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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 October 28, 2025 has been entered.
Claims 43 – 44 are added; claims 17, 27 – 30, 33 – 38 and 40 – 44 are pending and have been considered on the merits.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 17, 27 – 30, 33 – 38 and 40 – 44 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 17 recites a method for inducing angiogenesis wherein the method requires a step of extracting placental growth factors from amniotic basement membrane. The specification does not describe this step as originally filed. Rather, the specification teaches extracting growth factors from a placental tissue, specifically an amnion/chorion membrane which includes a basement membrane. The specification recites “basement membrane” in three occurrences: 1) the amnion is placed basement membrane layer down (0053, PgPubs); 2) the basement membrane is exposed (0056, PgPubs); and 3) the basement membrane is intact post de-epithelialization (0058, PgPubs). However, the specification fails to identify or describe any method step of extracting growth factors from a basement membrane alone as newly claimed. This is a new mater rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
Previous rejections under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Kihm are withdrawn due to applicant’s amendment requiring a step for extracting placental growth factors from an amniotic basement membrane.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Previous rejections under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kihm are withdrawn due to applicant’s amendment requiring a step for extracting placental growth factors from an amniotic basement membrane.
No claims are allowed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RUTH A DAVIS whose telephone number is (571)272-0915. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday (8am - 4pm).
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/RUTH A DAVIS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1699