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 .
According to a preliminary amendment filed on March 26, 2024, the applicants have amended claims 6-9 and 11-13 and furthermore, have added new claims 14-19.
Claims 1-19 are pending in the application.
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.
5. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
6. Claims 1-2 and 6-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kiran (RSC Advances, cited on applicant’s form 1449).
Kiran discloses esterification of aldehydes with alcohols employing NHC (N-heterocyclic carbene) as catalyst and oxygen as an oxidant (see scheme 1 on page 1695). The esterification of furfural (see entry p in table 2 on page 1696) in 63% yield disclosed by Kiran meets all the limitations of instant claims except that furfural is unsubstituted (variables F1 and F2 represent H instead of alkyl groups in instant claims 11, 12, 14 and 15). However, Kiran teaches that substitution of aromatic ring or heteroaromatic ring (variables Ar) does not affect the esterification of aldehyde on aromatic or heteroaromatic ring as shown in table 2 on page 1696). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to esterify alkyl substituted furfural aldehyde
with reasonable expectation of success.
Allowable Subject Matter
7. Claims 3-5 and 17-19 are 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.
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHARANJIT AULAKH whose telephone number is (571)272-0678. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:00-3:30.
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, Clinton A Brooks can be reached at 571-270-7682. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHARANJIT AULAKH/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1621
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