DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of group I and species A comprising Claims 1-4 and 9-11 in the reply filed on 04/26/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 1-22 are pending in the application. Claims 5-8 and 12-22 are withdrawn from consideration. Claims 1-4 and 9-11 are considered on merits.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4 and 9-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Xue et al. (Langmuir, 2019, IDS) (Xue).
Regarding claim 1, Xue discloses a chemically-cleavable surfactant comprising: a) hydrophilic head, b) a hydrophobic tail, and c) a cleavable disulfide bond covalently linking the hydrophilic head and hydrophobic tail, where the cleavable disulfide bond is able to release the hydrophilic head, release the hydrophobic tail, and/or break apart upon exposure to a reducing agent (Fig. 2, page 4321, par 6 & 9).
Regarding claim 2, Xue discloses that wherein the reducing agent is selected
from the group consisting of tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine (TCEP), dithiothreitol (OTT), beta mercaptoethanol (BM E), dithiobutylamine (DTBA), [N, N'-dimethyl-N, N'-bis(mercaptoacetyl) hydrazine (DMH), glutathione (GSH), borane dimethylsulfide (BMS), cysteine-HCI, 2-mercaptoethylamine-HCI, and combinations thereof (page 4321, par 6).
Regarding claim 3, Xue discloses that wherein the chemically-cleavable
surfactant has the formula:
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wherein R1 is a hydrophilic moiety and R2 is a hydrophobic moiety, and n is an integer selected from 1 to 6 (Fig. 2, page 4321, par 9).
Regarding claim 4, Xue discloses that wherein R1 comprises one or more
branched or unbranched monosaccharides, disaccharides, polysaccharides, or combinations thereof (Fig. 2, page 4321, par 9).
Regarding claim 9, Xue discloses that wherein R2 is a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, or aryl group having between 2 and 16 carbon atoms (Fig. 2, page 4321, par 9).
Regarding claim 10, Xue discloses that wherein R2 is an alkyl group the
formula:
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where n is an integer selected from 1-30 (Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 11, Xue discloses that where the chemically-cleavable
surfactant of the method has the formula (Fig. 2, page 4321, par 9):
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Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to XIAOYUN R XU, Ph. D. whose telephone number is (571)270-5560. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5pm.
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/XIAOYUN R XU, Ph.D./Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1797
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