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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119
(a)-(d). Acknowledgment is made of Applicants’ claim for benefit to foreign applications JP2021-040825 filed 03/12/2021.
This application claims the benefit of priority to Patent Application PCT/JP2022/010983.
Acknowledgement is made of Applicants’ claim for benefit to prior filed to Patent Application
Number PCT/JP2022/010983, filed on 03/11/2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statements filed 09/11/2023, 07/08/2024, 05/05/2025, and 07/14/2025 has been considered by the Examiner.
Status of Claims
Claims 1-13 are under examination.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3, 6, and 8-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Takayuki et al. (JP-2012126677 Document BD of the IDS filed 9/11/2023).
Regarding claim 1, Takayuki et al. teach a viral infection inhibitor (page 2, problem to be solved). Takayuki et al. teach a compound comprising a sulfonic acid sodium salt and an organic acid (page 21, paragraph 0093).
Regarding claim 2, Takayuki et al. teach the copolymer is provided with excellent water resistance by being crosslinked, and the solubility of the crosslinked product is 1 or less (page 9, paragraph 34), which covers a range of low solubilities including 20 g/L or less.
Regarding claim 3, Takayuki et al. teach an influenza virus infection inhibitor includes a crosslinked body obtained by crosslinking a copolymer of a monomer having at least one substituent of a structural formula represented by general formulas and a monomer having a carboxy group with a trifunctional or more functional crosslinking agent (page 2, Claim 1).
Regarding claim 6, Takayuki et al. teach the molecular weight is preferably from 5000 to 2 million (page 8, paragraph 0031), which is more than 3000.
Regarding claim 8, Takayuki et al. teach the compound having a salt of a sulfonic acid group has an aromatic ring (page 11, paragraph 0043).
Regarding claim 9, Takayuki et al. teach the compound having a salt of a sulfonic acid group (page 17, paragraph 0080). Takayuki et al. teach the p-position of the benzene ring of the styrene-maleic acid copolymer is sulfonated, a surface modification (page 17, paragraph 0080).
Regarding claim 10, Takayuki et al. teach a compound which is an influenza virus infection-inhibiting coating material covering the surface of particles (page 3, paragraph 0001). Takayuki et al. teach the surface form of the coating film obtained by drying the influenza virus infection-inhibiting coating material (page 16, paragraph 0072).
Regarding claim 11, Takayuki et al. teach a synthetic resin paint for delivery of the compound (page 18, paragraph 0083).
Regarding claim 12, Takayuki et al. teach the aerosol paint was a solvent-based synthetic resin paint containing an acrylic urethane resin, a plasticizer, and a pigment (page 18, paragraph 0083).
Regarding claim 13, Takayuki et al. teach a viral infection inhibitor (page 2, problem to be solved). Takayuki et al. teach a compound comprising a sulfonic acid sodium salt and an organic acid (page 21, paragraph 0093). Therefore, the compound is the base material for viral inhibition with various delivery methods taught.
Claims 4 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Takayuki et al. (JP-2012126677 Document BD of the IDS filed 9/11/2023), as applied to claim 1 above and further in view of Takayuki as evidenced by Farmer (Chem LibreTexts, 2019).
Regarding claims 4 and 5, Takayuki et al. teach the organic acid can be a sulfonic acid group (page 3, claim 1), which are strong acids with a pKa at about -7 as evidenced by Farmer, which is well below 5.5 and 4.6.
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 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.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takayuki et al. (JP-2012126677 Document BD of the IDS filed 9/11/2023) as applied to claim 1 above.
Takayuki et al. teach a viral infection inhibitor (page 2, problem to be solved). Takayuki et al. teach a compound comprising a sulfonic acid sodium salt and an organic acid (page 21, paragraph 0093).
Regarding claim 7, Takayuki et al. teach a viral infection inhibitor. Takayuki et al. teach the size of the influenza virus infection inhibitor refers to a value measured by a particle size distribution meter (page 15, paragraph 0065). Takayuki et al. teach the influenza virus infection-inhibiting agent size could be 30 μm or less (page 15, paragraph 0065), which makes obvious a particle 2 to 25 μm. Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to perform routine experimentation because Takayuki gave a range of less than 30 μm. to optimize the particle size which would be suitable for the coating application.
Conclusion
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/C.L.M./Examiner, Art Unit 1638
/Anna Skibinsky/
Primary Examiner, AU 1635
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