DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
2. The species election reading on an agent set forth in the Restriction/ Election mailed November 3, 2022 is withdrawn given the species have been deleted from claim 2 and the agent is clearly identified in claim 1, see Amendments to the Claims submitted October 12, 2023; December 19, 2024; and June 2, 2026.
3. Claims 1, 2, 7, 8, 15, 16, 21, 22, 62, 63, 71, 72, 77 and 78 are pending.
Claims 62, 63, 71, 72, 77 and 78, drawn to non-elected inventions and non-elected species are withdrawn from examination.
Claims 1, 2, 15 and 16 have been amended.
Claims 1, 2, 7, 8, 15, 16, 21 and 22 are examined on the merits.
4. The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Withdrawn Grounds of Rejection
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
5. Claim 16 no longer recites the limitation "the cancer" in steps (9) and (11) as those steps have been deleted from the claim, see Amendments to the Claims, submitted June 5, 2026, page 5.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
6. The rejection of claim(s) 1, 2, 7, 8, 15, 16, 21 and 22 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al., (Oncotarget 8(26): 41975-41987, published online March 30, 2017), and further in view of WO 00/56931 document (published 28 September 2000), Wong et al. (Cancer Research 60: 6171-6177, November 1, 2000) and Ring et al., US 2016/0039903 A1 (effectively filed April 21, 2015) is withdrawn in light of Applicant’s argument, the WO document does not teach the shRNA comprising a 21-mer target sequence with BRG1, but rather a genomic exonic sequence of a BRG1 nucleic acid sequence that is 859 nucleotides in length, see Remarks submitted June 2, 2026, pages 10-15 and in particular page 13, 1st paragraph.
New Grounds of Objection
Drawings
7. The drawings are objected to because Figure 1E; Figure 3H; Figure 11A; and Figures 14A and 14B, recite at least ten nucleotides, see Drawings submitted February 21, 2020. The MPEP 2421.02 states “[t]he sequence rules embrace all unbranched nucleotide sequences with ten or more bases and all unbranched, non-D amino acid sequences with four or more amino acids, provided that there are at least 10 “specifically defined” nucleotides or 4 “specifically defined” nucleotides or amino acids. The rules apply to all sequences in a given application, whether claimed or not.”
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the Examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance. See Sequence Compliance Letter.
Applicant is required to review the entire specification for similar errors.
8. The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a) because they fail to show Figures 2I and 2J as described in the specification, see page 157, last full paragraph. Any structural detail that is essential for a proper understanding of the disclosed invention should be shown in the drawing. MPEP § 608.02(d). Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Applicant is required to review the entire specification for similar errors.
Specification
9. The disclosure is objected to because of the following informality: there are at
at least ten nucleotides listed in Table 2 on page 146; and Table 4 spanning page 154 and 155. The MPEP 2421.01 states “[t]he sequence rules embrace all unbranched nucleotide sequences with ten or more bases and all unbranched, non-D amino acid sequences with four or more amino acids, provided that there are at least 10 “specifically defined” nucleotides or 4 “specifically defined” nucleotides or amino acids. The rules apply to all sequences in a given application, whether claimed or not.” All such sequences are relevant for the purposes of building a comprehensive database and properly assessing prior art. It is therefore essential that all sequences, whether only disclosed or also claimed, be included in the database.” Applicants are required to review the entire specification for similar errors. See Sequence Compliance Letter.
Correction is required.
Allowable Subject Matter
10. Claims 1, 2, 7, 8, 15, 16, 21 and 22 are allowed.
Conclusion
11. THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
11. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to ALANA HARRIS DENT whose telephone number is (571)272-0831. The Examiner works a flexible schedule, however she can generally be reached on 8AM-8PM, Monday through Friday.
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, Julie Wu can be reached on 571-272-5205. 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.
ALANA HARRIS DENT
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1643
10 August 2026
/Alana Harris Dent/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1643
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