DETAILED ACTION
This office action follows a reply filed on August 10, 2026. Claims 18 and 20 have been amended. Claims 18, 20-25 and 28-29 are currently pending and under examination.
All rejections are withdrawn; however, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is proposed below.
The texts of those sections of Title 35 U.S. Code are not included in this section and can be found in a prior Office action.
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 § 103
Claims 18, 20-25 and 28-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bottcher (US 2012/0186487) in view of Kuroda (US 5,595,747).
Bottcher teaches inorganic carrier materials containing heterocyclic 3-ring compounds, where the following aziridine compounds are exemplified as the heterocyclic 3-ring compounds:
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106
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,
where R30 and R38 are H or methyl.
Bottcher does not teach the inorganic carrier to include hydrotalcite, as claimed.
Bottcher teaches supporting the aziridine based compound on the inorganic carrier in order to stabilize iodine containing solutions, particularly in storage at elevated temperatures, where the inorganic carrier comprising absorptively or covalently bound aziridine is mixed with the biocide IPBC (3-iodo-2-propynyl butylcarbamate) (p. 8, [0120]-[0128]).
Kuroda teaches hydrotalcite-like compounds can release an active agent, like IPBC, gradually over a long period of time while retaining the active agent for a long time, so that is has long acting effect and can be used for various applications, such as pesticidal formulations.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have used hydrotalcite as the inorganic carrier of Bottcher, as Bottcher teaches treating an inorganic carrier with an aziridine before addition to IPBC in order to further stabilize the IPBC, where Kuroda teaches hydrotalcite as a suitable carrier for IPBC in pesticidal (biocidal) formulations.
Bottcher in view of Kuroda is prima facie obvious over instant claims 18 and 20-21.
As to claims 22-23, Kuroda teaches the hydrotalcite as follows:
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Claims 24-25 can be rejected, as claims 24-25 only limit dawsonite when it is present and hydrotalcite is listed as a suitable alternative.
As to claim 28, Kuroda exemplifies the use of an anhydrous hydrotalcite, Kyowaad 2000 (col. 4, ll. 1-4).
As to claim 29, Bottcher teaches the carrier material as comprising most preferably 0.01-50 wt% of the aziridine compound and 50-99.99 wt% of the inorganic carrier, suggesting a weight ratio of aziridine:carrier of at most 1:1, and exemplifies a carrier comprising 23.2% aziridine, suggesting a weight ratio of aziridine to carrier of about 1:3.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to JP ‘993 in view of JP ‘543 and further in view of JP ‘721 have been fully considered and are persuasive, such that even though JP ‘993 teaches the aziridine compound in combination with the inorganic pigment, these components must be present with other components and cannot be used alone.
Please note that Bottcher explicitly teaches preparing a supported aziridine as a stabilizer for iodine containing compounds/compositions, before adding it to the IPBC.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRIEANN R JOHNSTON whose telephone number is (571)270-7344. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM EST.
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/Brieann R Johnston/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1766
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