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 .
Response to Amendment
The reply filed 10/24/2025 is acknowledged. Regarding the Office action mailed 07/30/2025, the rejection under the doctrine of double patenting set forth therein is withdrawn in view of the terminal disclaimer filed 10/24/2025. Upon further consideration, new grounds of rejection are set forth below. This Office action is NON-FINAL.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(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.
Claim(s) 32-38 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Chhabra (US 2017/0073393).
As a preliminary matter, claim 32 reads (with emphasis provided): “A DNA sequence comprising an informational series of oligomeric cassettes, wherein each oligomeric cassette comprises a topoisomerase recognition sequence and an informational sequence.”
The term “comprises” permits the claimed DNA sequence to contain additional sequence in addition to the topoisomerase recognition sequences and informational sequences. The term “series” is not explicitly defined in the specification. Therefore, the term “series” is construed as “two or more”. The term “oligomeric cassettes” is not explicitly defined in the specification, nor is the term “informational sequence”, nor are these terms limited to any particular nucleotide sequences.
Chhabra disclosed a DNA sequence comprising two “oligomeric cassettes”, each containing a topoisomerase recognition sequence (CCCTT) and an “informational sequence”. The DNA sequence is shown in paragraph [0381], beginning on page 97. The two “oligomeric cassettes” are found on page 99, the relevant portion of which is reproduced below, with the topoisomerase recognition sequences underlined and the informational sequences boxed:
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Regarding claim 33, CCCTT is a recognition site for vaccinia virus topoisomerase (see paragraph [0492] of the instant specification.
Regarding claims 34 and 35, the topoisomerase recognition site is CCCTT.
Regarding claim 36, the informational sequences are two different sequences.
Regarding claim 37, the informational sequences are each 5 nucleotides.
Regarding claim 38, the claim is not limited to a particular sequence that corresponds to “1” or “0”. Any two different sequences can correspond to “1” or “0”, respectively.
Conclusion
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/SAMUEL C WOOLWINE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1681