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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 09/16/2026 has been entered.
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, 10-13, 18, 19, 38, 43, 80 and 81 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sahiner et al. “PEI-based hydrogels with different morphology and sizes: Bulkgel, microgel, and cryogel…”
Regarding claims 1, 10-13, 18, 19 and 43, Sahiner teaches a crosslinked PEI hydrogel (See Pg. 159, last para). The reference teaches the following structure in Fig. 1:
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The reference shows polyamines where an amine group has been substituted or replaced with a hydroxyethyl group. The reference shows the combination of the polyamine with a functionalizing epoxide (See Fig. 1 on Pg. 160). Glycerol is taught as the crosslinking agent (Pg. 158, first para). Water is considered as the liquid swelling agent. Alternatively the glycerol is considered as the swelling agent since it provides the cross linking ability which allows the hydrogel to swell. The functional group R1 and R2 are considered to be hydrogen. Additionally, any of the CH2-CH2-OH groups will read on the claimed limitation as the substitution for a previously present amine group.
Regarding claim 38, the ability for the glycerol to swell to a capacity in the range of 1-200 g/g of liquid swelling agent is considered intrinsic to the glycerol. The instant invention describes the swelling agent to be any one or more of alcohols, polyols and amines (See Instant Spec Pg. 17, lines 22-26). This includes glycerol which is disclosed by the Sahiner reference (See Pg. 158, first para). The swelling capacity would be expected to be within the broad range claimed because the swelling agent is described to include a compound such as glycerol.
Regarding claims 80 and 81, the Sahiner reference teaches particulate microgel and film shaped cryogel (See Fig. 1, (c) and (d)).
Allowable Subject Matter
In view of Applicant’s IDS submission of 09/16/2026, the notice of allowability of 08/12/2026 has been withdrawn.
Claim 82 is 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Claim 82 requires “The hydrogel of claim 1, wherein the one or more amine groups is substituted with 2-hydroxybutane.”
Sahiner et al. does not teach or suggest “… the one or more amine groups is substituted with 2-hydroxybutane”.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SYED TAHA IQBAL whose telephone number is (571)270-5857. The examiner can normally be reached M-F; 7-5.
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/SYED T IQBAL/Examiner, Art Unit 1736
/ANTHONY J ZIMMER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1736
