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 .
Applicant’s amendment filed 7/22/2026 has been entered. Claims 13, 14 and 16-19 were amended. New claims 21-23 were added. Claims 13-23 are pending examination.
Withdrawn rejections
Applicant's amendments and arguments filed 7/22/2026 are acknowledged and have been fully considered. Any rejection and/or objection not specifically addressed below is herein withdrawn.
Applicants amendment has necessitated a new rejection.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 7/22/2026 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claims 13-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Metcalf et al. (US 4,880,624; patented November 14, 1989) in view of Chung et al. (Immunotoxicity activity of 1,2,4-trimethoxybenzene from the Paulownia coreana Uyek. Against Aedes aegypti L, Immunopharmacology and Immunotoxicology, 2011; 33(1):97-99).
Applicant claims a method of repelling a mosquito from a surface comprising introducing to the surface a compound selected from 1,2,4-trimethoxybenzene. (Claim 13)
Applicant claims a method of repelling a mosquito from an air space comprising introducing to the air space a compound selected from 1,2,4-trimethoxybenzene. (Claim 16)
Applicant claims a method of repelling mosquito from a surface comprising introducing to an air space in a vicinity of the surface a compound selected from 1,2,4-trimethoxybenzene. (Claim 18)
With respect to claims 13-23, Metcalf et al. teach attractants and lures for attracting and controlling the adult form of Diabrotica species (abstract). Attractants include a compound selected from eugenol (column 4, lines 59-65; Table 1: limitations of claims 21-23). Compounds which have been proven to be effective as attractants for western corn rootworm include 1,2,4-trimethoxybenzene (column 5, lines 30-33). The attractants manipulate adult corn rootworm behavior and are so potent that they can mobilize the insect populations in large fields and attract them to specific areas where they can be destroyed (column 6, lines 3-16). Example 4 primarily focuses on the preparation of baits containing volatile attractants of southern corn rootworm (SCR), western corn rootworm (WCR) and striped cucumber beetle (SCB) (page 24, lines 16-53). The baits are with indole and eugenol (attractants) with methomyl (insecticide) were placed at random on the ground in cucurbit and corn rows heavily infested with SCR, WCR and SCB and after 24 hours the number of dead beetles were evaluated and found to improve the killing efficiency 3 to 4-fold (column 26, line 44 through column 27, line 12). Table 14 details the attractant rating of 1,2,4-trimethoxybenzene and 1,2,4-trimethoxybenzene is marginally attractive to SCR and WCR (column 29, line 40 through column 30, line 20).
With respect to claims 13-23, Metcalf et al. do not specify repelling an mosquitos from a surface or an air space by introducing to the 1,2,4-trimethoxybenzene, however, Metcalf et al. does teach that 1,2,4- trimethoxybenzene acts as an attractant that they can mobilize the insect populations in large fields and attract them to specific areas where they can be destroyed. Therefore, Metcalf et al. inherently teaches methods of repelling the insects from cucurbit and corn rows that are heavily infested by attracting them to the baits comprising the attractant compound. With respect to claim 20, Metcalf et al. do not teach the surface is a skin surface. With respect to claims 13-20 Metcalf et al. do not specify repelling mosquitos. It is for this reason that Chung et al. is joined.
Chung et al. teach A. aegypti is taught as a vector for dengue fever and to reduce the adult population and 1,2,4-trimethoxybenzene extracted from Paulownia coreana had a significant toxic effect on early fourth stage larvae at 31.64-56.43 ppm (abstract; page 97, paragraph 1). Major components of p.coreana include 1,2,4-trimethoxybenzene (8.32%) (Table 1). The adult female mosquitos were maintained on sucrose solutions and blood from the surface of anaesthetized mice (page 98, paragraph 4). The immunotoxicity activity of p. coreana against Aedes aegypti show that 1,2,4-trimethoxybenzene is the most toxic component which provides effects against mosquitoes (Table 2 & 3; page 99, paragraph 1).
Both Metcalf et al. and Chung et al. are drawn to methods of controlling insects with 1,2,4-trimethoxybenzene. Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Metcalf et al. and Chung et al. to use 1,2,4-trimethoxybenzene to repel mosquitos with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated before the time of filing to combine the teachings of Metcalf et al. and Chung et al. to include repelling mosquitos from skin surface with 1,2,4-trimethoxybenzene because Metcalf et al. teach that the compound is known to aid in attracting and mobilizing insect populations in large fields away from crop plants and Chung et al. teach that 1,2,4-trimethoxybenzene is the most toxic component which provides effects against mosquitoes when applied to a skin surface.
Conclusion
No claims allowed.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIELLE D JOHNSON whose telephone number is (571)270-3285. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00 am-5:30 pm.
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, Bethany Barham can be reached at 571-272-6175. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/BETHANY P BARHAM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1611
DANIELLE D. JOHNSON
Examiner
Art Unit 1617
