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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group III, claims 28, 34-36, 38, and 40-44 in the reply filed on July 13, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 28, 34-36, 38, and 40-44 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kearns et al (US 2019/0175497) in view of Flanders et al (2018, Polym. Chem., 9, 2328-2335).
With regards to claims 28, 34-36, 38, and 40-44, Kearns teaches ophthalmic compositions (title) that contains a comb polymer having the following structure:
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291
214
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(0099).
Kearns does not teach the exact polymer used in the lens.
Flanders teaches the following bottlebrush block polymers (page 2328) that has the following structure:
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82
189
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(page 2329) wherein R is the following:
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79
310
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(page 2329). Flanders teaches the motivation for using this polymer to be because the polymer can depolymerize to the monomer’s inherent equilibrium monomer concentration without adding radical initiator and without the RAFT CTA degrading (page 2334). Kearns and Flanders are analogous in the art of comb/brush polymers. In light of the benefit above, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art prior to the effective filing date of the present invention to use the polymer of Flanders in the composition of Kearns, thereby obtaining the present invention.
Kearns and Flanders are silent on the refractive index and complex viscosity of the polymer composition. However, where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation. In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 124 (CCPA 1955). In this case, one skilled in the art prior to the effective filing date of the present invention would know to alter the refractive index in order to match the eye’s optical system in order to minimize aberrations and restore clear vision and to alter the complex viscosity of the composition in order to optimize both drug delivery and patient comfort.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JESSICA WHITELEY whose telephone number is (571)272-5203. The examiner can normally be reached 8 - 5:00.
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/JESSICA WHITELEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1763
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