Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/171,810

AMPLIFICATION PRIMER DESIGN AND LIGATION METHOD FOR DNA MOLECULES

Non-Final OA §102§112
Filed
Feb 21, 2023
Examiner
WILDER, CYNTHIA B
Art Unit
1681
Tech Center
1600 — Biotechnology & Organic Chemistry
Assignee
BGI GENOMICS CO., LTD.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
71%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
3y 1m
To Grant
97%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 71% — above average
71%
Career Allow Rate
630 granted / 891 resolved
+10.7% vs TC avg
Strong +27% interview lift
Without
With
+26.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 1m
Avg Prosecution
49 currently pending
Career history
940
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
7.6%
-32.4% vs TC avg
§103
36.2%
-3.8% vs TC avg
§102
16.3%
-23.7% vs TC avg
§112
26.5%
-13.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 891 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §112
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. Election/Restrictions Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-2 and 19-20 in the reply filed on 9/16/2025 is acknowledged. Accordingly, claims 3-18 are withdrawn from consideration as being drawn to a non-elected invention. Drawings The drawings were received on 5/12/2023 is acknowledged. These drawings are found acceptable to the Examiner. 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. 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 appl icant regards as his invention. Claims 1-2 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim 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. (a) Claims 1-2 are indefinite at the recitation of “a characteristic association between different primer pairs of which satisfying” because the limitation has not been defined in the claims or specification and it is unclear as to what information (characteristic association between different primers) is intended to be gleaned by this recitation. Clarification is required. (b) Claim 2 is indefinite at the phrase " preferably " because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d). Accordingly, the metes and bounds of the limitation is unclear. (c) Claim 20 is indefinite and lacks proper antecedent basis at the recitation of “a last primer pair do not have the characteristic association” because the claims 1 from which it depends do not recite or imply a “last primer” in the context of the claims. Further neither the claim 1 or the instant claim or the specification defines what is meant by the “the characteristic association” in the context of the claims. A clear interpretation of Applicant’s intent cannot be ascertained. Clarification is required. 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. Claim(s) 1-2, 19 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Chen et al (CN 114807123A, July 29, 2022 , translated document pages 1-15 ). Regarding claim s 1 -2 , Chen teaches a group of PCR primer pairs, the association between the different primer pairs is two different pairs of primers, the forward primer of one primer pair and the reverse of the other primer pair are different from the n bases of the end of the 5’, the first based in the n base is Am the n base is dU , the n is an integer greater than or equal to 4 and wherein the n is in a range from 4-30 (see page 3, epecially lines 14-21). Regarding claim 19, Chen teaches a set of primer pairs for amplification of TCR/BCR cDNA, sequence so f the primer pairs being set forth in SEQ ID NOS: 1-8 (page 5, lines 9-10, see also sequences at pages 10-14). Regarding claim 20, Chen teaches wherein there is no feature correlation between the forward primer of the first primer pair and the reverse primer of the last primer pair (page 3, 5 th -6 th lines from bottom of page). Conclusion No claims are allowed. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT CYNTHIA B WILDER whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)272-0791 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT Flexible . 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, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT GARY BENZION can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 571-272-0782 . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /CYNTHIA B WILDER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1681
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Feb 21, 2023
Application Filed
Nov 27, 2023
Response after Non-Final Action
Dec 18, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
71%
Grant Probability
97%
With Interview (+26.6%)
3y 1m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 891 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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