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
Claims 4-6, 10-14, 16-22, 27-33, 39, and 42-48 are currently pending and under exam herein.
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I in the reply filed on 18 July 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 28-30, 33, and 42-46 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 18 July 2026.
Claims 1-3, 7-9, 15, 23-26, 34-38, and 40-41 have been cancelled.
Claims 4-6, 10-14, 16-22, 27, 31-32, 39, and 47-48 are examined herein.
Priority
The instant Application is a Divisional of US 16/097,596, filed 29 October 2018, now US Patent 11,410,746, which is the National Stage filing of PCT/2017/029891, filed 27 April 2017 and claiming the benefit of priority to US Provisional Application 63/328, 442 and 63/328, 450 both filed 27 April 2016. Priority is acknowledged for each of the examined claims to the EFD of 27 April 2016.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statements filed 6 February 2023; 6 January 2025; and 20 March 2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and have therefore been considered. Signed copies of the IDS are included with this Office Action.
It is noted that certain references have not been considered and are lined-through, as they do not comply with the requirements set forth in 37 CFR 1.97. The instant citations lack appropriate dates and/or page numbers.
Drawings
The Drawings filed 2 August 2022 are accepted.
Specification
Note: All references to the Specification herein pertain to the PG publication: US20220383976.
The disclosure is objected to because it contains an embedded hyperlink and/or other form of browser-executable code. Applicant is required to delete the embedded hyperlink and/or other form of browser-executable code; references to websites should be limited to the top-level domain name without any prefix such as http:// or other browser-executable code. See MPEP § 608.01. Please see, for example, paragraph [0169].
Claim Objections
Claims 17-18 and 47 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 17 recites, “wherein identifying a route for a single-stranded nucleic acid scaffold that traces”, wherein the claim should be amended to recite, “wherein identifying the route for the single-stranded nucleic acid scaffold that traces…” to refer back to the recitation of independent claim 27 that recites, “wherein identifying a route for a single-stranded nucleic acid scaffold that traces…”.
Claim 17 recites, “classifying each edge of the network as one of four types based on its membership in the spanning tree and on whether it employs anti-parallel or parallel crossovers; edges that are members of the spanning tree have each scaffold portion start and end at different vertices…” which is grammatically incorrect and should be amended to recite, “classifying each edge of the network as one of four types based on its membership in the spanning tree and on whether it employs anti-parallel or parallel crossovers wherein edges that are members of the spanning tree have each scaffold portion start and end at different vertices…”
Claim 18 recites, “wherein identifying a route for a single-stranded nucleic acid scaffold that traces…”, wherein the claim should be amended to recite, “wherein identifying the route for the single-stranded nucleic acid scaffold that traces…” to refer back to the recitation of independent claim 27 that recites, “wherein identifying a route for a single-stranded nucleic acid scaffold that traces…”.
Claim 18 recites, “rendering each helix in the network as a line, based on the target cross-section…” which contains an inappropriate comma after the word “line,”.
Claim 47 recites, “wherein the nanostructure has a molecular weight of between 200 Daltons and 100 mega Dalton, inclusive”, wherein the claim recitation of “mega Dalton” should be amended to recite, “wherein the nanostructure has a molecular weight of between 200 Daltons and 100 mega Daltons, inclusive”.
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.
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 18 recites, “rendering each helix in the network as a line based on the target cross-section…” which lacks antecedent basis in the claim for the phrase “the target cross-section” as no target cross-section is recited in claim 27 from which it depends. It is suggested to amend the claim to read, “rendering each helix in the network as a line based on a target cross-section…”. Clarification is requested.
35 USC § 101
With respect to the instant claims, the claims are patent eligible under 35 USC 101, as the steps of independent claim 27 and those that depend therefrom include those directed to actual assembly of a target nucleic acid nanostructure that includes hybridization of the single-stranded nucleic acid scaffold to itself/or staple stands to form the target nucleic acid nanostructure that incorporates a practical application of the judicial exceptions in the claim directed to identification of a route for the single-stranded nucleic acid by rendering, spanning tree definition and determination of a Euler cycle.
Prior Art
The closest prior art is as follows:
1. Benson et al. (Nature (2015) Vol. 523:441-444 and Supplementary Materials (54 pages) as cited in the IDS of 6 February 2023) as evidenced and in view of Shaik et al. in (F1000 Research (2015) Vol. 4:11 pages; first published 5 August 2015-cited in the IDS of 6 February 2023).
The prior art to Benson et al. discloses a single duplex DNA arm and multi-junction representation of polyhedral geometries. The prior art Shaik et al. discloses graph model simulations in spanning tree networks using the Prim and Kruskal algorithms for graph networking applications.
However, Benson et al. does not include the use of spanning tree of the node-edge network to define crossover scaffolds or placement thereof or routing. The art to Shaik et al. fails to make obvious the defining placement of scaffold crossovers and determining a Euler cycle for nanoscale assembly of nucleic acids as claimed.
Conclusion
Claim 18 is rejected herein.
Claims 4-6, 10-14, 16-17, 19-22, 27-33, 39, and 42-48.
E-mail Communications Authorization
Per updated USPTO Internet usage policies, Applicant and/or applicant’s representative is encouraged to authorize the USPTO examiner to discuss any subject matter concerning the above application via Internet e-mail communications. See MPEP 502.03. To approve such communications, Applicant must provide written authorization for e-mail communication by submitting following form via EFS-Web or Central Fax (571-273-8300): PTO/SB/439. Applicant is encouraged to do so as early in prosecution as possible, so as to facilitate communication during examination.
Written authorizations submitted to the Examiner via e-mail are NOT proper. Written authorizations must be submitted via EFS-Web or Central Fax (571-273-8300). A paper copy of e-mail correspondence will be placed in the patent application when appropriate. E-mails from the USPTO are for the sole use of the intended recipient, and may contain information subject to the confidentiality requirement set forth in 35 USC § 122. See also MPEP 502.03.
Inquiries
Papers related to this application may be submitted to Technical Center 1600 by facsimile transmission. Papers should be faxed to Technical Center 1600 via the PTO Fax Center. The faxing of such papers must conform to the notices published in the Official Gazette, 1096 OG 30 (November 15, 1988), 1156 OG 61 (November 16, 1993), and 1157 OG 94 (December 28, 1993) (See 37 CFR § 1.6(d)). The Central Fax Center Number is (571) 273-8300.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Lori A. Clow, whose telephone number is (571) 272-0715. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday from 12:00PM to 10:00PM ET.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Karlheinz Skowronek can be reached on (571) 272-9047.
Any inquiry of a general nature or relating to the status of this application or proceeding should be directed to (571) 272-0547.
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/Lori A. Clow/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1687
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