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 Claim 1 and 2 in the reply filed on 05/05/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim 3 is withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected method of sensing nitric oxide, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 05/05/2026.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over non-patent literature "Fluorescence Turn-On Detection of Gaseous Nitric Oxide Using Ferric Dithiocarbamate Complex Functionalized Quantum Dots" by Sun et al. cited in the IDS received on 09/29/2023 and further in view of Welch et al. (WO 2012170727 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Sun teaches a sensor for nitric oxide (pg 5630, right column) comprising:
a CdSe/ZnS core/shell quantum dot (QD) (pg 5629, left column) ; and
a ferric ion-dithiocarbamate complex (Fe(DTC)3) (pg 5629, left column) bound to the QD via carboxylate coordination to a ZnS surface thereof (pg 5629, left column), wherein the QD and Fe(DTC)3 are configured as donor and acceptor (pg 5631, Scheme 1), respectively, in fluorescence resonance energy transfer (pg 5629, left column).
Sun does not teach the quantum dots are coated with dihydrolipoic acid (DHLA).
However, Welch teaches fluorogenic semiconductor nanocrystals with different compositions and coating materials that can add certain physical/chemical characteristics to the nanocrystals (para 0081). Welch teaches a coating material, dihydrolipoic acid (DHLA), (para 0084) for nanocrystals for the benefit of allowing the nanocrystals to bind to biomolecules such as nitric oxide (para 0081). Thus, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the quantum dot structure taught by Sun with a coating of dihydrolipoic acid (DHLA), as taught by Welch, for the benefit of allowing the nanocrystals to bind to biomolecules such as nitric oxide (para 0081).
Regarding Claim 2, Sun teaches a method of preparing a sensor for nitric oxide (pg 5630, right column), the method comprising:
providing a CdSe/ZnS core/shell quantum dot (QD) (pg 5629, left column); and
contacting the QD with ferric dithiocarbamate (pg 5629, left column) so that it binds thereto via carboxylate coordination to a ZnS surface thereof, thereby obtaining a QD-Fe(DTC)3 pair (pg 5629, right column), where the QD and Fe(DTC)3 are configured as donor and acceptor (pg 5631, Scheme 1), respectively, in fluorescence resonance energy transfer (pg 5629, left column).
Sun does not teach the quantum dots are coated with dihydrolipoic acid (DHLA).
However, Welch teaches a coating material, dihydrolipoic acid (DHLA), (para 0084) for nanocrystals for the benefit of allowing the nanocrystals to bind to biomolecules such as nitric oxide (para 0081). Thus, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the quantum dot structure taught by Sun with a coating of dihydrolipoic acid (DHLA), as taught by Welch, for the benefit of allowing the nanocrystals to bind to biomolecules such as nitric oxide (para 0081).
Conclusion
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/H.R.B./Examiner, Art Unit 1798
/CHARLES CAPOZZI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1798
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