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
Acknowledgement is hereby made of receipt and entry of the communication filed on Jan. 10, 2023. Claims 1-20 are pending and currently examined.
Claim Objection
Claims 1 and 16 are objected to for a minor abnormality:
Both claims recite “or any combination of these genes wherein the complementary nucleic acid complements …” There appears to lack a punctuation mark between words “genes” and “wherein”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
Claims 12 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 12 recites “The method of claim 6, wherein the gene that encodes the chaperone protein comprises an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 67-96 and 113-117.” Claim 14 recites “The method of claim 1, wherein the gene that encodes the tail fiber structural protein comprises of an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 35- 66, and 108-112.” Both claims specify a gene that encodes a protein to comprise an amino acid sequence. It is not clear how a gene encoding a protein can comprise an amino acid sequence.
Applicant may consider language “wherein the gene that encodes the … protein comprises a nucleotide sequence encoding an amino acid sequence selected from …”
Conclusion
Claims 12 and 14 are rejected. Claims 1 and 16 are objected.
Claims 2-11, 13, 15, and 17-20 are allowable.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NIANXIANG (NICK) ZOU whose telephone number is (571)272-2850. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday, 8:30 am - 5:00 pm, EST. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, JANET ANDRES, on (571) 272-0867, can be reached. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/NIANXIANG ZOU/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1671