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 .
Status of Application
Receipt of Applicant’s remarks and amended claims filed on January 27, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 1-20 are pending.
Claims 1, 4-7, 10-11, and 13-15 have been amended.
Claims 19-20 are new.
No claims have been cancelled.
All pending claims are under examination.
Information Disclosure Statement
Receipt of the Information Disclosure Statement filed on December 12, 2025 is acknowledged. A signed copy is attached to this office action.
Withdrawn Objections/Rejections
Claim Objections
The objection to claims 4 and 14 because the claims do not end in a period has been withdrawn in view of the amendment to add a period.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The rejection of claims 1-3, 8-9, 11, and 15 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hori et al. (US 2021/0106684) has been withdrawn in view of the amendments to claim 1 to recite the substrate has a hydroxylated diamond substrate having a functionalized surface.
The rejection of claims 1-4, 7, 11, 15, and 17-18 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nui et al. (US 2017/0326236) has been withdrawn in view of the amendment to claim 1 to recite the substrate is a hydroxylated diamond substate.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The rejection of claims 1-3, 8-11, and 13-16 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hori et al. (US 2021/0106684) in view of Fujii et al. (EP 0 386 146) has been withdrawn in view of the amendments to claim 1 to recite the substrate has a hydroxylated diamond substrate having a functionalized surface.
The rejection of claims 1-3, 5-6, 8-9, 11, 13, and 15 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hori et al. (US 2021/0106684) in view of Hwang et al. (Neutron capture nuclei-containing carbon nanoparticles for destruction of cancer cells, Biomaterials 31 (2010) 8419-8425) has been withdrawn in view of the amendments to claim 1 to recite the substrate has a hydroxylated diamond substrate having a functionalized surface.
The rejection of claims 1-3, 8-9, 11-12, and 15 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hori et al. (US 2021/0106684) in view of Beklemyshev et al. (RU 2460689C1) has been withdrawn in view of the amendments to claim 1 to recite the substrate has a hydroxylated diamond substrate having a functionalized surface.
New and Maintained Rejection
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The rejection of claims 5-6 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention because the claims recite the limitation “over about 40 up to about 100 percent” and the term “about” is defined in the specification to “allow for a degree of variability in a value or range, for example within 10%, within 5%, or within 1%”. However, this recitation would allow for a greater than 100% coverage of the surface has been withdrawn in view of the amendment to recite “over about 40 and up to 100 percent” as suggested by the Examiner.
Allowable Subject Matter
The claims are free of the prior art. The closest prior art is that of Nui et al. (US 2017/0326236) which discloses a composition includes at least one nanodiamond particle and at least one neutron capture element, in which the at least one neutron capture element is embedded into the at least one nanodiamond particle by using an ion implantation system (abstract).
The at least one neutron capture element comprises boron-10 or gadolinium-157 (paragraph 0008).
As noted in Applicant’s remarks dated January 27, 2026, Niu's process is ion implantation, which Niu describes as comprising an ion source assembly, for generating ions; an extraction assembly, for extracting the ions from the ion source assembly to form an ion beam; an analyzing magnet, for selecting the at least one neutron capture element from the ion beam; and an end station such that the at least one neutron capture element is implanted into the workpiece. This process uses high-energy ion bombardment to drive boron atoms into the diamond crystal lattice, where they become embedded in the bulk structure and substitute for carbon atoms in the sp³ lattice. The instant invention uses chemical surface functionalization. Amended claim 1 recites "boron-carbon bonds formed by reaction of hydroxyl groups at the surface with a trigonal boron halide compound," and amended claim 15 describes a boronated diamond nanoscale substrate with "boron-carbon surface bonds." Paragraph [0092] confirms this is accomplished by "room temperature reaction of boron trihalides (BBr₃ and BCL₃) with NDOH under inert conditions," where NDOH is hydroxylated nanodiamond. These different processes produce structurally different products.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Martin et al. (General Strategy for High Density Covalent Functionalization of Diamond Nanoparticles Using Fenton Chemistry, Chemistry of Materials, (2009), v.21, p.4505-4514).
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MELISSA S MERCIER whose telephone number is (571)272-9039. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6:30 am to 4 pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Robert A Wax can be reached at 571-272-0623. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MELISSA S MERCIER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1615
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