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 § 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.
Claim 1 recites the limitation “the reaction process” in the body of the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102/103
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.
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.
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.
Claims 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Lustosa et al., NPL document entitled Gold-Catalyzed One-Pot Synthesis of 1,3-Disubstituted Allenes from Benzaldehydes and Terminal Alkynes (hereinafter referred to as Lustosa).
Lustosa discloses a method for gold-catalyzed one-pot synthesis of 1,3-disubstituted allene from benzaldehyde and terminal alkyne. The reaction formula is as follows:
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280
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The reaction conditions are as follows: 0.7 ml of a solvent-trichloroethane (TFE), 50 µmol of la (benzaldehyde), 60 umol of 2 (alkyne), 75 µmol of 3 (morpholine), and 25 mg of a molecular sieve. The molecular sieve is 3 Å. The allene can be used as a building block for synthesizing complex molecules (see Lustosa, page 5050, left column, and page 5053).
Lustosa differs from claim 1 in that: the reaction temperature is different: in claim 1, the reaction temperature is room temperature, whereas in Lustosa, the reaction temperature is 70°C. According to what is recited in the description, in the method for preparing allene in the prior art, the step of 1,5-hydrogen migration in the prior art needs to overcome a very high energy barrier, and usually needs to be performed at a temperature of more than one hundred degrees.
Claim 1 does not define the structures of a metal carbene catalyst and an amine. According to the reaction mechanism recited in page 6 of the description of the
present application, it would be difficult for a person skilled in the art to expect that all the technical solutions within the scope of claim 1 can be performed at room temperature and achieve the same technical effect. Therefore, the technical problem solved by claim 1 with respect to Lustosa is to provide a novel method for preparing a 1.3-disubstituted allene compound. Adjusting the reaction temperature according to
different reaction raw materials and solvents is a common means. A person skilled in the art can arrive at the technical solution of claim 1 by combining Lustosa with common means without involving any inventive effort.
Lustosa discloses morpholine, IPrAuNTf₂ falling within the range of Aul, a 3A molecular sieve, and trifluoroethanol. Lustosa further discloses that the 75-µmol terminal alkyne compound uses a 25-mg molecular sieve, that is, the usage amount of the molecular sieve is about 333 mg/mmol, and the reaction temperature is 70°C and the reaction time is 48 h. As stated above, a person skilled in the art would be able to adjust the reaction temperature according to the physicochemical properties of reaction
raw materials and solvents.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VISHAL V VASISTH whose telephone number is (571)270-3716. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00-4:30 and 7:00-10:00p.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Prem Singh can be reached at 5712726381. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/VISHAL V VASISTH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1771
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