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 .
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.
Status of Claims
Claims 1-3, 12 and 69-75 are currently under examination. Claims 29-30are withdrawn from consideration. Claims 4-11, 13-28 and 31-68 have been cancelled. Claims 69-75 are newly added. Claims 1-3 and 12 are amended.
Previous Grounds of Rejection
In the light of the amendments, the rejection under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, with respect to claims 1-3 and 12 is withdrawn.
In the light of the amendments, the rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Archer et al. (WO 2010/118377 A2) with respect to claims 1-3 and 12 is withdrawn.
New grounds of rejections are set forth below.
New Grounds of Rejections
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.
Claims 1-3 and 74-75 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lohre et al. (Tetrahedron, 68, 2012, 7636-7644).
Regarding claim 1, Lohre et al. teach a ligand 6 having the structure as shown below (Scheme 3 on page 7638):
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132
158
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As we see above, the compound 6 taught by Lohre et al. corresponds to the instant claimed compound formula (I), wherein X=BF4-, a=single bond, m=1, R1=R2=H, R3, R4 are substituted C6 cycloalkyl groups as the instant claim.
Regarding claims 2-3, as discussed above, the compound 6 taught by Lohre et al. has X as being BF4- and m is 1.
Regarding claims 74-75, as discussed above, the R1, R2 groups, and R3 and R4 groups are identical.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 12 and 69-73 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Response to Arguments
With regards to the previous Grounds of Rejection
Applicant's arguments filed on 06/19/2026 have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejections.
Conclusion
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).
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YUN QIAN whose telephone number is (571)270-5834. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 10:00am-4:00pm.
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YUN . QIAN
Examiner
Art Unit 1732
/YUN QIAN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1738
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