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 office action is in response to applicant’s reply filed on March 9, 2026.
Status of Claims
Amendment of claims 1, 17, 32 and 49 is acknowledged.
Claims 1, 11, 14, 17-18, 28-29, 32-33, and 41-49 are currently pending and are the subject of this office action.
Claims 35 and 38 were withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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 September 17, 2025.
Due to Applicant amendments, the previously examined species:
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no longer anticipates the claims.
As such, the examination was expanded to the following species:
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So, the following species are under examination:
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elected by Applicant, which is free of prior art, and
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expanded species.
The following claims read on the elected species: 1, 11, 14, 17-18, 28-29, 32-33, 41 and 44-46.
The following claims read on the expanded species: 1, 11, 14, 17-18, 29, 33 and 41.
The combined set of claims that read on one or both species and, therefore, are presently under examination are: 1, 11, 14, 17-18, 28-29, 32-33, 41 and 44-46.
Claims 42-43 and 47-49 are further withdrawn since they don’t read on any of the above species
Priority
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Rejections and/or Objections and Response to Arguments
Rejections and/or objections not reiterated from previous office actions are hereby withdrawn. The following rejections and/or objections are either reiterated (Maintained Rejections and/or Objections) or newly applied (New Rejections and/or Objections, Necessitated by Amendment or New Rejections and/or Objections not Necessitated by Amendment). They constitute the complete set presently being applied to the instant application.
Responses to Applicant’s arguments have been addressed immediately after the corresponding rejections, or in the section: Withdrawn Rejections and/or Objections, if the rejection was withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 (New Rejection Necessitated by Amendment)
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.
Claim(s) 1, 11, 14, 17-18, 29, 33 and 41 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Liang et. al. (European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry (2017) 131:107-125).
For claims: 1, 11, 14, 17-18, 29, 33 and 41, Liang teaches the following compound (compound 35, see page 111, Scheme 4; and see page 113, Table 3):
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Wherein the compound anticipates formula (Ia), wherein:
Ra = Rb = Rc =H,
L1 = L2 = bond,
L3 = -NH
X = O
R1 = alkyl (methyl), and
R2 = substituted heterocycloalkenyl.
Claim Objections
Claims 28, 32 and 44-46 are objected to in part, but only insofar as it relates to the applicant elected species which has been found to be free of prior art, as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim, any intervening claims, and to recite only the elected species.
Note that claims 28, 32 and 44-46 are objected to in part herein insofar as it contains non-elected subject matter to which the prior art search has not yet been extended. That part which has been searched, however (consistent with the election of species requirement as previously discussed), would be allowable if the claim was amended in independent form including all the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims, and to remove the currently non-elected subject matter (i.e. all the species except for
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).
Conclusion
No claims are allowed.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
Correspondence
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARCOS L SZNAIDMAN whose telephone number is (571)270-3498. The examiner can normally be reached Flexing M-F 7 AM-7 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, Amy L. Clark can be reached on 571 272-1310. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MARCOS L SZNAIDMAN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1628
March 12, 2026.
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