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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 11/17/2025 has been entered.
Status of Claims
Currently, claims 28, 31-35, 37, and 41-49 are pending in the instant application. All the amendments and arguments have been thoroughly reviewed but are deemed insufficient to place this application in condition for allowance. The following rejections are either newly applied, as necessitated by amendment, or are reiterated. They constitute the complete set being presently applied to the instant Application. Response to Applicant's arguments follow. This action is Non-FINAL.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Any rejection not reiterated is hereby withdrawn in view of the amendments to the claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 28, 32, 34, 43, and 47 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fodor (Fodor et al; US 6,582,908) in view of Ahern (Ahern, Holly, The Scientist, vol 9, 1995, pages 1-5).
Fodor teaches an array of all possible 10 mer nucleic acid sequences (see claims) which necessarily encompasses a DNA that is complementary to SEQ ID NO: 1 or 2. It is noted that “a conjugation moiety” is defined as a chemical moiety attached to a nucleic acid molecule that facilitates binding the nucleic acid to a capture medium, which is necessarily taught by Fodor as the oligonucleotides are bound to an array. Although the claims have been amended to recite a capture medium and capture oligonucleotide component “consisting of” a set of capture oligonucleotides, the set “consisting of” a first capture probe and a second capture probe, the kit itself recites the term “comprising” such that additional components are within the scope of the claim. Additionally, the section of the array taught by Fodor that contains two probes “complementary” to the recited SEQ ID NO: can be considered a “set” and the section of the array they attach to can be considered a capture medium. Although Fodor does not teach a kit comprising the array with written instructions, Ahern teaches kits comprising instructions, Ahern teaches that packaging reagents in kit format save practitioners time. Therefore it would have been prima facie obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date to have provided the array taught by Fodor in kit format as taught by Ahern to save practitioners time.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US Patent 6,268,153 teaches labeled DNA oligonucleotides that hybridize to repeat sequences of Dirofilaria immitus, however the oligonucleotides are not complementary to or capable of hybridizing to SEQ ID NO: 1 or 2.
No claims are allowed. Claims 31, 33, 35, 37, 41-42, 44-46, and 48-49 are objected to for being dependent on a rejected claim.
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/JEHANNE S SITTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1682