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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 07/01/2026 has been entered.
Status of Claims
Claims 1-11, 13 and 15-20 are currently pending and under examination in the instant Office Action.
This Office Action contains New Rejections.
Claim Rejections – Withdrawn
The rejections of claims under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been withdrawn in view of Applicant’s arguments of unexpected results found on pages 12-13 of the 7/1/2026 Reply.
New Objections
Drawings -New
The drawings are objected to because the figure legend in Fig. 15 appears to be truncated. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections - New
Claims 1, 6, 9 and 19 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 appears to be missing the article “a” before the phrase “targeting module”. It is suggested that the claim be amended to recite “A method of stimulating a chimeric antigen receptor mediated immune response in a mammal comprising administering to the mammal: a) a targeting module……”.
Claim 6 appears to be missing the article “a” before the phrase “human CD16”. It is suggested that the claim be amended to recite “…….wherein the effector cell binding domain specifically binds an epitope on a human CD3 chain, a human T cell receptor (TCR) or a human CD 16.
Claim 9 appears to contain several typographical errors. It is suggested that the claim be amended in the following manner:
CD184 (CXCR4), in line 9;
CD273 (PD-L2), in line 10;
CD274 (PD-L1), in line 10;
fetal acetylcholine receptor, in line 15;
epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM), in line 16;
alpha fetoprotein (AFP), in line 16;
folate binding protein (FBP), in line 19;
epithelial glycoprotein family, in line 20; and
lisialogangliosides, in line 21.
Claim 19 appears to contain two typographical errors. It is suggested that the phrase “….DAP10 and CD27, programmed cell death-1……” in line 3 be amended to “….DAP10,.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claims 2-5 and 8 are objected to as being dependent on an objected base claim (claim 1).
New Rejections
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 (First) - New
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 7 and 9 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.
Claim 7 recites the phrase “wherein the variable regions of the at least one PD-L1 and/or PD-L2 binding domain and/or the effector cell binding domain”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for “the variable regions of the at least one PD-L1 and/or PD-L2 binding domain” and for “the variable regions of the effector cell binding domain” in the claim. In addition, even though antibodies that bind to PD-L1 and PD-L2 would comprise variable regions, non-antibody PD-L1 and PD-L2 binding domains (encompassed by the claim) would not comprise variable regions.
Claim 9 recites the phrases “the human high molecular weight-melanoma-associated antigen” in line 18. ”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for “the human high molecular weight-melanoma-associated antigen” in the claim. In addition, claim 9 recites the phrase “the named antibodies, antibody fragments, proteins, peptides or low molecular weight organic ligands”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for “the named antibodies, antibody fragments, proteins, peptides or low molecular weight organic ligands” in the claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10, 11, 13, 15-18, and 20 are allowed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Yie-Chia Lee (Tonya) whose telephone number is (571)272-0123. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7.30a - 3.30p Eastern Time Zone.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Samira Jean-Louis can be reached on 571-270-3503. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YIE-CHIA LEE (TONYA)/
Examiner, Art Unit 1642
/SEAN E AEDER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1642
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