DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
2. 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 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.
3. 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.
4. Claims 2-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Poehmerer et al. (US 2020/0010827 A1).
Regarding claim 2
Poehmerer et al. teach, throughout the whole document, a method for modulating pH on a CMOS chip in an addressable, voltage-directed manner, the method comprising: applying a first solution (e.g., a solution comprising acetonitrile, hydroquinone, and benzoquinone) to a first set of electrodes of the CMOS chip (see paragraphs [0089]-[0090], [0150], [0286], [0318], [0333], [0364]-[0365], [0398], [0622]-[0623] and [0693]); and applying a voltage to the first set of electrodes that modulates the localized pH (e.g., by producing electrochemically generated acid (EGA)) of the first solution (see paragraphs [0282], [0286], [0289] and [0315]-[0318]; Figures 2A-2B).
Regarding claim 3
The method according to Poehmerer et al., wherein the first solution comprises acetonitrile (see paragraphs [0318], [0333], [0398] and [0693]).
Regarding claims 4-6
The method according to Poehmerer et al., wherein the first solution comprises two components, wherein the two components comprise a first quinone (e.g., hydroquinone) and a second quinone (e.g., benzoquinone), wherein the ratio of the first quinone to the second quinone is greater than 2 (e.g., having 1M hydroquinone and 10mM benzoquinone in the solution gives a molar ratio of 100) (see paragraphs [0286], [0318], [0333], [0398] and [0693]).
Regarding claims 7-8
The method according to Poehmerer et al., wherein the first solution comprises three components, wherein the first solution comprises a first quinone (e.g., hydroquinone), a second quinone (e.g., benzoquinone), and acetonitrile (see paragraphs [0318], [0333], [0398] and [0693]).
Regarding claims 9-10
According to Poehmerer et al., benzoquinone in the first solution may be replaced with 2,3,5,6-tetrachloro-1,4-benzoquinone (i.e., tetrachloro-1,4-benzoquinone) (see paragraph [0332]). As evidenced by paragraph [0311] and Figure 37 of the instant application (or paragraph [0308] and Figure 37 of the published application), the reversible redox pair comprising hydroquinone (HQ) and tetrachloro-1,4-benzoquinone (TQ) is configured with a redox potential that is less than 1.5V or is about 0.9V, thus allowing the voltage applied to be less than 1.5V or to be about 0.9V.
Regarding claims 11-12
The method according to Poehmerer et al., wherein the voltage is modulated, wherein the voltage is modulated in time (see paragraphs [0286] and [0315]-[0317]).
Regarding claims 13-14
The method according to Poehmerer et al., further comprising synthesizing polynucleotides on the CMOS chip, wherein synthesizing polynucleotides comprises a step of: removing a protecting group on the CMOS chip (see paragraphs [0089]-[0090], [0286], [0333], [0364]-[0365], [0622]-[0623] and [0693]).
Regarding claim 15
The method according to Poehmerer et al., wherein synthesizing polynucleotides further comprises steps of: providing, on or adjacent to the first set of electrodes, a polynucleotide synthesis region functionalized to support polynucleotide synthesis; identifying a target nucleotide to be incorporated; applying a voltage to the first set of electrodes to drive acid generation for deprotection; and providing a desired monomer in either the first solution or a second solution (see paragraphs [0089]-[0090], [0266]-[0272], [0286], [0311], [0333], [0364]-[0365], [0622]-[0623], [0654] and [0693]).
Regarding claim 16
The method according to Poehmerer et al., wherein the polynucleotide synthesis region is planar (see paragraphs [0574]).
Regarding claim 17
The method according to Poehmerer et al., further comprising: providing a second set of electrodes that surround the first set of electrodes in a planar manner (see paragraph [0308]; Figure 17).
Regarding claim 18
The method according to Poehmerer et al., wherein the electrodes and synthesis regions are arranged as an array with a pitch less than 30 microns or less than 10 microns (e.g., about 1.3 μm) (see paragraph [0361]).
Regarding claim 19
The method according to Poehmerer et al., wherein a plurality of polynucleotide synthesis steps are performed until a target polynucleotide sequence is generated (see paragraphs [0266]-[0272], [0311], [0364]-[0365], [0654] and [0693]).
Regarding claim 20
The method according to Poehmerer et al., wherein at least a portion of the target polynucleotide sequence contains error correction sequence elements (i.e., any sequence segment from the target polynucleotide sequence may serve as error correction sequence elements which are not defined in any way).
Regarding claim 21
The method according to Poehmerer et al., wherein at least a portion of a target polynucleotide sequence population comprises a consensus error corrected sequence (see paragraphs [0049] and [0053]).
Conclusion
5. No claim is allowed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAIJIANG ZHANG whose telephone number is (571)272-5207. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:30 am - 5 pm.
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/KAIJIANG ZHANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1684
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