DETAILED CORRESPONDENCE
Status of Application
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
The claim set and remarks filed on 6/9/2026 are acknowledged.
Claims 25-26 are newly added.
Claims 1, 11, 12, 14, 16, 19, 22, and 24 are amended.
Claims 1-26 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s amendments and arguments on pages 8-10 of the 6/9/2026 remarks have been fully considered and are persuasive to overcome the previous art rejections. The previous rejections under 35 USC 103 are now withdrawn.
Claims 1-26 are free of the art.
However, upon further consideration of the claims, examiner makes the 112(b) rejection below.
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.
Claims 1-26 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claims 1, 14, and 19 are indefinite for reciting the “an exopolysaccharide matrix-degrading enzyme configured to create pores or openings in a biofilm matrix on a surface of the tooth” and “the nanoparticle configured to embed or penetrate into the pores or openings in the biofilm matrix to deliver the anticaries active ingredient locally at the surface of the tooth”, which is unclear because examiner is unable to determine if the exopolysaccharide matrix-degrading enzyme is inside the nanoparticle or on the outside of the particle. The specification discloses “Penetration of such nanoparticles is much improved by the present of dextrananse (comparing FIGS. 8C and 8D, showing the pores created in the biofilm). The "pores" or openings in the biofilm created by dextranase“ [0120]. Examiner is unable to determine if the enzyme is an outer coating, or in the core of the nanoparticle.
Claims 2-13, 15-18, and 20-26 are included in this rejection because they do not correct for the defect of the claims from which they depend.
Appropriate correction is required.
Conclusion
No claims are allowed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to QUANGLONG N TRUONG whose telephone number is (571)270-0719. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:00am-5:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Robert A Wax can be reached on 571-272-0623. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/QUANGLONG N TRUONG/Examiner, Art Unit 1615
