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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/30/25 was filed after the mailing date of the previous Office Action on 7/29/25. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 26-36, 42 and 43 in the reply filed on 10/30/25 is acknowledged.
A species election was required and Applicant selected the species of Example 3, which reads on claims 26-35. Claim 36-43 do not read on the elected group no species.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 26-35 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Bell et al (WO 2019/180185 A1 hereafter Bell) in view of Spilling et al (US 2017/0066790 A1 hereafter Spilling).
Bell discloses a compounds 255 and 256:
255
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112
140
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, 256
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[pg. 135], meeting the structure of formula (I) and the linker meeting the limitations pf 26-28. This structure meets the limitations of formula (II) or (III) of claim 33 along with the linker of claims 33 and 34.
The reference, while disclosing an oxazine monoacylglycerol lipase inhibitor, however the reference does not disclose the specific fluorescent label of the compound. The use of fluorescent is known in the art as see in the Spilling patent.
Spilling discloses a fluorescent labeled inhibitor for lipases [abstract]. The fluorescent label is nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole (NBD) [0010, 0049], which meets the limitation of claims 26 and 29. It would have been obvious to include this label to the lipase of inhibitor of Bell as they solve the same problem.
With these aspects in mind, the combination of the fluorescent label of Spilling to the oxazine of Bell as they solve the same problem of labeling and inhibiting lipase compounds. It would have been obvious to combine the prior art with an expected result of a stable compound useful in inhibiting lipase and labeling such compounds in the body.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICAH PAUL YOUNG whose telephone number is (571)272-0608. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to 5:30 pm.
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/MICAH PAUL YOUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1618