Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 29, 2026
Application No. 18/173,386

NUCLEIC ACID EXTRACTION AND AMPLIFICATION CONTROLS AND METHODS OF USE THEREOF

Final Rejection §102§112
Filed
Feb 23, 2023
Priority
Aug 26, 2016 — provisional 62/380,253 +2 more
Examiner
HAVLIN, ROBERT H
Art Unit
1626
Tech Center
1600 — Biotechnology & Organic Chemistry
Assignee
Life Technologies Corporation
OA Round
2 (Final)
52%
Grant Probability
Moderate
3-4
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
80%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 52% of resolved cases
52%
Career Allowance Rate
534 granted / 1022 resolved
-7.7% vs TC avg
Strong +27% interview lift
Without
With
+27.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
95 currently pending
Career history
1129
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.7%
-39.3% vs TC avg
§103
36.8%
-3.2% vs TC avg
§102
14.2%
-25.8% vs TC avg
§112
32.7%
-7.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1022 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §112
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 . Priority This application is a DIV of 15/687,046 (08/25/2017, now US11613777), 15/687,046 has PRO 62/380,291 (08/26/2016) and 62/380,253 (08/26/2016). Status Claims 1, 3-18 are pending. Rejections not reiterated in this action are withdrawn. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d): (d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers. Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends. Claim 9 includes the language “or its corresponding cDNA”, however, claim 1 is limited to SEQ ID Nos 1-34. Thus, claim 9 is outside the scope of claim 1 from which it depends. Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements. 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)(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. (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. Claims 1-10 and 15-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Osborn et al. (US20060172330) as evidenced by NCBI (Blast alignment of AY995255). Osborn teaches an array comprising probes configured to bind to a target (claim 8; [0057]: “The probes can be nucleic acid probes, such as DNA or RNA polynucleotides or oligonucleotides that specifically hybridize”); PCR primer sets ([0082]; Example 1, [0200]); the array configured on a microtiter plate support ([0164]); and a nucleic acid of containing the sequence AY995255 ([0220], “Sbjct” below, 16S ribosomal RNA of “Megasphaera”) which corresponds to a nucleic acid comprising instant SEQ_IDs 13 and 14 (NCBI Blast alignment, corresponding to Query 1 and 19): PNG media_image1.png 476 728 media_image1.png Greyscale . Osborne teaches multiple fluorescent probes and primers (Table 4; Example 1 and 2) as well as a polymerase and nucleotides ([0091]). Conclusion Claims 11-14 are objected to for depending from a rejected base claim. No claims allowed. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT H HAVLIN whose telephone number is (571)272-9066. The examiner can normally be reached 9am - 6pm. 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, Kortney Klinkel can be reached at (571) 270-5293. 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. /ROBERT H HAVLIN/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1626
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Feb 23, 2023
Application Filed
Sep 11, 2025
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §112
Jan 09, 2026
Response Filed
Mar 04, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §102, §112 (current)

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

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
52%
Grant Probability
80%
With Interview (+27.2%)
2y 9m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 1022 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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