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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 16MAR2026 has been entered.
Election/Restrictions
Upon further evaluation, Applicant’s request to rejoin the withdrawn claims is noted but the request is not granted because the elected product is not allowable due to a new rejection as a result of the amended claims filed in the response filed on 16MAR2026.
Claim Status
Applicant’s amendments received 16MAR2026 are acknowledged.
Claims 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 16 have been amended.
Claims 17-48 are new.
Claims 1-48 are pending in the instant application (i.e., Claim(s) 1, 17, and 33 is/are independent).
Claims 2-9, 11-16, 18-25, 27-32, 34-41, and 43-48 remain withdrawn.
Claims 1, 10, 17, 26, 33, and 42 are examined on the merits.
Priority
The present application is a CON of US Patent Application No. 17/617516, filed 08DEC2021, which is a PCT International Application No. PCT/CN2021/088153, filed 19APR2021, which claims foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy of CN202010357134.4 filed on 29APR2020 has been received and is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 20JAN2026 is/are acknowledged and the references cited therein have been considered.
Double Patenting
Applicant’s arguments, see p 10, Response to double patenting rejection section, filed 16MAR2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 and 10 under (provisional) non-statutory double patenting have been fully considered and said provisional rejections of claim(s) 1 and 10 have been withdrawn in view of the express abandonment of the co-pending application 17/617516.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 1 has an inadvertent typographical error which has already been noted in the interview on 23MAR2026, a second “[“ bracket is missing in line 4 of the claim. Appropriate correction is required.
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 1 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, because the specification, while being enabling and providing written description for: “A PD1 x VEGF tetravalent bispecific antibody, comprising two polypeptide chains and four common light chains, the amino acid sequence of each of the two polypeptide chains comprises SEQ ID NOs: 16, 18, or 21 and the amino acid sequence of each of the four common light chains comprises SEQ ID NO: 13;” does not reasonably provide enablement or support for more. Claim 10 is also rejected since it depends from claim 1 but does not remedy this deficiency.
Upon further consideration following the interview on 12MAR2026, Examiner notes that the amendment to claim 1 lacks full enablement and written description support. Specifically, the specification provides support for effective pairing of a specific combination of Fab-Fab-IgG4 heavy chains (i.e., polypeptide chains), wherein each of the two polypeptide chains are the same and comprise the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NOs: 16, 18, or 21 and wherein each of the four common light chains comprise the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 13.
Allowable Subject Matter
Examiner notes that PD1 x VEGF tetravalent bispecific antibodies comprising SEQ ID NOs: 16, 18, or 21, and SEQ ID NO: 13 are free of the prior art. It is also noted that as currently claimed, claims 17, 26, 33, and 42 are allowed as they are free of the prior art.
Conclusion
Claims 1 and 10 are rejected.
Claims 17, 26, 33, and 42 are allowed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMANTHA L. HOPKINS whose telephone number is (703)756-4666. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thurs 6:00 AM to 4:00 PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Misook Yu can be reached at (571)272-0839. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SAMANTHA LAKE HOPKINS/Examiner, Art Unit 1641
/MISOOK YU/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1641
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