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 .
DETAILED ACTION
1. From the Office Action of 1/30/2026, the rejections are withdrawn and the objections are maintained. A new shortened statutory period for reply is set to expire 3 months from the mailing date of this Office Action. See under the “Period for Reply” on the PTOL-326 form.
Status of the Claims
2. Claims 1-17 are the original claims filed on 8/29/2022. In the Preliminary Amendment of 8/29/2022, Claims 1-17 are canceled and new Claims 18-22 are added. Claims 18-22 are the claims for this application. In the Response of 1/29/2025, Claims 21-22 are amended, claims 18-20 are canceled and new Claims 23-25 are added. In the Response After Final Action of 4/24/2025, claim 21 is amended and claim 22 is canceled but the amendments are not is not entered as discussed in the Advisory Action of 5/15/2025. See the PTOL-303 showing claims 21-25 rejected. See the claim set filed 4/24/2025 with the Examiner’s stamp to not enter. In the Response After Final Action of 6/7/2025, claim 21 is amended (and claim 22 is canceled) but the amendments are not entered as discussed in the Advisory Action of 6/23/2025. See the claim set filed 6/7/2025 with the Examiner’s stamp to not enter. In the Response of 12/26/2025, claim 21 is amended.
Claims 21 and 23-25 from the claim set of 12/26/2025 are the claims under examination.
Priority
3. USAN 17/822,959, filed 08/29/2022, and having 1 RCE-type filing therein, is a Divisional of 16/156,036, filed 10/10/2018, now U.S. Patent # 11427628, and having 1 RCE-type filing therein, 16/156,036 is a Divisional of 14/900,550, filed 12/21/2015, now U.S. Patent # 10/174,102 and having 1 RCE-type filing therein, 14/900,550 is a National Stage entry of PCT/EP2014/001730, International Filing Date: 06/26/2014, claims foreign priority to EP 13003264.2, filed 06/26/2013.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. As of 5/9/2026, a total of one (1) IDS is filed for this application: 8/29/2022. The corresponding initialed and dated 1449 form is considered and of record.
Withdrawal of Rejections
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(a)
Written Description
5. The rejection of Claims 21-25 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), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement is moot for canceled claim 22 and withdrawn for the pending claims. The amendment to claim 21 is consistent with the interview summary of 8/28/2025 that identified amendments to overcome the rejection.
Objection(s)
Claim Objections
6. Claims 22 and 23-25 are objected to because of the following informalities:
a) Claims 22 and 23-25 are inconsistent for the phrase “of claim 21” and “according to claim 21.” Amend the claims to recite one or the other for consistency.
b) Amend claim 23 to correct improper punctuation: a colon (:) is followed by a semi-colon (;) and not a comma (,).
c) Amend claim 25 in lines 3-4 to recite “said isolated antibody or functional fragment thereof according to claim 21.”
d) Claim 25 is objected to because it references claims drawn to two different inventions comprising different but overlapping features, i.e., nucleic acids and vectors comprising the nucleic acids (MPEP 608.01(n)).
e) Amend claim 25 to recite: “, or a vector or collection of vectors comprising said nucleic acid sequence or said collection of nucleic acid sequences, respectively, and optionally in a host cell.”
Appropriate correction is required.
Examiner’s Comment
7. Relevant art: Claims 1-12 of U.S. Patent No. 10,174,102 (IDS of 8/20/2020); and Claims 1-4 of U.S. Patent No. 11427628 (IDS of 8/20/2020). Claims of ‘102 and ‘628 do not recite the limitation of the instant claimed invention that the Vλ framework region IV of the VL domain results in a chimeric VL comprising Vκ(II-III)-Vλ(IV) frameworks where the Vλ(IV) framework has one mutation compared to the sequence for framework region of SEQ ID NOs: 16-22. Notably, that limitation was deleted during the prosecution history for each of the separate patents.
Conclusion
8. No claims are allowed.
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LYNN A. BRISTOL whose telephone number is (571)272-6883. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 9 AM-5 PM.
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, Wu Julie can be reached on 571-272-5205. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see https://ppair-my.uspto.gov/pair/PrivatePair. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/LYNN A BRISTOL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1643
Prosecution Insights