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 .
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 12-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Makyla et al (Fluorescent Protein Senses and Reports Mechanical Damage in Glass-Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites, May 2013, Advanced Materials, Vol. 25, p.2633-2752)
Makyla teaches a method for making a fiber-reinforced polymer composite, comprising a step of contacting a fiber with a first solution of 3-aminopropyl triethoxysilane, rinsing the fiber with a second solution of toluene and drying it, contacting the fiber with a third solution of eYFP, rinsing the fiber with a fourth solution of a phosphate buffer, and drying the fiber (Supporting Information, p.2, Glass surface modification), wherein the eYFP layer is UV-sensitive/fluorescent (Supporting Information, p.9, Figure S3). The functionalized fiber is then combined with an epoxy polymer matrix material, and the composite material is cured (Supporting Information, p.3, Preparation of glass-epoxy composites), followed by irradiation with a light source (Supporting Information, p.4, Confocal laser scanning microscopy, excitation light and emission light).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 14-17 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Makyla is the closest prior art, which teaches the basic claimed material as set forth above. However, Makyla does not teach the usage of cinnamoyl chloride. Although cinnamoyl moieties are known to have mechanophoric properties when incorporated into polymers (see Nofen et al, below), prior art alone or in combination does not teach the functionalization of fibers with cinnamoyl chloride. One of ordinary skill in the art would not have found it obvious to substitute the eYFP mechanophore taught by Makyla with cinnamoyl chloride.
Additional Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Nofen et al (Stress-sensing thermoset polymer networks via grafted cinnamoyl/cyclobutane mechanophore units in epoxy, 04 Nov 2016, Polymer Chemistry, Vol. 7, p.7429-7259) teaches epoxy resins functionalized with mechanophoric cinnamoyl units.
Correspondence
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CAITLIN N ILLING whose telephone number is (571)270-1940. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8AM-4PM.
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/C.N.I./Examiner, Art Unit 1767
/MARK EASHOO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1767
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