invention.
WO’826 teaches natural seaweed composite materials comprising one or more insoluble fibers and carrageenan associated with the insoluble fiber. The natural seaweed composite materials are produced by methods comprising high pressure homogenization which maintains the natural complex structure of the insoluble fiber and the carrageenan as in natural unprocessed seaweeds (Abstract).
WO’826 teaches a method of making a natural seaweed composite material from red algae. The method comprises the steps of pretreating the fresh or dried seaweed with a salt such as potassium chloride (KCI) at a high concentration under heat such as at 80-100 °C, subjecting the pretreated seaweed to high pressure homogenization (HPH), and drying and grinding the homogenized seaweed to a desired particle size to obtain the natural seaweed composite material. In some embodiments, the seaweed is ground by wet milling or dry grinding before or after the salt treatment. In some embodiments, the HPH is carried out at a temperature of between 0 °C and 85 °C, e.g., between 0 °C and 50 °C, between 20 °C and 40 °C, between 25 °C and 30 °C, or at room temperature. In some embodiments, the HPH is carried out at a temperature of between 60 °C and 100 °C. The obtained natural seaweed composite material has a gelling strength in the range of 200-1000 g/cm2 depending on the starting seaweed materials and manufacturing processes. In some embodiments, the seaweed is washed and/or cleaned to remove debris before grinding or the salt treatment. In some embodiments, the seaweed is bleached by one or more bleaching agents before HPH (pg. 2, [0006]). WO’826 teaches that the natural seaweed composite material has a particle size of between 0.1 µm and 100 µm, between 1 µm and 100 µm, between 10 µm and 90 µm, between 20 µm and 80 µm between 30 µm and 70 µm, between 40 µm and 60 µm, between 0.5 µm and 20 µm, between 1 µm and 15 µm, between 2 µm and 10 µm, between 3 µm and 8 µm, between 4 µm and 7 µm, or between 5 µm and 6 µm (pg. 1-2, [0004]) . WO’826 teaches that the natural seaweed composite material is highly absorbent and comprises one or more insoluble fibers and carrageenan, wherein the insoluble fiber is capable of self-assembly into a highly ordered structure such that the cellulose fibers align along the same direction during the gelling and drying process, and upon rehydration, the fiber assembly rapidly expands into an ordered array wherein the fiber fragments are dispersed but arranged parallelly along the fiber axis. This unusual property can have useful applications in food engineering (pg. 2, [0005]). WO’826 teaches that the process includes the steps of treating the seaweed with high concentration of potassium chloride (KCI) under heat before subjecting the seaweed to high pressure homogenization (HPH). The raw materials used include fresh or dried red algae that are traditionally used to extract carrageenan, including Kappaphycus alvarezii, Eucheuma denticulatum, and the like, or a combination thereof. More generally, the raw material comprises any carrageenan- containing red seaweeds (carrageenophytes) including but not limited to seaweed from the families of Gigartinaceae, Hypneaceae, Solieriaceae, Phyllophoraceae and Furcellariaceae and combinations thereof. Useful genera include Chondrus, Iridaea, Gigartina, Kappaphycus, Rhodoglossum, Hypnea, Eucheuma, Agarchiella, Gymnogongrus, Phyllophora, Ahnfeltia and Furcellaria and combinations thereof. Useful species include Eucheuma spinosum, Eucheuma cottonii, Chondrus Crispus, Gigartina skottsbergii, Kappaphycus alvarezii, Eucheuma denticulatum, and combinations thereof (pg. 10, [0028]). WO’826 teaches that the seaweed is subjected to preliminary grinding including dry grinding or wet milling before or after KCI treatment (pg. 11, [0029]). WO’826 teaches Process 1 Grinding before potassium chloride treatment with a general scheme of Dried seaweed [Wingdings font/0xE0] washing and cleaning [Wingdings font/0xE0] bleaching [Wingdings font/0xE0] drying [Wingdings font/0xE0] pulverization [Wingdings font/0xE0] KCI treatment [Wingdings font/0xE0] high pressure homogenization [Wingdings font/0xE0] pressure filtering dehydration (or heating to above 60 °C to melt carrageenan and add KCI to cool and form a gel, then pressure filtering dehydration) [Wingdings font/0xE0] drying [Wingdings font/0xE0] pulverization to desired particle size. The first few steps of the process is as follows:
(1 ) The raw fresh or dried seaweed is cleaned by washing and removing impurities and debris;
(2) Optionally, the cleaned seaweed is treated with one or more bleaching agents (e.g., sodium hypochlorite, effective chlorine 0.1 -0.5%) for 30 minutes to 2 hours, followed by a wash to remove the bleaching agent;
(3) The obtained seaweed is dried and pulverized to 80 mesh or more to obtain a crude seaweed powder (pg. 11 - 12, [0030 – 0032]).
WO’826 teaches that the drying process can be carried out in many different ways and is not limited by any particular method. The final product is pulverized to 80 mesh or more, more preferably to 200 mesh or more. The actual particle size can be determined by specific applications (pg. 17, [0046]).
Regarding claim 1, it would have been obvious to combine WO’484 with WO’826 before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to prepare the seaweed powder from the raw seaweed to arrive at the starting material of the instantly claimed invention. As WO’484 teaches a seaweed raw material processing step of washing and drying it (pg. 3, para. 5), it would have been prima facie obvious to add the additional step of pulverizing to 80 mesh or more to obtain a crude seaweed powder as taught by WO’826. The starting material of seaweed flakes is made obvious as changes in shape, powder vs flakes is rendered obvious as In re Dailey, 357 F.2d 669, 149 USPQ 47 (CCPA 1966) (The court held that the configuration of the claimed disposable plastic nursing container was a matter of choice which a person of ordinary skill in the art would have found obvious absent persuasive evidence that the particular configuration of the claimed container was significant.) See MPEP 2144.04(IV).
Regarding claim 3, WO’484 teaches an ionic crosslinking agent, KCl.
Regarding claims 6, 7, and 10, it would have been prima facie obvious to combine WO’484 with WO’826 before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to reduce the particle size of the seaweed raw material, and optimize the size of the superabsorbent polymer as WO’826 teaches that the seaweed is dried and pulverized to 80 mesh or more to obtain seaweed powder (pg. 12, [0032]), and that the final product is pulverized to 80 mesh or more, more preferably to 200 mesh or more, and the actual particle size can be determined by specific applications (pg. 17, [0046]) to arrive at the preferred particle size of the starting material, and the preferred particle size of the superabsorbent material of the instantly claimed invention. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to pulverize, and reduce the size of the seaweed to arrive at a desired SAP end product with a reasonable expectation of success because WO’826 teaches that the carrageenan-cellulose composite materials can be processed into particle size less than or about 90 µm, wherein the cellulose fiber is less than or about 15 µm, and particle sizes of the carrageenan-cellulose composite materials and the cellulose fiber can be controlled by manufacturing processes based on application needs (pg. 10, [0027]).
Regarding claim 8, WO’484 teaches kappaphycus alvarezii, and kappaphycus cottonii.
Regarding claim 9, WO’484 teaches the use of ethanol in the method of making the superabsorbent polymer.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2019/088484 (PTO-892), and WO 2020/257826 (PTO-892) as applied to claims 1 – 3, and 6 – 10 above, and further in view of Li et al (Ionically cross-linked sodium alginate/ĸ-carrageenan double-network gel beads with low-swelling, enhanced mechanical properties, and excellent adsorption performance, (2019) Chem Eng J 372(1):1091–1103).
The teachings of WO’484, and WO’826 are as discussed above.
The teachings of WO’484, and WO’826 differ from the instantly claimed invention in that WO’484, and WO’826 do not teach that the crosslinking agent comprises calcium chloride.
Li teaches novel polysaccharide-based sodium alginate/ĸ-carrageenan double-network gel beads prepared via a facile ionically cross-linking method with low-swelling, enhanced mechanical properties, and excellent adsorption performance (Graphical Abstract). Li teaches that carrageenan is an inexpensive and available biopolymer, which is an important hydrophilic polysaccharide and widely exists in many kinds of seaweed. It is composed of D-galactose, and 3,6-anhydro-D-galactose units contain sulfate groups. According to the number and position of sulfate groups in the repeating units, carrageenans can be divided into kappa, iota, alpha, beta, lambda and theta. Particularly, it can easily cross-link ionically with some ions, such as potassium (K+) and calcium (Ca2+), and the “sulfate groups” in gel networks can improve the swelling capacity of the gel in saline solutions (pg. 1092, col. 2, para. 2). Fig. 1 shows the ĸ-CG, and Ca2+ crosslinked network (pg. 1093, col. 1). Li further teaches that the SK gel beads were prepared by dropping a mixed solution of SA and ĸ-CG into calcium chloride solutions. First, SA and ĸ-CG were dissolved in a certain amount of deionized water and allowed to stir until complete dissolving of biopolymers. Moreover, the polysaccharide solutions were added drop-wise into a stirred calcium chloride solution through a peristaltic pump (pg. 1093, col. 2, para. 1). Li teaches in conclusion that they provided a facile ionically cross-linking method to synthesize double-network gel adsorbent by using sodium alginate and ĸ-carrageenan as raw materials and calcium chloride as a cross-linking agent. The SK gel beads had low-swelling properties, enhanced mechanical
properties with a stress of 1.07 MPa, a strain of 90%, and an elastic modulus of 1.3 MPa, and it showed an excellent adsorption capacity to CIP according to isotherm fitting data (291.6 mg/g). It was found that the increase of ĸ-CG dosage would change the properties of the composite gel, such as the decrease of mechanical properties and the increase of swelling, which is due to the presence of sulfate groups (OSO3−) on the ĸ-CG molecules (pg. 1101, col. 1, 2).
It would have been prima facie obvious to combine WO’484, and WO’826 with Li before the effective filing date of the claimed invention by simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results (See MPEP 2143(I)(B), Examples 1-11), by using an ionic crosslinking agent comprising of calcium chloride to crosslink the k-carrageenan in the seaweed, in the place of the ionic crosslinking agent KCl, to arrive at the preferred crosslinking agent employed in the making of the superabsorbent material of the instantly claimed invention. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to use calcium chloride as a crosslinking agent, and would have a reasonable expectation of success as Li teaches that carrageenan can easily cross-link ionically with some ions, such as potassium (K+) and calcium (Ca2+), and the “sulfate groups” in gel networks can improve the swelling capacity of the gel in saline solutions (pg. 1092, col. 2, para. 2).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2019/088484 (PTO-892), and WO 2020/257826 (PTO-892) as applied to claims 1 – 3, and 6 – 10 above, and further in view of Zafar et al (Role of crosslinkers for synthesizing biocompatible, biodegradable and mechanically strong hydrogels with desired release profile, (2022) Polymer Bulletin 79:9199-9219).
The teachings of WO’484, and WO’826 are as discussed above.
The teachings of WO’484, and WO’826 differ from the instantly claimed invention in that WO’484, and WO’826 do not teach the crosslinking agent comprises a chemical crosslinker selected from the group consisting of polyaldehydes, adipic acid dihydrazide, 1,6- hexa-methylenediisocyanate or 1,6-hexanedibromide, NN-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-N-ethyl carbodiimide, glutamic acid, citric acid mixed with sodium hyphophosphite, poly(carboxylic acid)s, and combinations thereof.
Zafar is a review about the role of crosslinkers for synthesizing biocompatible,
biodegradable and mechanically strong hydrogels with desired release profile (Title). Zafar teaches that the fabrication process of hydrogel requires addition of crosslinkers. Various chemical (e.g., crosslinking by chemical reaction of complementary groups, polymer–polymer crosslinking, high energy irradiation and enzyme incorporation) and physical (e.g., charge interactions, crystallization and stereocomplex formation) approaches have been employed for crosslinking hydrogels. Majority of the conventionally employed crosslinkers are toxic in nature and unfavorable for use. Moreover, they have poor water solubility and low biodegradation rate. Various natural (e.g., vanillin, citric acid, gallic acid, ferulic acid and genipin) and synthetic (e.g., polymerizable polyphosphate, 1,2,3,4-butanetetracarboxylic dianhydride and 2-chloro-1-methylpyrinium iodide) novel crosslinking agents have been developed to overcome these limitations and to produce hydrogels with good mechanical properties (Abstract). Zafar teaches that gelatin was crosslinked using polyaldehydes obtained by partial oxidation of dextran (pg. 9202, para. 3) in the section crosslinking by aldehydes. Zafar teaches in crosslinking by addition reaction, hydrogels comprising water soluble polymers have been crosslinked by bis or higher functional crosslinking agents. An addition reaction between these agents and functional groups of aqueous-soluble polymers leads to crosslinking. Example of reagents used for this purpose include 1,6-hexamethylenediisocyanate, divinylsulfone and 1,6-hexanedibromide (pg. 9203, para. 2). Zafar teaches in crosslinking by condensation reaction, N, N-(3 dimethylaminopropyl)-N-ethyl carbodiimide (EDAC) is an efficient crosslinking reagent which has been employed for crosslinking aqueous-soluble polymers via forming amide bonds (pg. 9203, para. 3). Zafar teaches in the section in crosslinking by charge interactions that carrageenan formed a hydrogel with potassium ions. Carrageenan is capable of forming gel under salt-free conditions as well. However, hydrogels produced under salt-free conditions are weaker than those prepared in the presence of metallic ions (pg. 9207, para. 1). Zafar teaches that ionically (calcium ions) crosslinked sodium alginate and kappa-carrageenan double network hydrogels good mechanical properties (i.e., stress and elastic modulus of 1.07 MPa and 1.3 MPa, respectively) (pg. 9213, para. 4).
It would have been prima facie obvious to combine WO’484, and WO’826 with Zafar before the effective filing date of the claimed invention by using a chemical crosslinking agent comprising of polyaldehydes, 1,6-hexamethylenediisocyanate, 1,6-hexanedibromide, or N, N-(3 dimethylaminopropyl)-N-ethyl carbodiimide to crosslink the k-carrageenan in the seaweed to arrive at the preferred crosslinking agent employed in the making of the superabsorbent material of the instantly claimed invention. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to use a chemical crosslinking agent, and would have a reasonable expectation of success because Zafar teaches several chemical crosslinkers, and their role for synthesizing biocompatible, biodegradable and mechanically strong hydrogels with desired release profile (whole document).
Conclusion
Claims 1 – 10 are rejected. No claims are allowed.
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/JANAKI ANANTH MAHADEVAN/Examiner, Art Unit 1693
/SCARLETT Y GOON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1693
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