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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US Patent No. 5,407,581 to Onodera et al. (hereinafter “Onodera”).
Regarding claim 1, Onodera teaches a filter member having a filter that has an opening diameter which is smaller than a size of filtration targets contained in a particle-containing liquid (see col. 19, lines 31-41: “In the filter medium of the present invention for removing leukocytes from a blood material…mean the average pore diameters on cross-sections at portions”; col. 20, lines 8-13: “The average pore diameter of the porous element of the filter medium of the present invention is preferably in the range of from 1 to 100 µm, more preferably from 1 to 30 µm, from the viewpoint of desired efficiency in removing leukocytes”), and the filter being formed by a carbodiimide compound-treated fiber made of an amide-based fiber that contains the amide bond, and has a carboxyl group and/or an amino group as a functional group (see col. 15, lines 10-11: “polyamides, such as nylon 6 and nylon 6,6”; col. 16, lines 59-68: “Other methods for attaining a specific, limited surface electric charge of the porous element of the filter medium of the present invention include amidation in which a known carbodiimide, such as dicylohexylcarbodiimide, is reacted with a compound, such as primary and secondary amines, or a compound having an amino group”).
Regarding claim 2, Onodera teaches that the amide-based fiber is a polyamide fiber (see col. 15, lines 10-11: “polyamides, such as nylon 6 and nylon 6,6”).
Regarding claim 3, Onodera teaches that the carbodiimide compound has one or more carbodiimide groups in a molecular chain thereof (see col. 16, lines 59-68: “dicylohexylcarbodiimide”).
Regarding claim 4, Onodera teaches that a zeta potential of the carbodiimide compound-treated fiber is shifted toward a positive charge side more than that of the amide-based fiber that contains the amide bond, and has a carboxyl group and/or an amino group as a functional group (see col. 16, lines 50-68: “the porous element having a surface electric charge of not smaller than -30 µeq/g of the porous element can be obtained… include amidation in which a known carbodiimide, such as dicylohexylcarbodiimide, is reacted with a compound, such as primary and secondary amines, or a compound having an amino group”; col. 18, line 58 – col. 19, line 2: “the zeta-potential represents the relationship between the hydrophilicity of the medium and the surface electric charge of the medium. Thus the value of the zeta-potential depends on the hydrophilicity of the medium”; col. 17, lines 41-44: “it has been found that with the increase in a surface electric charge of the filter medium, a wettability of the surface of the medium with blood material is decreased”; col. 17, lines 58-61: “carboxylic groups in the non-woven fabric prominently contribute to the wettability. Thus, it is found that when CWST value of the medium is increased, the quantity of carboxylic groups in the fabric is also increased. The higher the value of CWST, the higher the wettability”). Hence, a zeta potential of the carbodiimide compound-treated fiber is shifted toward a positive charge side more than that of the amide-based fiber that contains the amide bond, and has a carboxyl group and/or an amino group as a functional group.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/102(a)(2) as being anticipated by
US 2018/0311599 A1 to Zhong et al. (hereinafter “Zhong”).
Regarding claim 1, Zhong discloses aa air filter, comprising a porous fiber mat comprising a plurality of stabilized protein-containing fibers, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of stabilized protein-containing fibers are crosslinked protein-containing fibers (see paragraph [0008]) and the at least one crosslinking agent comprises a water soluble carbodiimide (see paragraph [0009]) wherein gelatin solutions containing different loadings of crosslinking agent (from 0 to 30%) were fabricated into nanofiber mats using the electrospinning technique (see [paragraph [0257]).
Regarding claim 2, Zhong teaches protein fiber (see paragraph [0008]) including Collagen, Gelatin, Keratin, Casein (mammalian milk protein), Fibrin, Silk, Egg albumen, and wool (see paragraph [0068]).
Regarding claim 3, Zhong teaches water soluble carbodiimides, including but not limited to 1-ethyl-3-(3-(dimethylaminopropyl)-carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC) (see paragraph [0053]).
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chinese Patent Application No. CN 106117580 A (Wang).
Regarding claim 1, Wang discloses a filter modifier for filtering leukocytes composed of amidated silk fibroin, polyvinylpyrrolidone and an acrylate copolymer (see paragraph [0012]) wherein the amidated-modified silk fibroin is prepared by dissolving silk fibroin in water and add silk fibroin 2 times the weight of 1-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-3-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride (see paragraph [0018]) and the amidated modified silk fibroin is an amidation product of a side chain carboxyl group of a silk fibroin (protein fiber), and the amount of free carboxyl groups is changed to change the chargeability of the silk fibroin surface and regulate the adsorption of silk fibroin (see paragraph [0024]).
Conclusion
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/John Kim/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1772
JK
6/24/26
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