Detailed Office 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 .
Claim Objections
2. Objection is made to claims 8, 13, and 14, because the superscripted “4” within the R4 variable within each formula cannot be clearly read.
Prior Art Rejections
3. 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.
4. Claims 1-4, 9, 11, and 15-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mahendiran et al. (Theoretical, photophysical and biological investigations of an organic charge transfer compound 2-aminobenzimidazolium-2-oxyisoindolate-1,3-dione-2-hydroxyisoindoline-1,3-dione).
Mahendiran et al. disclose a charge transfer complex comprising N-hydroxyphthalimide and 2-aminobenzimidazole. See Section 2.3 and Figures 2 and 5. Given the imide and imidazole structures, applicants’ claimed characteristics of claims 1-3, are inherently met. Furthermore, regarding claims 9, 11, and 15-17, the preamble language fails to carry patentable weight and therefore fails to distinguish the claims from the reference.
5. Claims 1, 5-10, 12-14, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP 10-218859 A.
JP 10-218859 A discloses N-(3-(1-imidazolylZ)propyl) trimellitlimide (see definition of X within English abstract and structures within page 2 of the reference), corresponding to the formula within claims 8, 13, and 14 and its use within epoxy resins. Given the imide and imidazole structures, applicants’ claimed characteristics of claims 1, 5, and 6, are inherently met.
6. Claims 1, 2, 9, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP 2008-208042 A.
JP 2008-208042 A discloses a charge transfer complex formed of an electron accepting compound and an electron donating compound, which may be an imidazole. See abstract. Regarding claims 9 and 15, the preamble language fails to carry patentable weight and therefore fails to distinguish the claims from the reference.
Conclusion
7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Rabon A Sergent whose telephone number is (571)272-1079. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM until 5:00 PM, ET.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Heidi Riviere Kelley, can be reached at telephone number 571-270-1831. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RABON A SERGENT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1765