DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Group I, claims 1-11 and short tandem repeats (STR) in claims 9-11 in the reply filed on September 30, 2025 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)). Claims 1-11 will be examined.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: (1) no period should appear after the label of each step, e.g., “a.” should be --a)--; and (2) “than that of either” should be “than a concentration of”.
Claim 2 is objected to because of the following informality: “between 1,5-fold and 2,5-fold, preferably 1,8-fold and 2,2-fold and most preferably between 1,9-fold and 2,1-fold” should be “between 1.5 fold and 2.5 fold or between 1.8 fold and 2.2 fold or between 1.9 fold and 2.1 fold”.
Claim 6 is objected to because of the following informality: “the amplified nucleic acid strands” should be “amplified nucleic acid strands”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-5 and 7-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by Wurst (US Patent No. 5,976,842, published on November 2, 1999).
Regarding claims 1, 3-5, 7, and 8, since it is known that Taq DNA polymerase lack of 3’ to 5’ exonuclease proofreading activity (see page 1 of “Taq polymerase” from Wikipedia), Wurst teaches a composition for performing an amplification reaction of a nucleic acid template, the composition comprising a) buffer, b) a DNA polymerase (eg., Taq polymerase), c) one or more primers and d) a mixture of deoxynucleotides (dNTPs), wherein the mixture of dNTPs comprises a higher dATP concentration than a concentration of either dGTP, dCTP or dTTP as recited in claim 1 wherein the amplification reaction is a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as recited in claim 3, the DNA polymerase (e.g, Taq polymerase) lacks a 3’-5’ exonuclease activity as recited in claim 4, the DNA polymerase (e.g, Taq polymerase) is a thermostable polymerase as recited in claim 5, the DNA polymerase is a Taq polymerase as recited in claim 7, the concentration of the nucleic acid template ranges from 8pg to 8ng (ie., 1 ng) as recited in claim 8 (see columns 3, 4, and 7-9, and Table 4).
Regarding claim 2, since Wurst teaches that “[I]n the subject invention, unequal amounts of deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates (dNTPs) are employed. By unequal amounts is meant that at least one of the different types of dNTPs is present in the reaction mixture in an amount that differs from the amount at which the other dNTPs are present, i.e. a unique amount. The amount of difference will be at least about 1.5 and usually at least about 2” (see column 4, second paragraph) and the at least one of the different types of dNTPs taught by Wurst can be dATP, Wurst discloses that the concentration of dATP is between 1.5 fold and 2.5 fold or between 1.8 fold and 2.2 fold or between 1.9 fold and 2.1 fold in excess over the concentration of dGTP, dCTP or dTTP.
Regarding claims 9-11, since a nucleic acid template is not a structural limitation of claim 1 and the composition recited in claim 1 can be used for performing an amplification reaction of the nucleic acid template recited in claims 9-11, claims 9-11 are anticipated by Wurst.
Therefore, Wurst teaches all limitations recited in claims 1-5 and 7-11.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by Wurst applied to claims 1-5 and 7-11 above as evidence by Clark (Nucleic Acids Research, 16, 9677-9686, 1988).
Since Clark teaches that Taq polymerase has an ability to perform a non-templated nucleotide addition reaction (see abstract in page 9677 and pages 9679 and 9680), Wurst as evidence by Clark disclose that the DNA polymerase (e.g, Taq polymerase) can add non-template nucleotides to amplified nucleic acid strands as recited in claim 6.
Conclusion
No claim is allowed.
Papers related to this application may be submitted to Group 1600 by facsimile transmission. Papers should be faxed to Group 1600 via the PTO Fax Center. The faxing of such papers must conform with the notices published in the Official Gazette, 1096 OG 30 (November 15, 1988), 1156 OG 61 (November 16, 1993), and 1157 OG 94 (December 28, 1993)(See 37 CAR § 1.6(d)). The CM Fax Center number is (571)273-8300.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Frank Lu, Ph.D., whose telephone number is (571)272-0746. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Dr. Anne Gussow, Ph.D., can be reached on (571)272-6047.
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.
/FRANK W LU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1683 November 3, 2025