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
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group 1 (claims 1-9) in the reply filed on May 19, 2026 is acknowledged. Claims 10-29 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 5/19/2026. The species election requirement portion of the restriction requirement sent on November 19, 2025 is withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hui et al (Spatiotemporal Control of Viscoelasticity in Phototunable Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogels, Biomacromolecules, 2019, 20(11): 4126-4134, cited in the IDS dated 8/17/2023).
Regarding claim 1, Hui teaches a phototunable hydrogel (Title) comprising a norbornene-functionalized hyaluronic acid backbone (section 3.1). It is noted that the recited moieties are optional. Hui teaches that the hydrogel also incorporates RGD peptide (section 2.5).
Regarding claim 2, Hui teaches that at least two norbornene moieties are crosslinked (section 3.1).
Regarding claim 3, it is noted that the dithiol crosslinker is not mandatorily present.
Regarding claim 4, Hui teaches that the norbornene-functionalized HA lacks the cyclodextrin and adamantane and the phototunable hydrogel is an elastic phototunable hydrogel (Section 3.1).
Regarding claim 5, Hui teaches that the norbornene-functionalized HA has a plurality of beta-cyclodextrin moieties and is a viscoelastic phototunable hydrogel (section 3.1).
Regarding claim 6, Hui teaches that the phototunable hydrogel comprises a plurality of beta-cyclodextrin moieties and a plurality of thiolated adamantane moieties and they form supramolecular guest-host interactions in order to confer viscosity to the phototunable hydrogel (section 3.1).
Regarding claim 7-8, Hui teaches that the Young’s modulus can be low such as 1.78 kPa or high such as 16.5 kPa (section 3.5).
Regarding claim 9, Hui teaches that the RGD peptide has the recited sequence (section 2.5).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DORIS L LEE whose telephone number is (571)270-3872. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 am - 5 pm.
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DORIS L. LEE
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1764
/DORIS L LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1764
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