Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 17/779,732

POLYETHYLENE GLYCOL CONJUGATE DRUG, PREPARATION METHOD THEREFOR AND APPLICATION THEREOF

Final Rejection §112
Filed
May 25, 2022
Priority
Dec 06, 2019 — CN 201911242386.6 +1 more
Examiner
JONES, DAMERON LEVEST
Art Unit
1618
Tech Center
1600 — Biotechnology & Organic Chemistry
Assignee
Chongqing Upgra Biotechnology Co. Ltd.
OA Round
2 (Final)
68%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 68% — above average
68%
Career Allowance Rate
730 granted / 1079 resolved
+7.7% vs TC avg
Strong +31% interview lift
Without
With
+31.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 5m
Avg Prosecution
40 currently pending
Career history
1122
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.5%
-39.5% vs TC avg
§103
41.7%
+1.7% vs TC avg
§102
8.0%
-32.0% vs TC avg
§112
37.7%
-2.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1079 resolved cases

Office Action

§112
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 . Acknowledgments and Claim Status The Examiner acknowledges receipt of the amendment filed 4/14/2026 wherein claims 8, 9, 11, 14-18, 20, and 25-28 were amended; claims 1-7, 10, 12, 13, 19, 21-24, and 30 were canceled; and claims 31-35 were added. Note(s): Claims 8, 9, 11, 14-18, 20, 25-29, and 31-35 are pending. Priority This application is a 371 of PCT/CN2020/078743 filed 3/11/2020 which claims benefit to CHINA CN201911242386.6 filed 12/6/2019. Once again, acknowledgment is made of Applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 USC 119 (a) – (d). Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. While the certified copy of the prior document submitted is not in English, an English language translation was made of record on 4/14/2026. Note(s): The earliest effective filing date is 12/6/2019 as the pending invention (specifically, independent claim 14 which contains Applicant’s elected species) is fully supported in the translation of the priority document. Response to Applicant’s Amendment and/or Arguments The Applicant's arguments and/or amendment filed 4/14/2026 to the rejection of claims 1, 2, 6, 7, 9, 14, 15, and 17 made by the Examiner under 35 USC 103 and/or 112 have been fully considered and deemed persuasive because Applicant amended the claims to overcome the rejections. Therefore, the said rejections are hereby WITHDRAWN. Applicant’s Election Once again, Applicant's election without traverse of Group I filed 8/28/2025 is acknowledged. The restriction requirement was still deemed proper and made FINAL. In the amendment filed 4/14/2026, the claims were amended to encompass distinct groups of inventions that are structurally distinct non-obvious variants of one another. Applicant elected the of Compound 10, PNG media_image1.png 148 345 media_image1.png Greyscale wherein PEG has an average molecular weight of 40,000; PCB is palbociclib; and SB7 is SB-743921. Amended claims 14 reads and 17 on the elected species. The elected species was reevaluated and Applicant’s response to the previous rejection was considered. The elected species was searched and found to be free of the prior art of record. The search was expanded to all other species disclosed in independent claim 14. The search was not extended beyond independent claim 14. Withdrawn Claims Claims 8, 9, 11, 15, 16, 18, 20, 25-29, and 31-35 are withdrawn from further consideration by the examiner, 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a non-elected invention/species. NEW GROUNDS OF REJECTION 112 Second Paragraph Rejections 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 14 and 17 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. Claims 14 and 17: Independent claim 14 is ambiguous because the structures contain the variables “m” and “n” which are not defined in the claims. Furthermore, since claim 17 depend upon independent claim 14 for clarity, it is also vague and indefinite. Claims 14 and 17: In Compound 6 and the second structure appearing on page 27 of the amendment filed 4/14/2026, the structures contain PNG media_image2.png 33 27 media_image2.png Greyscale (PC with the letter B underneath). Should the structures contain “PCB” instead? Since claim 17 depend upon independent claim 14 for clarity, it is also vague and indefinite. Comments/Notes Due to the amending of the claims to be of different scopes from that of claim 14, the full scope of all pending claims was not searched. Pending claims 14 and 17 are directed to the elected species and were searched in their entirety. The other pending claims are complex and when evaluated, did not appear to encompass the same subject matter as pending claims 14 and 17. As a result, a telephone call was not made to Applicant to address the 112 second paragraph issues supra. Conclusion Claims 14 and 17 are rejected. Claims 8, 9, 11, 15, 16, 18, 20, 25-29, and 31-35 are withdrawn. 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. Future Correspondences Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to D L Jones whose telephone number is (571)272-0617. The examiner can normally be reached M-F. 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, Michael G. Hartley can be reached at (571)272-0616. 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. /D. L. Jones/ Primary Patent Examiner Art Unit 1618 June 26, 2026
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

May 25, 2022
Application Filed
Dec 18, 2025
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §112
Apr 14, 2026
Response Filed
Jul 01, 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
68%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+31.4%)
3y 5m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 1079 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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