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 reply to the Restriction Requirement, dated February 21, 2026, has been received. By way of this submission, Applicant has elected, without traverse, Invention I: claims 33-41 and 47, and a peptide comprising SEQ ID NOs: 1 and 2.
Claims 33-47 are pending in the application. Claims 35-36 and 42-47 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention (42-46) or species (35-36 and 47), there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on February 21, 2026.
Claims 33-34 and 38-41 are therefore under examination before the Office.
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.
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 33, 34, and 37 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by Bandman (US20040249127A1).
Bandman teaches a peptide of SEQ ID NO: 13, which comprises both ERFNSITSAYYR (Applicant's SEQ ID NO: 1) and CKSTVGVDFKI (Applicant's SEQ ID NO: 2), as evidenced below:
PNG
media_image1.png
134
544
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Bandman also teaches that said peptide may be chimeric (para. 0240).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 33-34 and 38-41 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bandman (US20040249127A1) in view of Porgador (WO2018109771A1).
The teachings of Bandman have been described supra. However, Bandman does not teach a linker or encapsulation.
Porgador teaches a linker that connects the first and second moieties of a chimeric peptide (para. 006 and 016).
Porgador further teaches that the linker may be a chemical moiety or a polypeptide chain of fifteen amino acids or less (para. 084), which is pertinent to claims 39-40.
Porgador further teaches that the above chimeric peptide may be encapsulated in a liposome (para. 0134), which is pertinent to claim 41.
It would have been prima facie obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art as of the effective filing date to combine the teachings of Bandman and Porgador to arrive at the claimed invention. Chimeric peptides comprising Applicant's SEQ ID NOs: 1 and 2 were known in the art, according to the teachings of Bandman. The use of linkers to join moieties of a chimeric peptide, as well as encapsulation in liposomes, are taught by Porgador. One of ordinary skill would be able to apply the improvements to chimeric peptides taught by Porgador to the chimeric peptide of Bandman by known methods, with each performing its known, usual function, and the combination would yield nothing more than predictable results.
Conclusion
No claim is allowed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PETER JOHANSEN whose telephone number is (571)272-0280. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 7:00 to 3:00.
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, Samira Jean-Louis can be reached at (571) 270-3503. 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.
/PETER JOHANSEN/Examiner, Art Unit 1644
Prosecution Insights