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 claims 1-26 in the reply filed on March 6, 2026 is acknowledged with appreciation. Accordingly, claim 37 is withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 is indefinite for the following reasons:
(1) line 3, the phrase “an indicator material further comprising” is confusing because the term “further” suggests an additional element/component to the indicator material. However, there has been no element/component described as part of the indicator material prior to “further”;
(2) line 13, “to create cause a change” is confusing due to the double verb;
(3) line 14, “the electrical component” has no antecedent basis.
Claims 2-25 are deemed indefinite in view of their dependence on claim 1.
Claim 26 is deemed indefinite because it appears to be self-contradictory; the microcapsules are described as “retaining the polar protic organic material when the polar protic organic material transitions to a liquid state” but then it follows with “the microcapsules configured to release the polar protic organic material in response to at least one of an activation temperature. The “activation temperature”, which could mean to be above the melting point of the organic material, is responsible for making the polar protic organic material to transition to a liquid state, yet the microcapsules are configured to do both “retaining the polar protic organic material” and “releasing the polar organic material” in response to the activation temperature.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102/103
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.
Claims 1-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bhatia (US-2017/0255854).
Claim 1: Bhatia teaches an activatable indicator, which is a sensor system, comprising a substrate, which is the permeable membrane 230 or the substrate 260, and microcapsules encapsulating an indicator material (i.e. dopant molecules) (Bhatia, para. 0030-0031). In response to a change in external factor (e.g. activation temperature), the dopant molecules start to melt and the microencapsules “break open releasing the dopant chemical” (Bhatia, para. 0032). The dopant chemicals are polar protic organic material which includes polymer gels, polyols such as glycerol and simple alcohols such as ethanol and propanol (Bhatia, para. 0049). The release of the indicator material (i.e. dopant chemical) causes a change in electrical property (Bhatia, para. 0040-0041).
Claim 2: The indicator material includes a polymer having crystallinity (Bhatia, para. 0048).
Claim 3: The polar protic organic material of Bhatia includes methanol, ethanol and propanol, butanol(Bhatia, para. 0049).
Claims 4-9: Bhatia teaches that the electrical component is a capacitor or part of an RFID tag and the change of electric property is a change in capacitance of the capacitor or information transmitted by the RFID tag (Bhatia, para. 0042, 0054, and 0057).
Claim 10: Bhatia teaches that the change in the electrical property is irreversible while the indicator may return to the initial state (para. 0057-0058 and claim 4).
Claims 11-13: The activator material can respond to multiple temperature stages (Bhatia, para. 0054--0059).
Claim 14: Bhatia teaches the substrate further comprises a wick (i.e. adhesive stick or tack) (Bhatia, para. 0047)
Claim 15-20: The indicator material of Bhatia is responsive to a wide range of because the different dopant materials liquefy at various temperatures (Bhatia, para. 0050).
Claim 21: The microcapsules comprise a gel (Bhatia, para. 0050-0051).
Claim 22: The microcapsules comprise a protein (peptides), a wax material or an emulsion (Bhatia, para. 0048-0050).
Claim 23: Bhatia describes the microcapsules to be in micrometer range which would have encompassed the claimed outer diameter between 20 to 250 µm.
Claim 24: Bhatia describes the microcapsules respond to the activation temperature by fracturing or breaking (para. 0032).
Claim 25: Bhatia teaches the microcapsules would have at least two walls (i.e. chambers) responding to two different stages of temperatures (para. 0054-0059)
Claim 26: Bhatia teaches an activatable indicator material comprising microcapsules encapsulating an indicator material (i.e. dopant molecules) (Bhatia, para. 0030-0031). In response to a change in external factor (e.g. activation temperature), the dopant molecules start to melt and the microencapsules “break open releasing the dopant chemical” (Bhatia, para. 0032). The dopant chemicals are polar protic organic material which includes polymer gels, polyols such as glycerol and simple alcohols such as ethanol and propanol (Bhatia, para. 0049). The release of the indicator material (i.e. dopant chemical) causes a change in electrical property (Bhatia, para. 0040-0041).
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/HOA (Holly) LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1788
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