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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
2. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 March 3, 2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
3. The amendments to the claims filed on July 22, 2025 have been fully considered. The amendments are not sufficient to overcome the outstanding rejection under 35 USC 112. Below are responses to Applicant’s remarks.
The claims were previously rejected under 35 USC 112a as being enabling for slowing or delaying the progression, alleviating or relieving the symptoms and complications so Parkinson’s disease but not enabling for the treatment of other diseases or prevention of all diseases claimed. It was set forth that neither the specification nor the state of the art provide a teaching on how to treat the claimed diseases including preventing any of the claimed diseases. T he specification provides guidance on how to slow or delay progression, alleviate or provide relief of symptoms and complications of Parkinson’s disease. In the absence of working examples/direction, enablement rests on the existence of an art recognized predictable correlation between the disclosed activity and the claimed diseases which evidence as presented suggests is not met for the present claims.
Applicants have argued and provided a declaration that impaired mitophagy is a primary pathogenic event underlying diverse aging-associated diseases such as Alzheimers and Parkinson disease and sarcopenia. Applicants conclude that augmentation of mitophagy is an emerging strategy for preventing the evolvement of multiple morbidities in the elderly population. As such, present mitophagy-promoting agents enable the claimed treatment. This argument is considered and found to be persuasive for the treatment of the claimed disease which has been amended to be Alzheimer’s disease. However, it is maintained that the claims are not enabled for the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). It is suggested for Applicants to amend the claims to delete the prevention of AD, or to provide a showing for how the present specification provides support for this claimed prevention.
Conclusion
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.
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/SUN JAE YOO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1621
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