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 .
Receipt is acknowledged of IDS filed on 02/27/2026, 03/28/2023, and 03/13/2023.
Claims 24-45 are pending.
Claims 1-23 are cancelled.
Claims 32-45 are withdrawn.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of a targeting method and Species cyclooxygenase-2 in the reply filed on 2/27/2026 is acknowledged.
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 24 and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by LIANG (ULTRASOUND-MEDIATED DELIVERY OF ECHOGENIC IMMUNOLIPOSOMES TO PORCINE VASCULAR SMOOTH MUSCLE CELLS IN VIVO. J Liposome Res. 2010.).
Regarding claim 24, LIANG teaches liposomes, which are made of lipids, that are conjugated to an antibody for smooth muscle cell actin, which reads on an antibody against at least one vascular inflammatory marker associated with aneurysm and is further loaded with calcein, which reads on at least one label and/or a contrast agent (abstract). The liposome is injected, which reads on administering the liposome to a subject (abstract).
Regarding claim 28, LIANG teaches the calcein, which is a fluorescent moiety, is loaded into the liposome (page 3, paragraph 3)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 24-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LIANG (ULTRASOUND-MEDIATED DELIVERY OF ECHOGENIC IMMUNOLIPOSOMES TO PORCINE VASCULAR SMOOTH MUSCLE CELLS IN VIVO. J Liposome Res. 2010.) in view of JAMINON (The Role of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells in Arterial Remodeling: Focus on Calcification-Related Processes. International Journal of Molecular Sceinces. 2019.).
LIANG teaches Applicant’s invention as discussed above. LIANG teaches that the composition comprises an antibody for smooth muscle cell actin that is specifically used to target vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) (abstract).
LIANG does not specifically teach the antibody is towards α-smooth muscle cell actin.
Regarding claim 25-27, JAMINON teaches that α-smooth muscle cell actin is highly expressed in VSMCs (Page 6, paragraph 5).
Regarding claim 29, JAMINON teaches alpha smooth muscle cell actin (Page 6, paragraph 5) and instant claim 25, defines this as an inflammatory marker, so it reads on a inflammatory marker is presented due to an inflammation.
It would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to incorporate having the antibody for α-smooth muscle cell actin. The person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make those modifications, and reasonably would have expected success because LIANG is towards targeting VSMCs using an antibody for smooth muscle cell actin and JAMINON teaches that α-smooth muscle cell actin is highly expressed in VSMCs.
Claims 24-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LIANG (ULTRASOUND-MEDIATED DELIVERY OF ECHOGENIC IMMUNOLIPOSOMES TO PORCINE VASCULAR SMOOTH MUSCLE CELLS IN VIVO. J Liposome Res. 2010.) and JAMINON (The Role of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells in Arterial Remodeling: Focus on Calcification-Related Processes. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2019.) in view of FUJII (Histopathological Characteristics of Post-inflamed Coronary Arteries : in Kawasaki Disease-like Vasculitis of Rabbits. Acta Histochem Cytochem. 2016.).
LIANG and JAMINON teach Applicant’s invention as discussed above.
LIANG and JAMINON do not specifically teach that alpha smooth muscle cell actin is associated with an infection, such as vasculitis.
Regarding claim 30-31, FUJII teaches that vasculitis, an infection, is associated with alpha smooth muscle cell actin and is expressed when vasculitis is present in a subject (abstract) in VSMCs (page 32, paragraph 3).
It would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to incorporate having alpha smooth muscle cell actin being associated with vasculitis. The person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make those modifications, because vasculitis is associated with alpha smooth muscle cell actin and reasonably would have expected success because the references are in the same field of endeavor such as smooth muscle cell actin in VSMCs.
Conclusion
No claims are allowable.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMANTHA L. MEJIAS whose telephone number is (703)756-5666. The examiner can normally be reached M-F.
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/S.L.M./ Examiner, Art Unit 1618 /JAKE M VU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1618
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