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 .
DETAILED ACTION
The previous action (7/16/26) of non-compliant amendment has been withdrawn.
The examiner urges submission of FOR document to meet the FOR priority requirement.
The examiner urges combining claim 4 with claim 1 to facilitate the allowance.
Election/Restrictions
The applicant appears to Species Group I (claims 1-7 and 15-16) without traverse.
The examiner withdraws the previous election of species requirement of cationic initiator A or B and hydrogen bond donor in claims 4-5.
This restriction is made FINAL. See previous action for the reasons of applying restriction.
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.
Claim(s) 1-7 and 15-16 (is)are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 1 fails to define “with a controllable activity”, which is an indefinite limitation. Claims 2-7 and 15-16 depend upon claim 1 and fail to rectify the issue in claim 1. See MPEP § 2173.05(d). The examiner urges deleting the limitation.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 is(are) rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Dove et al. (JACS, listed on IDS).
Dove (title, abs., schemes, tables) discloses a method of performing living cationic polymerization of monomers by supermolecular anion-binding catalysis
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501
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the cationic initiator, thiourea-amine, is an initiator inherently capable of generating a cationic active species by an effect of the hydrogen-bond donor; the hydrogen-bond donor, ROH, is a hydrogen-bond donor inherently capable of extracting and binding a counter anion from the cationic initiator or a chain end of a dormant polymer to generate the cationic active species by a supermolecular anion-binding interaction, and inherently to realize instant reversible conversion between a dormant species and the cationic active species, and to facilitate a polymerization reaction between the cationic active species and a monomer capable of being polymerized by cationic polymerization.
Claim(s) 1-3, 6-7, and 15-16 is(are) rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kottisch et al. (Angewandte, listed on IDS).
Kottisch (abs., schemes, tables) discloses a method of performing living cationic polymerization of monomers by inherently supermolecular anion-binding catalysis
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487
503
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453
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the cationic initiator, PCCP that meets the claimed formulae:
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of instant claims 2-3, is an initiator capable of generating a cationic active species by an effect of the hydrogen-bond donor; the hydrogen-bond donor, HBD, is a hydrogen-bond donor capable of extracting and binding a counter anion from the cationic initiator or a chain end of a dormant polymer to inherently generate the cationic active species by a supermolecular anion-binding interaction, and inherently to realize instant reversible conversion between a dormant species and the cationic active species, and to facilitate a polymerization reaction between the cationic active species and the monomer, isobutyl vinyl ethe (as claimed in claims 6-7), capable of being polymerized by cationic polymerization. The ranges of M:PCCP-H:HBD in above table meet the ranges of instant claims 15-16.
As known to one of ordinary skill in the art, a supermolecule (or supramolecule) is a complex entity formed by two or more molecules or ions held together by weak, reversible, non-covalent interactions like hydrogen bonding, electrostatic forces, or hydrophobic effects. Unlike traditional molecules bound by shared electrons, supermolecules rely on spatial organization and molecular self-assembly. Thus, Kottisch’s living cationic polymerization would inherently yield supermolecular anion-binding catalysis.
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is an examiner's statement of reasons for allowance:
Claim(s) 4-5 is(are) objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims in proviso the above 112b issue is resolved.
Claim(s) 4-5 is(are) allowable over the closest prior art: Kottisch et al. (Angewandte, listed on IDS).
Kottisch fails to teach the claimed hydrogen-bond donors.
Therefore, claims 4-5 (are) provisionally allowable.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance”.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHANE FANG whose telephone number is (571)270-7378. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Thurs. 8am-6pm. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Randy Gulakowski can be reached on 571.572.1302. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SHANE FANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1766
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