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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
No information disclosure statement has been filed.
Claim Status
Claims 15-24, filed 10/25/2025, are currently pending. Claim 15-24 are under examination. Claims 1-14 are canceled.
Previous Objections
Specification
The specification was previously objected to for the usage of trade names and marks used in commerce.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Applicant Reply, page 8, para. 3, filed 10/15/2025, with respect to this objection have been fully considered and are persuasive. The objection to the specification has been withdrawn.
Claim Objections
The claims previously were objected to as not being compliant with 37 CFR 1.121(c) because they did not show markups relative to the immediate prior claim listing.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Applicant Reply, page 9, para. 6, filed 10/15/2025, with respect to claim markups have been fully considered and are persuasive. The objection to the claims has been withdrawn.
Claim 15 was previously objected to under MPEP 2173.05(s) for dependent upon claims that have been withdrawn from consideration.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Applicant Reply, page 10, para. 3, filed 10/15/2025, with respect to multiple dependent claims have been fully considered and are persuasive. The objection to the claims has been withdrawn.
Previous Rejections
Claim 15 was previously rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Applicant Reply, page 11, para. 2, filed 10/15/2025, with respect to this rejection have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of claim 15 has been withdrawn.
Claim 15 was previously rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Applicant Reply, page 13, para. 4, filed 10/15/2025, with respect to this rejection have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of claim 15 has been withdrawn.
New Rejections
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.
Claims 15-24 are 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.
Regarding claims 15 and 18-22, these claims recite the phrase “…in the sequence listing”. It is not clear to which sequence listing this claim refers. MPEP 2173.05(s) states: “Where possible, claims are to be complete in themselves. Incorporation by reference to a specific figure or table "is permitted only in exceptional circumstances where there is no practical way to define the invention in words and where it is more concise to incorporate by reference than duplicating a drawing or table into the claim. Incorporation by reference is a necessity doctrine, not for applicant’s convenience." Ex parte Fressola, 27 USPQ2d 1608, 1609 (Bd. Pat. App. & Inter. 1993).” Clarification is required. Removal of this phrase will resolve this rejection.
Regarding claims 16-17 and 23-24, these claims are dependent upon claims rejected above. These claims do not resolve the indefiniteness of the claims from which they depend, and therefore are rejected.
Claims 16, 17, 23, and 24 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.
Regarding claims 16, 17, and 23, the phrase “including” is equivalent to "such as", which renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d). Clarification is required. Substitution of “including” with “consisting of” will resolve this rejection.
Regarding claim 24, claim 24 depends off of claim 23 and fails to resolve the indefiniteness of claim 23 and therefore claim 24 is rejected.
Closest Prior Art
SEQ ID NO: 1 is known in the prior art. Applicant SEQ ID NO: 1 is aligned against UNIPROT Accession No: A3KN26, submitted 3 April 2007, accessed 1/12/2026:
SQ SEQUENCE 384 AA; 43269 MW; C8010CF759119947 CRC64;
Query Match 100.0%; Score 1991; Length 384;
Best Local Similarity 100.0%;
Matches 384; Conservative 0; Mismatches 0; Indels 0; Gaps 0;
Qy 1 MSYSCCLPNLSFRSSCSSRPCVPSSCCGTTLPGACNIPANVGSCNWFCEGSFNGSEKETM 60
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Db 1 MSYSCCLPNLSFRSSCSSRPCVPSSCCGTTLPGACNIPANVGSCNWFCEGSFNGSEKETM 60
Qy 61 QFLNDRLASYLEKVRQLERDNAELESRILERSQQKILANKAENARLVVQIDNAKLAADDF 120
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Db 61 QFLNDRLASYLEKVRQLERDNAELESRILERSQQKILANKAENARLVVQIDNAKLAADDF 120
Qy 121 RTKYQTELGLRQLVESDINGLRRILDELTLCKSDLEAQVESLKEELICLKQNHEQEVNTL 180
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Db 121 RTKYQTELGLRQLVESDINGLRRILDELTLCKSDLEAQVESLKEELICLKQNHEQEVNTL 180
Qy 181 RSQLGDRLNVEVDAAPTVDLNRVLNETRAQYEALVETNRRDVEEWYIRQTEELNKQVVSS 240
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Db 181 RSQLGDRLNVEVDAAPTVDLNRVLNETRAQYEALVETNRRDVEEWYIRQTEELNKQVVSS 240
Qy 241 SEQLQSYQAEIIELRRTVNALEVELQAQHNLRDSLENTLTETEARYSCQLAQVQGLIGNV 300
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Db 241 SEQLQSYQAEIIELRRTVNALEVELQAQHNLRDSLENTLTETEARYSCQLAQVQGLIGNV 300
Qy 301 ESQLAEIRSDLERQNQEYQVLLDVRARLECEINTYRGLLDSEDCKLPCNPCATTNASSVG 360
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Db 301 ESQLAEIRSDLERQNQEYQVLLDVRARLECEINTYRGLLDSEDCKLPCNPCATTNASSVG 360
Qy 361 SCVTNPCTPCGPRSRFGPCNTFGC 384
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Db 361 SCVTNPCTPCGPRSRFGPCNTFGC 384
However, no prior art discloses, teaches, or suggests usage of this polypeptide in the disclosed method. This same logic extends to the nucleic acid encoding this polypeptide.
Regarding claim 16, upon a review of the art, such as Mahajan et al. (Mahajan, et al. Indian J Pharm Educ Res 48.3: 34-47 (2014)), which discusses many of the modifications in claim 16, claims 15-24 are supported and enabled by the specification and said art.
Conclusion
No claim is allowed.
Claims 15-24 are rejected.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to David Paul Bowles whose telephone number is (571)272-0919. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30-5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Lianko Garyu can be reached on (571) 270-7367. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DAVID PAUL BOWLES/ Examiner, Art Unit 1654
/LIANKO G GARYU/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1654