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
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) have been considered by the examiner.
Status of applications, Amendments, and/or Claims
The Response filed 20 July 2026 has been entered in full. Claims 3-4, 6, 9-16, 19-23 are currently pending. Claims 1-2, 5, 7-8, 17-18 are canceled. Claims 3-4, 6, 9-10, 13-16, 19-20 have been currently amended. Claims 21-23 are new. Claims 10-13, 19-20, 23 are withdrawn from consideration. Therefore, claims 3-4, 6, 9, 14-16, 21-22 are subject of this Office Action.
Withdrawn Objections and/or Rejections
The 35 USC § 112 (b) rejection to claims 1-4, 6, 9 as set forth at pp. 3-4 of the previous Office action (mailed 21 April 2026) is withdrawn in view of Applicant’s cancellation and/or amendments to claims (mailed 20 July 2026).
The 35 USC § 112 (a) rejection to claims 1-9, 14-16 as set forth at pp. 4-15 of the previous Office action (mailed 21 April 2026) is withdrawn in view of Applicant’s cancellation and/or amendments to claims (mailed 20 July 2026).
New Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Necessitated by Amendment
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.
Claim 6 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as failing to set forth 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.
Claims 6 recites the limitation of "the isolated humanized antibody" binding to Siglec-15 or an antigen binding fragment thereof, according to claim 3. However, claim 3 is not directed to a humanized antibody therefore there is a lack of antecedent basis for the limitation "the isolated humanized antibody". Therefore, there is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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New Allowable Subject Matter
The antibody binding to Siglec-15 or an antigen binding fragment there of comprising SEQ ID NOs: 1, 3, 5, 81, 9, 10 of claim 3 was searched and no prior art was found. Therefore, the antibody of claim 3 is allowable. Claim 3 and dependent claims 4, 9, 14-16, 21-22 are allowable because no prior art was found for the antibody of claim 3, and dependent claims 4, 9, 14-16, 21-22.
Also, the antibody of claim 6 comprising the SEQ ID NOs: 53, 82 were searched, and no prior art was found. The embodiments of claim 6 mentioned above would otherwise be allowable.
Response to Amendments
Applicants’ arguments as they pertain to the rejections have been fully considered. In view of applicant’s cancellation and/or amendments to claims (mailed 20 July 2026), the rejections to claims 3-4, 9, 14-16, have been withdrawn by the examiner. Furthermore, since the Siglec-15 antibody of claim 3 is free of art, claim 3 and dependent claims 4, 9, 14-16 and new claims 21-22 are allowed.
However, a 112(b) rejection to claim 6 is necessary because there is a lack of antecedent basis for the claim recitation "the isolated humanized antibody (..) according to claim 3”, because it is apparent that Claim 3 is not directed to a humanized antibody. Therefore, claim 6 is rejected for lack of antecedent basis.
Conclusion
Claims 3-4, 9, 14-16, 21-22 are allowed.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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 mailing date of this final action.
Advisory Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PRICILA HAUK TEODORO whose telephone number is (571)272-2784. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6:15AM-3:00PM.
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, Heather Calamita can be reached at (571) 272-2876. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PRICILA NMN HAUK TEODORO/Examiner, Art Unit 1645
/HEATHER CALAMITA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1684
