DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-34, submitted 23 February 2026, are pending in the application. Claims 11-17 and 19-27 are withdrawn. Claims 1-10, 18, and 28-34 are subject to examination in the instant Office 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 .
Objections/Rejections - Maintained
The status of the previously objected and rejected claims in the Office Action mailed on 22 August 2025 are set out below.
Claim Objections
The Applicant’s amendments to claims 1, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are sufficient to overcome the previous objection.
Rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 103
The Applicant’s arguments are not sufficient to overcome the previous rejection for the reasons set out below.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 23 February 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The Applicant has argued that the Examiner has inappropriately applied hindsight in the previous prior art rejection.
First, the Examiner would like to clarify that the Legge reference does indeed teach the use of a long chain fatty acid of at least 22 carbons in a similar use to that of the instantly claimed invention as it’s known that nervonic acid contains 24 carbons in its structural backbone. The Examiner did acknowledge that the Legge reference failed to teach the derivatives thereof of the long chain fatty acid of at least 22 carbons (e.g., nervonic acid ethyl ester). Consequently, the prior art is still relevant in the rejection of the instant claims as it reads on the limitations of claim 1.
Second, the Applicant contends that the Examiner used impermissible hindsight in the combination of prior art references to make the previous rejection. The Examiner would like to point the Applicant to MPEP 2145.(X)(A) which states "[a]ny judgment on obviousness is in a sense necessarily a reconstruction based on hindsight reasoning, but so long as it takes into account only knowledge which was within the level of ordinary skill in the art at the time the claimed invention was made and does not include knowledge gleaned only from applicant’s disclosure, such a reconstruction is proper." In re McLaughlin, 443 F.2d 1392, 1395, 170 USPQ 209, 212 (CCPA 1971). The Grant reference, which was published in 2004, teaches the nervonic acid ethyl ester derivative, which is the same nervonic acid derivative taught in instant claim 10, additionally teaching that the derivative was conjugated to a ceramide biomolecule. The Examiner maintains that the prior art teaches the limitations of the instantly claimed invention.
Conclusion
No claims are allowed.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 JUSTIN CHRISTOPHER SANCHEZ whose telephone number is (703)756-5336. The examiner can normally be reached Monday -Friday (0730-1700).
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, James H Alstrum-Acevedo can be reached at 571-272-5548. 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.
JUSTIN CHRISTOPHER SANCHEZ
Examiner
Art Unit 1622
/J.C.S./Examiner, Art Unit 1622
/JAMES H ALSTRUM-ACEVEDO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1622
Prosecution Insights