DETAILED ACTION
Status of Application
This action is responsive to non-provisional application filed 03/07/2024. Original claims 1-18 are currently pending and under examination herein.
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 .
Information Disclosure Statement(s)
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) accompanying the application papers is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97, 1.98 and MPEP § 609, and therefore the information referred to therein has been considered as to the merits. Initialed copies of the IDS are included with the mailing/transmittal of this Office action.
Objection – Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: errors in nomenclature are noted in paragraphs [0049] and [0057]: “acrylol” and “methacrylol” (each occurrence) should read –acryloyl-- and methacryloyl--, respectively, as evidenced by the extract from EnvironmentalChemistry.com for Methacryloyl chloride.
Appropriate correction of the specification is required.
Objection – Claims
Claim 13 is objected to because of the following informalities: referring to line 2, “acrylol” should read –acryloyl-- as discussed above with respect to the corresponding term in the specification. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections – 35 U.S.C. 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 5-7 and 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding Claim 5, the claim is incomplete, hence indefinite, due to lack of definition for subscript variable “m” in recited Structure 2. In consequence, the scope of recurring units encompassed by Structure 2 for the perfluoropyridine-based comonomer is not discernible with reasonable certainty. Claims 6/7 are subsumed under this ground of rejection due to dependency on claim 5. Appropriate correction is required.
Regarding Claim 13, the claim contains the broad recitation “amine base” in line 2, followed by the linking term "preferably" and then “triethylamine,” which is a narrower recitation of the broad limitation. A broad range or limitation together with a narrow range or limitation that falls within the broad range or limitation (in the same claim) is considered indefinite, since the resulting claim does not clearly set forth the metes and bounds of the patent protection desired. See MPEP§ 2173.05(d). More specifically, it is unclear whether the feature introduced by the linking term is intended to be restrictive to the corresponding broader recitation, or merely exemplary of the remainder of the claim, and therefore not required. For purposes of substantive examination, the feature introduced by the linking term is being treated as merely exemplary of the corresponding broader recitations, in accordance with the principal of giving the broadest reasonable interpretation to pending claims. See MPEP § 2173.01(1). However, clarification and appropriate correction are required. Claims 14/15 are subsumed under this ground of rejection due to dependency on claim 13.
Pertinent Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. GB 1100825 is cited as pertinent to synthesis of 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoropyridine-4-carboxylic acid (note Example 1). Iacono et al (US ‘357) is cited as pertinent to mechanicochemical based synthesis of perfluoropyridine monomers (note claim 11). Iacono et al (US ‘032) is cited as pertinent to perfluoropyridine-derived aromatic monomers (note Examples 1-5).
None of the cited art teaches the present invention, especially a monomer having a structural formula as depicted in independent claim 1 or 16, or a process of making a monomer according to independent claim 13.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-4, 8-12 and 16-18 are allowed. Balance of the claims would be allowable if amended or rewritten to overcome the objection (re: claim 13) and the rejection under 35 U.S.C. 112 set forth in this Office action.
Correspondence
Any inquiry concerning this communication should be directed to Examiner F. M. Teskin whose telephone number is (571) 272-1116. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Robert Jones, can be reached at (571) 270-7733. The appropriate fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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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) Form at https://www.uspto.gov/patents/uspto-automated- interview-request-air-form.
/FRED M TESKIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1762
/FMTeskin/09-26-26
