Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 16/948,467

TLR7/8 ANTAGONISTS AND USES THEREOF

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Sep 21, 2020
Examiner
MCDOWELL, BRIAN E
Art Unit
1624
Tech Center
1600 — Biotechnology & Organic Chemistry
Assignee
Merck Patent GmbH
OA Round
7 (Non-Final)
74%
Grant Probability
Favorable
7-8
OA Rounds
2y 4m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 74% — above average
74%
Career Allow Rate
818 granted / 1102 resolved
+14.2% vs TC avg
Strong +30% interview lift
Without
With
+30.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 4m
Avg Prosecution
58 currently pending
Career history
1160
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.0%
-39.0% vs TC avg
§103
15.0%
-25.0% vs TC avg
§102
19.5%
-20.5% vs TC avg
§112
47.6%
+7.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1102 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 . DETAILED ACTION A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 9/25/2025 has been entered. Status of Claims Claims 4, 10-12, and 15-29 are pending in the instant application. Claims 17-20 remain withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. An action on the merits of claims 4, 10-12, 15, 16, and 21-29 is contained herein. Information Disclosure Statement The examiner has considered the most recent IDS filed of record. Previous Objections/Rejections Any rejections or objections stated of record in the office action mailed on 3/28/2025 that are not explicitly addressed herein below, are hereby withdrawn in light of applicant's arguments and/or amendments filed 9/25/2025. New Rejections Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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 of this title, 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 22-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over US Patent 9,643,972. The instant claims may be drawn to the following chemical species: PNG media_image1.png 852 694 media_image1.png Greyscale wherein R1 is described above and in the instant claims, n = p = t = r = 0, X = substituted alkyl, and Y = -CH. Patent ‘972 teaches the following compounds (see col. 95,96, examples 53-55): PNG media_image2.png 184 602 media_image2.png Greyscale PNG media_image3.png 146 270 media_image3.png Greyscale wherein R1 = H, n = p = t = r = 0, X = substituted alkyl, and Y = -CH. The difference stemming at variable R1 (e.g. H versus halo, -CN, methyl, etc.). However the document teaches that the quinoline group (described as variable E at col. 18, li. 35, bicyclic heteroaryl of the patent) may be further substituted with the claimed groups (e.g. methyl, halo, -CN, etc.) at col. 10, lines 5-20: PNG media_image4.png 276 536 media_image4.png Greyscale . Therefore the claimed species would have been considered obvious based on the patent teachings. Conclusion Claims 22-23 are rejected. Claims 4, 10-12, 15, 16, 21, 24-27 and 29 are allowable. Claim 28 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected or objected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRIAN E MCDOWELL whose telephone number is (571)270-5755. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:30-6 MF. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jeffrey Murray can be reached at 571-272-9023. 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. /BRIAN E MCDOWELL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1624
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Sep 21, 2020
Application Filed
Sep 21, 2020
Response after Non-Final Action
Sep 23, 2020
Response after Non-Final Action
Apr 20, 2022
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Jun 30, 2022
Response Filed
Sep 12, 2022
Final Rejection — §103
Sep 28, 2022
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
Sep 28, 2022
Examiner Interview Summary
Oct 12, 2022
Examiner Interview Summary
Oct 12, 2022
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
Dec 09, 2022
Response after Non-Final Action
Jan 09, 2023
Response after Non-Final Action
Jan 09, 2023
Examiner Interview (Telephonic)
Mar 20, 2023
Request for Continued Examination
Mar 22, 2023
Response after Non-Final Action
Apr 27, 2023
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Oct 16, 2023
Examiner Interview (Telephonic)
Oct 16, 2023
Examiner Interview Summary
Nov 02, 2023
Response Filed
Jan 24, 2024
Final Rejection — §103
Jul 01, 2024
Request for Continued Examination
Jul 09, 2024
Response after Non-Final Action
Jul 16, 2024
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Jan 17, 2025
Response Filed
Mar 24, 2025
Final Rejection — §103
Aug 27, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Sep 25, 2025
Request for Continued Examination
Oct 03, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Jan 06, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

7-8
Expected OA Rounds
74%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+30.3%)
2y 4m
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 1102 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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