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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 9 and 10 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on July 17, 2026.
Specification
Applicant is reminded of the proper content of an abstract of the disclosure.
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because the abstraction mentions a CPC or international classification in the disclosure. The USPTO is responsible for analyzing the application and assigning the official classification codes.
See MPEP § 608.01(b) for guidelines for the preparation of patent abstracts.
A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
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 1-8 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims recite “benzylazole” which is not well defined in the specification. It is not clear if the scope of the term includes all organic chemical compounds comprising the structure of benzyl and an azole, or applicant means to include a specific compound. Although the specification mentions that benzylazole is disclosed in CN1134912169 A, this reference also fails to provide sufficient explanation what compound(s) should be considered to determine the scope of the limitation. Claims 1-8 are rejected for being vague and indefinite, and the claims have not been further treated for the merits. The lack of prior art rejections in this Office action is not an indication that the invention is free of prior art.
Claims 3 and 4 contain the trademark/trade names, TSC-930, SP-OF3498D, GY-EM05, WELOD 461, OD21, ODE286 and TSC901. Where a trademark or trade name is used in a claim as a limitation to identify or describe a particular material or product, the claim does not comply with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph. See Ex parte Simpson, 218 USPQ 1020 (Bd. App. 1982). The claim scope is uncertain since the trademark or trade name cannot be used properly to identify any particular material or product. A trademark or trade name is used to identify a source of goods, and not the goods themselves. Thus, a trademark or trade name does not identify or describe the goods associated with the trademark or trade name. In the present case, the trademark/trade name is used to identify/describe wetting agents and, accordingly, the identification/description is indefinite.
Claims 3 and 4 are also vague and indefinite as applicant fail to disclose what the commercial names TSC-930, SP-OF3498D, GY-EM05, WELOD 461, OD21, ODE286 and TSC901 represent and fail to disclose what specific compounds are used in the invention. Commercial names can be changed at will by manufacturers over time and do not particularly define the scope of an invention.
Conclusion
No claims are allowed.
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/GINA C JUSTICE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1617
