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 .
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.
Claims 1-9 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wang et al (Self-Catalyzed Living Radical Polymerization Using Quaternary Ammonium-Iodide-Containing Monomers, Macromolecules 2019, 52, 2712−2718, published on March 27, 2019, cited in IDS.
Wang discloses antibacterial copolymer (see page 2717, chapter “Conclusions”, meeting the limitations of claim 13) formed from methylmethacrylate (i.e., MMA, meeting the limitations of claims 7 and 8) and the following monomer (see Figure 1 at page 2713 and Table 1, entry 7 at page 2714, meeting the limitations of claims 2-6):
PNG
media_image1.png
192
72
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 9, Wang teaches MMA-C6MAI copolymer (see Table 1, entry 2), which has Mn value of 11000.
Claims 1-9 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhao et al (Self-Stratified Antimicrobial Acrylic Coatings via One-Step UV Curing, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2015, 7, 18467−18472, published on July 30, 2015, cited in IDS).
Zhao teaches an antibacterial coating effective against Gram positive and Gram negative E.coli (see page 18471, left column) used in healthcare settings, food industry, biomedical industry (see page 18471, right column) obtained via one-step UV curing of a mixture of acrylic monomers, including MMA, the cross linker EGDMA, and a QAC-containing perfluoroalkyl monomer (QAC-2) (see page 18471, left column).
Zhao teaches that QAC-2 can be equally replaced by QAC-1 having the following formula (meeting the limitations of claims 1-5):
PNG
media_image2.png
102
310
media_image2.png
Greyscale
As a result, all limitations of claims 1-5, 7-8 and 120-14 are met.
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 10-12 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang as applied to claims 1-9 and 13 above, and further in view of Zhao.
Wang fails to teach an antibacterial property and a specific application for the antibacterial copolymer.
Zhao teaches an antibacterial coating effective against Gram positive and Gram negative E.coli (see page 18471, left column) used in healthcare settings, food industry, biomedical industry (see page 18471, right column) obtained via one-step UV curing of a mixture of acrylic monomers, including MMA, the cross linker EGDMA, and a QAC-containing perfluoroalkyl monomer (QAC-2) (see page 18471, left column).
The position isa taken that since Wang and Zhao disclose the polymer from the same or analogous monomers, they possess the same antibacterial properties and can be used in the same applications.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to expect the same properties from Wang’s and Zhao’s polymers and the same applications for them, since they built from the same monomers.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY LISTVOYB whose telephone number is (571)272-6105. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-5pm EST M-F.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Heidi Riviere Kelley can be reached at (571) 270-1831. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
GL
/GREGORY LISTVOYB/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1765
Prosecution Insights