DETAILED ACTION
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
2. This Office Action is responsive to the amendment filed on 01/20/2026.
3. Claims 1-2, 4-21 are pending. Claims 1-2, 4-8 are under examination on the merits. Claims 1,6, 8 are amended. Claims 3 is previously cancelled. Claims 9-21 are withdrawn to a non-elected invention from further consideration.
4. The objections and rejections not addressed below are deemed withdrawn.
5. Applicant's arguments filed 01/20/2026 have been fully considered, and they are
persuasive, thus rejection of claims 1-2, 4-8 are withdrawn. However, based on newly found
prior art, this Office action is made Non-Final.
Information Disclosure Statement
6. The information disclosure statement submitted on 02/04/2026 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the examiner has considered the information disclosure statement.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
7. 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.
8. Claims 1, 4-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huber et al. (US Pub. No. 2005/0124727 A1, hereinafter “’727”).
Regarding claims 1,4-8: ‘727 teaches polymeric colored dispersant having the structure A--(B--X)n, where A is an organic chromophore, B is a covalently bonded linking moiety, X is a branched or linear C50-C200 polymeric covalently linked hydrocarbon, and n is an integer from 1 to 4, and low viscosity colorant dispersions containing same having a relative interfacial tension drop of less than about 1.5.(Page 1, [0005[). ‘727 teaches as for the organic chromophore (A), suitable organic chromophores include, but are not limited to rhodamine dyes and pigments (Page 2, [0013]), and as for polymeric covalently linked hydrocarbons (C), suitable polymeric covalently linked hydrocarbons are selected from but not limited to either branched or linear hydrocarbons. The polymeric hydrocarbon may be a C50-C200 hydrocarbon (i.e., read on the number average molar of the polymeric dye is at least about 500 Dalton), preferably a C100-C150 hydrocarbon. The polymeric hydrocarbon may, for example, be a polyalkylene and more preferred is polyisobutylene (Page 2, [0015]) with benefit of providing a need for a dispersant which lowers the viscosity of a pigment dispersion yet permits a higher pigment loading resulting in highly pigmented concentrations capable of being satisfactorily handled and dispersed in lithographic printing inks. Moreover, there exists a need to improve the stability of pigment dispersions used to pigment hydrocarbon compositions. There also exists a need for a dispersant that lowers the viscosity of highly concentrated non-polar pigment dispersions. At a high pigment load offering good lithographic and gravure printing performance while reducing the tendency towards scumming, feedback and over-emulsification (Page 1, [0004]).
9. Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huber et al. (US Pub. No. 2005/0124727 A1, hereinafter “’727”) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Lockwood et al. (US Pub. No. 2013/0261566 A1, hereinafter “’566”).
Regarding claim 2: The disclosure of ‘727 is adequately set forth in paragraph 8 above and is incorporated herein by reference. Rodgers does not expressly teach the one or more rhodamine fluorophore is selected from the group as set forth.
However, ‘566 teaches a medical device comprising a coating, the coating a polymeric matrix comprising a hydrophilic polymer, an ultraviolet light-activated photo group providing covalent bonding in the coating, and a visualization moiety entrained in the polymeric matrix, wherein the visualization moiety is in particulate form, molecular form, or combinations thereof, wherein the hydrophilic polymer is covalently crosslinked to a coating material, covalently bonded to a surface of the medical article, or both, and wherein the visualization moiety is selected from water-insoluble pigments, dyes, or fluorophores that provide color under visible light, or can be induced to provide color (Page 1, [0006]; Page 22, Claim 1). ‘566 teaches the visualization moiety is selected from pigments, dyes, or fluorophores that provide color under visible light, or can be induced to provide color such as rhodamine (Page 14, [0122], Table 3; Page 23, Claim 6) with benefit of providing hydrophilic polymeric coatings for medical devices, the coatings being visualizable in that they appear colored (e.g., blue, green, violet, red, etc.) under ambient or applied light. Since the visualizable coatings are colored, or can be induced to be colored (e.g., by fluorescence), they can be useful for a number of purposes, including assessing the quality or location of the coating during manufacture, or during a medical procedure. For example, the coating can be monitored during manufacturing or prior to use to provide information relating to coating properties such as uniformity and thickness. In some embodiments, monitoring of the coatings can be provided by an unaided human eye, a machine, or combinations thereof. For example, a coating can be visualized prior to insertion and manipulation of the medical device within the patient so the coating's location on the device is understood. The coating with the hydrophilic polymer can provide a lubricious surface which facilitates movement of the device in the body (Page 1, [0006]).
PNG
media_image1.png
242
580
media_image1.png
Greyscale
In an analogous art of the polymeric dye comprising rhodamine fluorophore and covalently bonded to a polymer, and in the light of such benefit before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the polymeric dye by ‘727, so as to include the specific rhodamine fluorophore structure as taught by ‘566, and would have been motivated to do so with reasonable expectation that this would result in providing the polymeric dye coatings for medical devices, the coatings being visualizable in that they appear colored (e.g., blue, green, violet, red, etc.) under ambient or applied light. Since the visualizable coatings are colored, or can be induced to be colored (e.g., by fluorescence), they can be useful for a number of purposes, including assessing the quality or location of the coating during manufacture, or during a medical procedure. For example, the coating can be monitored during manufacturing or prior to use to provide information relating to coating properties such as uniformity and thickness. In some embodiments, monitoring of the coatings can be provided by an unaided human eye, a machine, or combinations thereof. For example, a coating can be visualized prior to insertion and manipulation of the medical device within the patient so the coating's location on the device is understood. The coating with the hydrophilic polymer can provide a lubricious surface which facilitates movement of the device in the body as suggested by ‘566 (Page 1, [0006]).
Response to Arguments
10. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-2, 4-8 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the references being used in the current rejection.
Examiner Information
11. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Bijan Ahvazi, Ph.D. whose telephone number is (571)270-3449. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 9.00 A.M. -7 P.M..
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joseph Del Sole can be reached on 571-272-1130. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. 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.
/Bijan Ahvazi/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1763
02/18/2026
bijan.ahvazi@uspto.gov