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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/14/25 is being considered by the examiner.
Allowable Subject Matter
Prosecution on the merits of this application is reopened on claims 5-15 considered unpatentable for the reasons indicated below: the IDS of 11/14/25.
Applicant is advised that the Notice of Allowance mailed 10/3/25 is vacated. If the issue fee has already been paid, applicant may request a refund or request that the fee be credited to a deposit account. However, applicant may wait until the application is either found allowable or held abandoned. If allowed, upon receipt of a new Notice of Allowance, applicant may request that the previously submitted issue fee be applied. If abandoned, applicant may request refund or credit to a specified Deposit Account.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 5-7 & 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by LIU ZHI ET AL (CELL DEATH DISCOVERY, 2019).
Zhi (Exosome Purification) teaches discloses a method for isolating EVs derived from stem cells by using PS-affinity (MagCapture) and reports that they promote neovascularization and alleviate inflammation after ischemia-reperfusion. Tim4 protein solidified magnetic beads were used to bind phosphatidyl serine (PS) on the surface of extracellular vesicles in the presence of metal ions, then neutral elution buffer containing EDTA was used to elute the exosome. By using the PS affinity method, isolation of exosomes with high purity and integrity was achieved. The exosome fraction protein content was assessed by the bicinchoninic acid (BCA) assay.
As the claimed method and materials are the same as that of Zhi, the claims are anticipated by the reference and the antifibrotic property was necessary an inherent property of the EVs of Zhi.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BLAINE LANKFORD whose telephone number is (571)272-0917. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 8-6:30.
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BLAINE LANKFORD
Examiner
Art Unit 1657
/BLAINE LANKFORD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1657