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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
No Information Disclosure Statement has been filed.
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 2 and 3 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.
Claim 2 is a “method of preventing and/or treating a surface”, but does not include any active method steps. It is unclear how the compound is being used to treat the surface, and if the compound is being applied to the surface. Also, it is unclear whether the surface comprises the biocidal agent, also comprises the compound, or if the compound is applied to the surface. It is also unclear what is being prevented and/or treated on the surface.
Claim 3 recites “A composition for incorporation with one or more polymers…process” and then recites “the composition including one or more polymers as a substrate”. The first phrase seems to imply a step of adding polymers to a composition using a chemical bonding step, while the 2nd phrase simply requires a substrate, one or more polymers and the claimed diselenide. The claim is interpreted as a composition that is chemically bonded with one or more polymers, and a separate composition comprising one or more polymers that act as a substrate to support organic diselenide. The two phrases recite distinct structural characteristics which render the metes and bounds of the claim indefinite and it is unclear what specific structure applicant is limiting the claims too.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 1 is allowed.
Closest Prior Art
The closest prior art is Tian (Fengshou Tian et al., “Efficient Reductive Selenation of Aromatic Aldehydes to Symmetrical Diselenides with Se/CO/H2O under Atmospheric Pressure”, The Journal of Organic Chemistry, 20 May 2004, Pgs. 4520-4523, as cited on the International Search Report (ISR) dated 01 June 2021).
Tian teaches organic diselenides useful as synthetic reagents and chemical intermediates (Abstract). Tian teaches compound 2b, bottom left, that overlaps with the diselenide compound in the instant claims, bottom right.
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Compound 2b disclosed in Tian does not teach additional carbon atoms, or double bonds, as in the instant diselenide compound.
It would not have been prima facie obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to add 2 additional carbon-carbon double bonds to each side of the selenide compound disclosed in Tian because there is no known motivation in the art.
Conclusion
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/C.M.R./Examiner, Art Unit 1627
/JENNIFER A BERRIOS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1613
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