Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 29, 2026
Application No. 17/670,789

Novel oncolytic parvoviruses with enhanced cargo capacity, stable shRNA expression cassette and novel immunogenic properties

Final Rejection §112
Filed
Feb 14, 2022
Priority
Feb 12, 2021 — provisional 63/149,217
Examiner
GU, QINHUA
Art Unit
1633
Tech Center
1600 — Biotechnology & Organic Chemistry
Assignee
Alliance of Cardiovascular Researchers
OA Round
2 (Final)
75%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 75% — above average
75%
Career Allowance Rate
51 granted / 68 resolved
+15.0% vs TC avg
Strong +30% interview lift
Without
With
+30.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 8m
Avg Prosecution
14 currently pending
Career history
99
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.7%
-39.3% vs TC avg
§103
73.4%
+33.4% vs TC avg
§102
3.3%
-36.7% vs TC avg
§112
9.7%
-30.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 68 resolved cases

Office Action

§112
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 . Claim Status Applicant’s amendment filed 10/20/2025 has been received and entered. Claims 1-32 have been cancelled. Claims 33-34 have been new added. Accordingly, claims 33-34 are pending and under current examination. Status of Prior Rejection/Response to Arguments The objection to claims 1, 8-9 and 12-13 is withdrawn: The cancellation of claims 1, 8-9 and 12-13 render the objection thereto moot. The objection is withdrawn. The rejection to claims 1-13 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) is withdrawn: The cancellation of claims 1-13 render the rejection thereto moot. The rejection is withdrawn. The rejection to claims 1-5, 8-10 and 12-13 under 35 U.S.C. 103 over Bretscher et al., as evidenced by Nuesch et al. and Marchini et al. is withdrawn: The rejection to claims 1-5 and 8-13 under 35 U.S.C. 103 over Bretscher et al., as evidenced by Nuesch et al. and Marchini et al., in view of Alt et al. is withdrawn: The cancellation of claims 1-13 render the rejection thereto moot. The rejection is withdrawn. New grounds of rejection are necessitated by Applicant’s amendment. New Claim Objections Claims 33-34 are objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 33 recites “at nucleotide 2022-2135” and “at position 4659-4693” in b), as well as “at nucleotide 4659” in c). These recitations need to be amended to “at nucleotide position 2022-2135”, “at nucleotide position 4659-4693” and “at nucleotide position 4659” respectively, to keep the claim language consistent and enhance the clarity; Claim 33 recites “casette”, it needs to be corrected to “cassette”; Claim 34 recites “The engineered rodent protoparvovirus H-1PV”, it needs to be amended to “The engineered rodent protoparvovirus H-1PV of claim 33” to enhance the clarity. Appropriate correction is required. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): (b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph: The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention. Claim 34 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claim 34 recites the limitation "the silencer expressing sequence" in lines 1-2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Allowable Subject Matter Instant claims 33-34 are directed to an engineered rodent protoparvovirus H-1PV. Wherein the limitations “c) (the engineered rodent protoparvovirus H-1PV comprises) a silencer expressing cassette inserted at nucleotide position 4659 of the wild type H-1PV genome” and “the silencer expressing sequence is a shRNA expressing cassette” are free of art, as indicated in the office action mailed 05/19/2025. Claims 33-34 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the objections and rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Conclusion No claims are allowed. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to QINHUA GU whose telephone number is (703)756-1176. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:00 - 5:00. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christopher Babic can be reached at (571)272-8507. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /Q.G./Examiner, Art Unit 1633 /FEREYDOUN G SAJJADI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1699
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Feb 14, 2022
Application Filed
May 19, 2025
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §112
Oct 20, 2025
Response Filed
Feb 13, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §112 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
75%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+30.4%)
3y 8m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 68 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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