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
This Non-Final Office Action is responsive to the communication received 11/24/2025.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse in the Reply filed on 11/24/2025 of Group I, Claim(s) 1-7 is acknowledged.
Applicant has elected without traverse in the Reply filed on 11/24/2025 the following species:
A. the spike protein amino acid sequence is histidine at position 675 (SEQ ID 3) (claim 7).
The Restriction/Election Requirements are deemed proper and are made FINAL.
Claims 1-7 and 12-24 are pending.
Claims 12-24 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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 11/24/2025.
Claims 1-7 are under examination in this Office Action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to nonstatutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception, an abstract idea, without significantly more. Claims 2-7 depend directly or indirectly from claim 1.
The claims 1 and 2 limitations directed to an abstract idea involving mental processes are a method of identifying compounds useful in treating or preventing infection by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the method comprising: screening at least one candidate compound for an ability to inhibit cleavage of a SARS-CoV-2 spike protein by a human protease at one or more target site; further comprising: determining, for the at least one candidate compound, a level of inhibition of host cell peptide cleavage.
The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the claim does not recite any additional elements.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Meng et al. (02/16/2020) bioRxiv doi 10.1101/2020.02.08.926006 pages 1 to 36 cited in the 9/21/2022 IDS (hereinafter referred to as "Meng").
With regards to claims 1-7, Meng teaches:
a) as in claims 1-7, a method of identifying compounds useful in treating or preventing infection by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the method comprising: screening at least one candidate compound for an ability to inhibit cleavage of a SARS-CoV-2 spike protein by a human protease at one or more target site; further comprising: determining, for the at least one candidate compound, a level of inhibition of host cell peptide cleavage; wherein the one or more target site is threonine at position 768 and glycine at position 769 of SEQ ID 1; wherein the at least one candidate compound includes a plurality of compounds; wherein screening includes screening the plurality of compounds in an assay; wherein the ability to inhibit cleavage includes binding of the at least one candidate compound with the human protease; further comprising: determining whether the spike protein amino acid sequence includes one or more mutation from a wildtype sequence (SEQ ID 1), the one or more mutation being histidine at position 675 (SEQ ID 3) (see entire document especially pages 6 to 14). Thus, Meng anticipates the present claims.
Conclusion
No claim is allowed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to Christian Boesen whose telephone number is 571-270-1321. The Examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
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/CHRISTIAN C BOESEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1684