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
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Group I, claims 1-15, in the reply filed on 06/29/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that the first claim of Group II, claim 16, and Group III, claim 17-20, depend from claim 1 of Group I, and therefore would be rejoined in the case wherein the claims of Group I are found allowable. This is not found persuasive because claims of Group I are not allowed. The traversal is also on the ground that the search and examination of the claims of Group II and Group III may be made without serious burden since the Examiner would naturally find art related to Groups II and III while examining Group I and that withdrawal of Groups II and/or Group III would likely result in a reduction in efficiency for examination. This is not found persuasive because Group II requires an organic semiconductor material, which is not required by Group I, and Group III requires a thin film or an electronic device comprising the thin film, which are not required by Group I. A search for Group I therefore would not necessarily find art related to Groups II and III. There would be a serious search and examination burden on the examiner if restriction was not required because it is necessary to search for one of the inventions in a manner that is not likely to result in finding art pertinent to the other inventions because the inventions are independent and distinct as explained in the Restriction Requirement mailed on 06/17/2026.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claims 16-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected inventions, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 06/17/2026.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
Claims 1-6 and 8-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Li et al. (Li et al., “A universal and facile approach for building multifunctional conjugated polymers for human-integrated electronics”, Matter, 09/01/2021, Vol. 4, No. 9, p. 3015-3029, Supplemental information).
Regarding claims 1-6 and 8-12, Li teaches a polymer having the formula
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or
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, wherein n = 4 or 8, x= 0.9 and y = 0.1, or x = 0.8 and y = 0.2, and
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38
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= BP, PEG5NHS, PY, PEG2000 (p. 3019), wherein BP is
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90
148
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, PEG5NHS is
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94
216
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, PY is
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72
106
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, and PEG2000 is
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44
166
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(p. 3017), which reads on a polymer, comprising a structural unit represented by Chemical Formula 1, a structural unit represented by Chemical Formula 2, and a structural unit represented by Chemical Formula 3, wherein, in Chemical Formula 1, R1 and R2 are each independently, a substituted C1 to C10 linear alkyl group, L1 and L2 are, each independently, an unsubstituted C4 heteroarylene group, and * indicates a linking portion, wherein, in Chemical Formula 2, R3 and R4 are, each independently, a substituted or unsubstituted C4 to C20 branched alkyl group, L3 and L4 are, each independently, an unsubstituted C4 heteroarylene group, and * indicates a linking portion, wherein, in Chemical Formula 3, R5 and R6 are, each independently, hydrogen, L5 and L6 are, each independently, a single bond, and * indicates linking portion as claimed, wherein at least one of R1 and R2 is a substituted C5 to C10 linear alkyl group, and at least one of L1 and L2 is an unsubstituted C4 heteroarylene group as claimed, wherein at least one of R3 and R4 is a substituted or unsubstituted C5 to C20 branched alkyl group and at least one of L3 and L4 is an unsubstituted C4 heteroarylene group as claimed, wherein at least one of R5 and R6 is hydrogen, and L5 and L6 are, each independently, a single bond as claimed, wherein at least one of L1 to L4 is electron donating moieties listed in Group 1
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, wherein, in Group 1, X1a is, each independently, S, R1a and R1b are, each independently, hydrogen, at least one of L5 to L6 is a single bond, and * is a linking point as claimed, wherein at least one of L1 to L4 is a divalent linking group an unsubstituted thiophene, and at least one of L5 to L6 is a divalent linking group including a single bond as claimed, wherein the polymer includes a structural unit represented by Chemical Formula 4, and a structural unit represented by Chemical Formula 5 as claimed, wherein at least one of R1 and R2 is a substituted C5 to C10 linear alkyl group, at least one of R5 and R6 is hydrogen, at least one of L1 and L2 is an unsubstituted C4 heteroarylene group, at least one of R3 and R4 is substituted or unsubstituted C5 to C20 branched alkyl group, at least one of R5 and R5 is hydrogen, at least one of L3 and L4 is an unsubstituted C4 heteroarylene group, and at least one of L5 and L6 is a single bond as claimed, wherein at least one of R1 and R2 is a substituted C10 linear alkyl group, R5 and R6 are all hydrogen, at least one of L1 and L2 is an unsubstituted C4 heteroarylene group, at least one of L5 and L6 is a single bond, at least ne of R3 and R4 is a substitute or unsubstituted C10 to C20 branched alkyl group, R5 and R6 are all hydrogen, at least one of L3 and L4 is an unsubstituted C4 heteroarylene group, and at least one of L5 and L6 is a single bond as claimed, wherein the structural unit represented by Chemical Formula 1 and the structural unit represented by Chemical Formula 2 are present in a molar ratio of about 10:90 or about 20:80 as claimed, wherein the structural unit represented by Chemical Formula 4 and the structural unit represented by Chemical Formula 5 are present in a molar ratio of about 10:90 or about 20:80 as claimed.
Regarding claims 13 and 14, Li teaches that the number-average degree of polymerization of polymer C10-10a is 28, that of polymer C10-20a is 16, that of polymer C6-10a is 33, and that of polymer C6-20a is 14 (Supplemental information, Table S1), wherein the C6 corresponds to n = 4 in Li’s formula, the C10 corresponds to n = 8 in Li’s formula, the 10a corresponds to x = 0.9 and y = 0.1 in Li’s formula, and the 20a corresponds to x = 0.8 and y = 0.2 in Li’s formula (p. 3019), which reads on wherein the polymer includes a plurality of polymer chains, and an average of a sum of the structural units represented by Chemical Formula 1 and Chemical Formula 2 is 56, 32, 66, or 28 for the plurality of polymer chains as claimed.
Regarding claim 15, Li teaches that the Mn of polymer C10-10a is 28 kDa, that of polymer C10-20a is 15 kDa, that of polymer C6-10a is 32 kDa, and that of polymer C6-20a is 13 kDa (Supplemental information, Table S1), wherein the C6 corresponds to n = 4 in Li’s formula, the C10 corresponds to n = 8 in Li’s formula, the 10a corresponds to x = 0.9 and y = 0.1 in Li’s formula, and the 20a corresponds to x = 0.8 and y = 0.2 in Li’s formula (p. 3019), wherein the Mn is number average molecular weight (p. 3026), which reads on wherein a number average molecular weight (Mn) of the polymer is about 28,000 Da, about 15,000 Da, about 32,000 Da, or about 13,000 Da as claimed.
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.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (Li et al., “A universal and facile approach for building multifunctional conjugated polymers for human-integrated electronics”, Matter, 09/01/2021, Vol. 4, No. 9, p. 3015-3029, Supplemental information) as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Leclerc et al. (WO 2019/041047 A1, cited in IDS, made of record on 12/20/2023).
Regarding claim 7, Li teaches the polymer of claim 1 as explained above. Li teaches that the polymer has the formula
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or
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, wherein n = 4 or 8, x= 0.9 and y = 0.1, or x = 0.8 and y = 0.2, and
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38
62
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= BP, PEG5NHS, PY, PEG2000 (p. 3019), wherein BP is
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90
148
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, PEG5NHS is
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94
216
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, PY is
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72
106
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, and PEG2000 is
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44
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(p. 3017), which reads on wherein R3 and R4 are, each independently, an unsubstituted C20 branched alkyl group, R6 and R6 are, each independently, hydrogen, L1 to L4 are, each independently, an unsubstituted thiopehene, and L5 and L6 are, each independently, a single bond as claimed.
Li does not teach that R1 and R2 are, each independently, an unsubstituted C10 to C30 linear alkyl group. However, Leclerc teaches a polymer having the formula
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312
440
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,
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342
850
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, or
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[00123]. Leclerc teaches a polymer that has a repeating unit of the formula
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, wherein R1 and R2 are independently selected alkyl groups [0011], wherein the term “alkyl” can be straight-chain or branched [0076], wherein examples of alkyl residues are decyl, undecyl, dodecyl, tridecyl, tetradecyl, pentadecyl, hexadecyl, heptadecyl, octadecyl, nonadecyl, icosyl, henicosyl, docosyl, tricosyl, tetracosyl, and pentacosyl [0076]. Li and Leclerc are analogous art because both references are in the same field of endeavor of a polymer comprising a structural unit represented by Chemical Formula 2, a structural unit represented by Chemical Formula 3, and optionally a structural unit represented by Chemical Formula 1. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to use Leclerc’s decyl, undecyl, dodecyl, tridecyl, tetradecyl, pentadecyl, hexadecyl, heptadecyl, octadecyl, nonadecyl, icosyl, henicosyl, docosyl, tricosyl, tetracosyl, or pentacosyl group to substitute for Li’s -CH2CH(C8C17)(C10C21) groups in a fraction of Li’s
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or
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in Li’s polymer. The proposed modification would read on wherein R1 and R2 are, each independently, an unsubstituted C10 to C25 linear alkyl group as claimed. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so because it would have been beneficial for modifying suitability of Li’s polymer for human-integrated electronics because Leclerc teaches that a polymer having the formula
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,
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850
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,
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344
856
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[00123], or
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, wherein R1 and R2 are independently selected alkyl groups [0011], wherein the term “alkyl” can be straight-chain or branched [0076], wherein examples of alkyl residues are decyl, undecyl, dodecyl, tridecyl, tetradecyl, pentadecyl, hexadecyl, heptadecyl, octadecyl, nonadecyl, icosyl, henicosyl, docosyl, tricosyl, tetracosyl, and pentacosyl [0076], is beneficial for being useful in organic electronics [0002], and because Li teaches that the polymer having the formula
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or
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(p. 3017) is beneficial for being useful in human-integrated electronics (p. 3015).
Correspondence
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID KARST whose telephone number is (571)270-7732. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00 AM-5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mark Eashoo can be reached at 571-272-1197. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DAVID T KARST/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1767
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