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 .
Election Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group II, claims 7-10 drawn to a method for inducing immunity, in the reply filed on 12/16/2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 1-6 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Claims 7-10 are under examination on the merits.
Priority
Applicant’s claim for foreign priority of prior-filed Japanese applications No. 2020-139794 filed on 08/21/2020 and 2020-203123 filed on 12/08/2020 under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of documents required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) was submitted on 02/17/2023, 01/10/2025, 01/02/2025. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 02/17/2023. The drawings are objected to because the resolution of the FACS plots in Fig. 3 is so low as to render the data unascertainable.
Any structural detail that is essential for a proper understanding of the disclosed invention should be shown in the drawing. MPEP § 608.02(d). 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.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because it contains an embedded hyperlink and/or other form of browser-executable code, for example in page 14. Applicant is required to delete the embedded hyperlink and/or other form of browser-executable code; references to websites should be limited to the top-level domain name without any prefix such as http:// or other browser-executable code. See MPEP § 608.01.
Claim Objections
Claims 9-10 are objected to because of the following informalities:
The recitation on claim 9 of “wherein the subject is a subject at risk of having been infected with SARS-CoV-2” should read “wherein the subject is a subject at risk of being infected with SARS-CoV-2” or “wherein the subject is suspected of being infected with SARS-CoV-2” or similar. Appropriate correction is required.
The recitation on claim 10 of “wherein the subject is a subject having at risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2” should read “wherein the subject is a subject
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 7-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by WO 2021/163456 A1 to De Groot et al. effectively filed on 02/14/2020. (See PTO-892: Notice of References Cited.)
See instant claims 7-10 as submitted on 03/01/2023.
Regarding claims 7-10, De Groot et al. teach a method for inducing immunity to SARS-CoV-2 in a subject who has had a SARS-CoV-2 infection by administering a composition comprising the 9 amino acid long peptide in instant SEQ ID NO: 4 and an adjuvant (pages 114-115). It is noted that the peptide of De Groot et al.’s disclosure (SEQ ID NO: 1208) Gig. 61, page 350) shares 100% with instant SEQ ID NO: 4, see alignment below (Qy is instant SEQ ID NO: 4; Db is De Groot et al.’s SEQ ID NO: 1208).
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De Groot et al. further teach said method for inducing immunity to SARS-CoV-2 comprises administering said composition to a subject who was previously infected with SARS-CoV-2, who is at risk of infection or suspected to have been (pages 125-126, 128, 150).
Conclusion
No claims are allowed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARLENE V BUCKMASTER whose telephone number is (703)756-5371. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas J Visone can be reached at (571) 270-0684. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MARLENE V BUCKMASTER/Examiner, Art Unit 1672
/NICOLE KINSEY WHITE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1672