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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statement filed on 06/04/2026 is acknowledged and found to be in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR § 1.97. Accordingly, the Information Disclosure Statement has been considered.
Application History
Claims 1-63 were originally presented on the filing of the instant application, 08/11/2023. The preliminary amendments to the claims also received on 08/11/2023 were acknowledged and entered. Claims 1-63 were pending and rejected in the Non-final Rejection mailed 02/03/2026. Applicant’s present amendments to the claims were received on 06/04/2026.
Status of Claims
The amendments to the claims received on 06/04/2026 are acknowledged and entered. Claims 32-36 and 39-43 are cancelled, and 1, 46, 47, and 57 are amended. Claims 2-31, 37-38, 44-45, 48-56, and 58-63 were maintained as previously presented.
Accordingly, claims 1-31, 37, 38, and 44-63 are pending and under consideration in the instant application.
Previous Grounds of Rejection
For clarity, Applicant uses the lead inventor’s last name as an abbreviation for the cited references. E.g., WO’528 is also Lu. The examiner prefers the patent number identifier but will refer to references as WO’528/Lu in this section.
Claim Rejections under 35 USC 102(a)(2) - Withdrawn
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks received 06/04/2026, at 44 or 48, with respect to rejections of claims 1, 3, 6-13, 17, 18, 20-34, 39, 40, 46-56, and 58-63 under 35 USC 112(a)(2) as being anticipated by WO’327/Yu, and claims 2 and 35-38 as being anticipated by WO’528/Lu have been fully considered. The rejections of claims 16, 20, 25, and 26 under 35 USC 112(a)(2) have been withdrawn, in view of claim 16 being canceled and the amendments to claims 20, 25, and 26.
Claim Rejections under 35 USC 103 – Overcome by Amendment
The previous grounds of rejection of claims 4 and 5 over WO’528/Lu, claims 14-16 and 41-45 over WO’327/Yu, claim 19 over WO’327/Yu in view of WO’650/Codelli, and claim 57 over WO’327/Yu in view of WO’018/Velaparthi, have been overcome by Applicant’s amendments to the claims that excise the exact scope of select compounds of WO’327/Yu and WO’528/Lu. New grounds of rejection are set forth later in this office action because Applicant’s amended claims still encompass simple bioisosteres of the compounds of WO’528. However, because WO’528/Lu, WO’327/Yu, and WO’018/Velaparthi are still relied upon to a certain extent, Applicant’s remarks regarding these references are discussed first.
Applicant’s substantial amendments to the claims required shifting the analysis back to WO’528/Lu. As explained in the present rejections, WO’528/Lu effectively teaches a structure activity relationship study about the DGKA receptor and provides compelling lead compounds that one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing would seek to further develop. Applicant’s assertion that WO’528/Lu “provides no blaze marks that would motivate a skilled artisan to make the modifications necessary to arrive at the claimed compounds while maintaining any reasonable expectation of success in arriving at a compound having have selective activity towards one or both of DGKα and DGKζ” is not persuasive in view of the stellar activity data WO’528/Lu disclosed.
Further, Applicant repeats its “no blaze marks” assertion with respect to WO’327/Yu, which is also not persuasive in view of WO’327/Yu effectively teaching another structure activity relationship study about the DGKA and DGKZ receptor. Many of the compounds of WO’327/Yu match the activity of the compounds Applicant instantly discloses. Like WO’528/Lu, the general chemical structure taught in WO’327/Yu indeed encompasses Applicant’s alleged invention.
Applicant’s assertion of “impermissible hindsight”, see Remarks received 06/04/2026, at 46 of 48, in discussing the WO’018/Velaparthi reference, is not persuasive.
In response to Applicant's argument that the examiner's conclusion of obviousness was based upon improper hindsight reasoning, it must be recognized that any judgment on obviousness is in a sense necessarily a reconstruction based upon hindsight reasoning. But so long as it takes into account only knowledge which was within the level of ordinary skill at the time the claimed invention was made, and does not include knowledge gleaned only from the applicant's disclosure, such a reconstruction is proper. See In re McLaughlin, 443 F.2d 1392, 170 USPQ 209 (CCPA 1971).
Applicant’s discussion of the efficacy data disclosed in WO’018/Velaparthi is not persuasive. See Remarks received 06/04/2026, at 47 of 48. The appropriate comparison was the efficacy data of WO’327/Yu, which formed the basis for the combination of WO’327/Yu in view of WO’018/Velaparthi.
WO’018/Velaparthi disclosed many compounds bearing the well-known bis(4-difluormethyl)methylene moiety (see, e.g., WO’018 at 1001, claim 10, which has an entire genus drawn to this moiety and simple variants). This moiety was employed by many inventors of APIs in the class. The well-known bis(4-difluormethyl)methylene moiety was established as an effective functional group to incorporate into a DGK inhibitors when bound to a piperazine linker.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 – Necessitated by Amendment
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 1-31, 37, 38, and 44-56, and 58-63 Obvious over WO’528 in view of Patani 1996
Claims 1-31, 37, 38, and 44-56, and 58-63 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO’5281 in view of Patani 1996.2 WO’528 is the same reference applied in the in the Non-Final Rejection mailed 02/03/2026 (abbreviated by Applicant as Lu).
The instant claims are drawn to diacylglycerol kinase inhibitor compounds of the Instant Formula (I), shown below on the left. WO’528 at 25 discloses its diacylglycerol kinase inhibitor, the WO’528 Example 2 compound, shown below on the right. Applicant’s original claim set encompassed the WO’528 Example 2 compound. Applicant’s amendments to the claims removed methyl as a permitted variable for its R1. However, Applicant’s R1 still permits simple bioisosteres of methyl, such as hydrogen.
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Instant Formula (I)
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WO’528 Example 2 compound
The WO’528 Example 2 compound belongs to a family of compounds disclosed in WO’528 represented by its Formula (I), see WO’528 at 52, claim 1, shown below on the left. The variables defined for the family of compounds disclosed in WO’528 have near if not complete overlap with the instant claims. Reading further down claim 1, the inventors of WO’528 excluded the compound shown below on the right from their claimed invention because another had invented it:
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WO’528 Formula (I)
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Compound excluded from the WO’528 claim set, at page 53
The excluded compound represented a compound of the general formula of WO’528 wherein the L variable was -CR5R6-, with both R5 and R6 variables being H. This was consistent with the specification, which stated on page 20, paragraph [0074] (“In some embodiments of a compound of Formula (I) or (Ia) – (Ie), L is -CH2-.”).
Therefore, the examiner considered whether one of skill in the art, reading WO’528 alone, would at once envisage the following anticipatory compounds as chemical scaffolds for constructing the compounds of WO’528 because 1) the WO’528 Formula (I) encompassed each compound, and 2) they would be necessary for constructing its compounds:
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Scaffolds for Constructing the Compounds of WO’528
However, the analysis applied here utilizes a bioisostere reference (Patani 1996). To explain, of the fourteen exemplified compounds disclosed in WO’528, the Example 2 compound had stellar activity. See WO’528 at 51, Table 3:
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The above table indicated that the Example 2 compound had an IC50 towards DGKA between 1 and 10 nM, which was good (and in fact matches or exceeds the activity of the compounds disclosed by Applicant). Effectively, the biological data reported in WO’528 provides a structural activity relationship study (a “SAR” study, or just a “SAR”) around the DGKA receptor.
For example, comparing the Example 2 compound to the Example 3 compound, the chemist of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing would learn that a specific nitrogen about the tricyclic ring structure was important for optimizing activity (Z variable of WO’528 Formula (I)). See WO’528 at 25 for the structures shown below. Compound 3, for example, had an IC50 towards DGKA that was an order of magnitude worse than the Example 2 compound.
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DGKA IC50 between 1 and 10 nM
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DGKA IC50 between 10 and 100 nM.
Therefore, the data from WO’528 alone teaches that the variable Z of WO’528 Formula (I) should be N.
Being inhibitors of at least DGKA, WO’528 explained that the active pharmaceutical ingredients (“APIs”) it disclosed were indicated for the treatment of cancer and viral infections. See, e.g., WO’528 at 1, background section, and at 31, under the method of treatment section.
WO’528 also teaches pharmaceutical compositions with excipients, see claim 15 at 56, testing API in preclinical trials and clinical trials to determine dosing, see WO’528 at 31-32, and indications for patients afflicted with cancers such as melanomas, see WO’528 at 31.
Accordingly, WO’528 expressly teaches 1) a general formula for diacylglycerol kinase inhibitor compounds that significantly overlaps with the instantly claimed general formula, 2) a SAR about the DGKA receptors an ordinary chemist at the time of filing would use for constructing additional diacylglycerol kinase inhibitors due to the stellar activity of its compounds, and 3) teaches specific exemplary compounds that differ by the exchange of a methyl for a hydrogen.
WO’528 does not appear to expressly exemplify the chemical structure of the compound obtained from the bioisosteric exchange of the methyl of its Example 2 compound with a hydrogen, shown below on the right:
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Bioisosteric exchange of methyl of WO’528 Example 2 compound with hydrogen
However, one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing would have a reasonable expectation of success in making the bioisosteric exchange because Patani 1996 teaches that by definition, one would reasonably expect the resulting bioisostere to affect the same pharmacological targets as an antagonist, and thereby have related properties. See Patani 1996:
Patani 1996
The exchange of a methyl group with a hydrogen represents a classical bioisosteric exchange of CH3 with H. Such compounds are classical bioisosteres “according to Grimm”. See Patani 1996 at 3148, right column, Table 2, discussed below.
Patani 1996 has been cited thousands of times by numerous authors for its review of “Bioisosterism: A Rational Approach in Drug Design”. See Patani 1996 at Title. On the first page, it explains that “Bioisosterism represents one approach used by the medicinal chemist for the rational modification of lead compounds into safer and more clinically effective agents.” Patani 1996 at 3147. The approach was considered “intuitive”, id., and had its roots back to 1919, id. at 3148. Bioisosteres are “Compounds or groups that possess near-equal molecular shapes and volumes, approximately the same distribution of electrons, and which exhibit similar physical properties...”. Id. “The critical component for bioisosterism is that bioisosteres affect the same pharmacological target as agonists or antagonists and, thereby, have biological properties which are related to each other.” Id.
“Bioisosteres have been classified as either classical or nonclassical.” Id. One such group of classical bioisosteres were those “according to Grimm”, see Patani 1996 at 3148, Table 2 and surrounding text (fourth column shows the CH3 and H exchange):
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Patani 1996 at 3148, Table 2.
See also, Patani 1996 at 3149 (“(4) fluorine, hydroxyl, amino, and methyl group interchanges (Grimm’s Hydride Displacement Law)”); id. at 3152-3155 (“4. Fluorine and Hydroxyl, Amino, or Methyl Groups as Replacements for Hydrogen (Grimm’s Hydride Displacement Law)”) (emphases added).
Accordingly, the exchange of CH3 with H results in classical bioisosteres, that by definition, affect the same pharmacological target as agonists or antagonists and, thereby, have biological properties which are related to each other.
The hydrogen bioisostere of the WO’528 Example 2 compound was obvious
Therefore, a chemist of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing would have a reasonable expectation of success in preparing the hydrogen bioisostere of the WO’528 Example 2 compound because he would reasonably expect that the resulting bioisostere would affect the same diacylglycerol kinase pharmacological targets as an antagonist, and thereby, have biological properties that are related to the WO’528 Example 2 compound. As a result, he would reasonably expect to succeed in preparing another stellar DGKA inhibitor, effective for treating patients with cancers such as melanomas.
Accordingly, claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 37, 38, 45, 51, 58 (see, e.g., WO’528 at 24, paragraphs [0087]-[0090]), 59, 60 (see, e.g., WO’528 at 56, claim 17), 61, 62, and 63 were obvious at the time of filing.
Substituents attached the piperazine linker were obvious
Regarding claims 23, 24, 25, 26, 46, 52, and 53, WO’528 disclosed another structure in its SAR with particular substitution at the piperazine linker – the Example 5 compound at 25. That compound too had stellar activity towards DGKA. See WO’528 at 51, Table 3, show activity in the 1 to 10 nM range.
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While WO’528 does not appear to expressly exemplify its chemical structure, the ordinary chemist would have had a reasonable expectation of success in attaching the same substituents to the hydrogen bioisostere of the WO’528 Example 2 compound because the SAR disclosed in WO’528 teaches that the diacylglycerol kinase targets are flexible, accept, and perhaps even prefer such substituted piperazine linkers:
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Therefore, it was obvious to substitute the piperazine linker of the hydrogen bioisostere of the WO’528 Example 2 compound, which reads on claims 23, 24, 25, 26, 46, 52, and 53.
Accordingly, claims 23, 24, 25, 26, 46, 52, and 53 were obvious at the time of filing.
Bioisosteric replacement or ring carbons with nitrogen were obvious
Regarding claims 3, 6, 9, 47, 48, 49, and 50, while WO’528 does not appear to expressly exemplify its chemical structure, the ordinary chemist would have had a reasonable expectation of success in replacing aromatic ring carbons with nitrogens because not only were such compounds expressly permitted by the general formula of WO’528, but also because CH and N exchanges were also considered classical bioisosteric exchanges “according to Grimm”. Accordingly, by definition, one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing would reasonably expect the resulting bioisostere to affect the same pharmacological targets as an antagonist, and thereby have related properties. See again Patani 1996 at 3148, at Table 2 (second column). See also, e.g., Patani 1996 at 3159-3160, which teaches the simple example of phenyl-pyridine swaps.
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Patani 1996 at 3148.
Therefore, it was obvious to modify the previous compound and simply keep the tricyclic ring structure present in the WO’528 Example 5 compound. It represented only exchanging the methyl - trifluoromethylphenyl group with a fluorophenyl group:
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The resulting compound (above left, after the arrow), was still considered a bioisostere of the WO’528 Example 5 compound because of 1) the methyl for H exchange, as previously discussed, and 2) the trifluoromethyl group of 5 is a bioisostere within the same series. See again Patani 1996 at 3152, under “Fluorine and Hydroxyl, Amino, or Methyl Groups as Replacements for Hydrogen (Grimm’s Hydride Displacement Law)”, discussing in the right column (“In this study the effect of the interchange of NH2, OH, as well as CF3 (a bioisostere for a methyl group based on the replacement of hydrogen with fluorine) on activity was assessed.”) (emphasis added).
The resulting compound reads on claims 3, 6, 9, 47, 48, 49, and 50.
Accordingly, claims 3, 6, 9, 47, 48, 49, and 50 were obvious at the time of filing.
Regarding claims 19 and 54-56, as stated, bioisosteric replacement of ring carbons with nitrogen was expressly permitted by the general formula of WO’528, and there was a reasonable expectation of success in making a bioisosteric replacement because, by definition, one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing would reasonably expect the resulting bioisostere to affect the same pharmacological targets as an antagonist, and thereby have related properties. Modifying the previous compound as expressly permitted by the general formula of WO’528 to prepare its bioisostere is shown below. The resulting compound reads on claims 19 and 54-56.
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There was a reasonable expectation of success in preparing the above bioisostere, which itself is just a bioisostere of the WO’528 Example 5.
Accordingly, claims 19 and 54-56 were obvious at the time of filing.
Substitution at the instant Y variable was obvious
Another compound disclosed in the SAR of WO’528 was its Example 1 compound at 24, shown below. It had a halogen substituent at the variable RX of the WO’528 claim 1 general structure. However, it had poor activity (D ranking, meaning above 100 nM IC50 towards DGKA).
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WO’528 Example 1 compound, IC50 > 100 nM
However, as stated previously, the SAR of WO’528 taught that a specific nitrogen about the tricyclic ring structure was important for optimizing activity (Z variable of WO’528 Formula (I)). The ordinary chemist at the time of filing, seeking to determine whether a halogen substituent at the variable RX of the WO’528 claim 1 general structure indeed negatively impacted the resulting biological activity, or if instead the data arose from the WO’528 Example 1 compound having a Z variable of CH instead of N, would have a reasonable expectation of success in simply moving the chlorine of the hydrogen bioisostere of the WO’528 Example 2 compound (below left) to RX of the WO’528 claim 1 general structure, not only because resulting compound was expressly permitted by the general formula of WO’528, but also because Cl and H exchanges were also considered bioisosteric exchanges within the same series previously discussed.
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For example, see Patani 1996 at 3153, still under the umbrella of the “Fluorine and Hydroxyl, Amino, or Methyl Groups as Replacements for Hydrogen (Grimm’s Hydride Displacement Law)” section, (“As an extension to the above group defined by Grimm’s Hydride Displacement Law, the widespread use of the chlorine atom as a bioisostere has been observed in several different series of biologically active compounds. This could be attributed to the similarity in size between these atoms, a comparison of which is made in Table 11. Further, there exists similarity in the lipophilicity of the methyl group with that of chlorine which may be responsible for its suitability as a monovalent bioisosteric replacement.”).
Further, the ordinary chemist would have a reasonable expectation of success in replacing the now chloro substituent with a bulky lipophilic group like isopropyl not only because resulting compound was expressly permitted by the general formula of WO’528, but also because he would have prepared it in the extension of the SAR disclosed in WO’528 in attempts to tune the activity of its compounds. See also, WO’528 at 7, paragraph [0022] (explaining that alkyl, including the C1-6 alkyl that is an option for Rx of WO’528, expressly includes isopropyl).
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Accordingly, claims 14-16 were obvious at the time of filing.
Permitted options for instant R1 were still obvious
Regarding claim 44, simple SAR exploration by any ordinary chemist seeking to tune the activity of the compounds of WO’528 would result in the following compounds, prepared by simply modifying the L variable as expressly permitted by the general formula of WO’528.
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The ordinary chemist at the time of filing would have a reasonable expectation of success with each compound because they were simple bioisosteres of the WO’528 Example 2 compound, and were again, expressly permitted by the general formula of WO’528.
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Accordingly, claim 44 was obvious at the time of filing.
Claims 1-31, 37, 38, and 44-63 Obvious over WO’528 in view of Patani 1996, WO’327, and WO’018
Claims 1-31, 37, 38, and 44-63 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO’528 in view of Patani 1996, WO’327,3 and WO’018.4
The rejections of claims 1-31, 37, 38, and 44-56, and 58-63 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO’528 in view of Patani 1996 are incorporated herein and restated in full.
WO’327 and WO’018 are the same references discussed in the Non-final Rejection mailed 02/03/2026.
WO’528 in view of Patani 1996 do not appear to expressly teach using certain substituents for the instant R1 variable, such as a fluorophenyl group (resulting in a bis(4-difluormethyl)methylene moiety attached to a piperazine linker), and some of the variation about the piperazine linker.
However, many SAR studies were reported for diacylglycerol kinase inhibitor compounds that establish the bis(4-difluormethyl)methylene moiety group as an effective functional group to incorporate into a diacylglycerol kinase inhibitor when bound to a piperazine linker. Moreover, different piperazine linker substituents were all well-established.
SAR of WO’327
For example, a separate structure activity study in WO’327 compared a tricyclic DGKA inhibitor to a bicyclic variant. See, e.g., compounds 60 and 80 on pages and 207 and 210 of WO’327:
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Both compounds exhibited stellar activity towards DGKA and DGKZ receptors. See WO’327 at 217, Table 2 – both A rankings, meaning IC50s below 100 nM towards both receptors. Because activity was effectively maintained, the bicyclic and tricyclic structures of compounds 60 and 80 were interchangeable. Consistent with Patani 1996, while the ring structures were slightly different, they represented “ ‘Compounds or groups that possess near-equal molecular shapes and volumes, approximately the same distribution of electrons, and which exhibit similar physical properties...’”. Patani 1996 at 3148. As a result, both compounds were bioisosteres and affected the same pharmacological target as antagonists and, thereby, had biological properties which were related to each other.
The inventors of WO’327 explained that for these DGK inhibitors, one could also vary the substituents attached to the piperazine linker. For example, extending the alkyl length to ethyl was known, see, e.g., WO’327 at 235, claims 52-53, and compounds like 86 and 87 on page 211 and 217,
,
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The inventors also explained that the medicinal chemist could incorporate oxadiazoles into the structures, such as compound 70 on page 209 and 217 (Applicant’s claims permit such cyclopropyl oxadiazoles, see, e.g., instant claim 45). Further, even bioisosteres of the isopropyl group, such as the cyclopropyl group shown in compound 117 on page 214 and 218, worked.
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SAR of WO’018 – Establishes bis(4-difluormethyl)methylene moiety attached to piperazine
The compounds of WO’018 utilize the same bioisosteric bicyclic group as depicted in compound 60 of WO’327 (only difference is the N/CH bioisostere exchange). The compounds of WO’018 represent an earlier generation of diacylglycerol kinase inhibitors invented before the inventors of WO’528 and WO’327 transitioned to the bioisosteric tricyclic variant. As shown in WO’327, the substituents attached at the bottom side of the piperazine linker were interchangeable despite the change from a bicyclic to a tricyclic structure attached to the top of the linker.
As exemplified by the numerous examples in WO’018, such as its Example 3 compound disclosed on page 128, the bis(4-difluormethyl)methylene moiety when incorporated into a DGK inhibitor consistently resulted in strong inhibition of DGK receptors. See, e.g., WO’018 at 946, providing assay data for the compounds disclosed in WO’018.
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Indeed, this group worked so consistently that WO’018 dedicated an entire subgenus of chemicals to its arrangement and bioisosteric variants, see, e.g., WO’018 at 32-33, and 1001, claim 10:
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Further, a single fluorophenyl worked, consistent with WO’528. See, e.g., WO’018 at 33:
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It was obvious to use the bis(4-difluormethyl)methylene moiety / diethyl piperazine linker
Returning to the previous example regarding claims 3, 6, 9, 47, 48, 49, and 50, where it was shown that the following transformation and compounds were obvious at the time of filing:
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, simple incorporation of the bis(4-difluormethyl)methylene moiety, followed by extension of one of the piperazine alkyl substituents to the ethyl length results in the instant example 5 compound, which is recited in claim 57:
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See instant example 5 compound:
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There was a reasonable expectation of success in preparing the above compound because it represented no more than simple bioisosteric replacement within the scope of WO’528, followed by utilization of the bis(4-difluormethyl)methylene group already known to work in this class of compounds.
Therefore, claims 1-31, 37, 38, and 44-56, and 58-63 were obvious at the time of filing.
Prior Art Cited but not Applied
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
Yu, Younong, et al., “Kinase inhibitors, preparation methods and uses thereof”, International Publication No. WO 2023186060 A1, published 2023-10-05, priority to 2022-03-31, hereinafter “WO’060”.
In family with WO’327, and explicitly teaches R1 is isopropyl on at least page 252, and relevant assays on pages 274 and 276. See compound 204 from page 252
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Also explicitly teaches preference for R1 being simply hydrogen, see, e.g., claim 20 on page 287.
Conclusion
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 Christopher Evan Redwood whose telephone number is (571) 272-8882. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 6:15 AM - 4:45 PM.
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/C.E.R./Examiner, Art Unit 1629
/JEFFREY S LUNDGREN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1629
1 Lu et al., “Diacylglycerol Kinase (DGK) Alpha Inhibitors and Uses Thereof”, International Application No. PCT/CN2023/079066, effectively filed on March 1, 2022, and published as International Publication No. WO 2023/165528 A1, hereinafter “WO’528”.
2 Patani, George A., and Edmond J. LaVoie. "Bioisosterism: a rational approach in drug design." Chemical reviews 96.8 (1996): 3147-3176, hereinafter “Patani 1996”.
3 Yu et al., “Kinase Inhibitors, Preparation Methods and Uses Thereof”, International Application No. PCT/CN2022/084377, effectively filed on March 31, 2022, and published as International Publication No. WO 2023/184327 A1, hereinafter “WO’327”.
4 Velaparthi et al., “Substituted Naphthyridinone Compounds Useful as T Cell Activators”, International Publication No. WO 2020/006018 A1, published on January 2, 2020, hereinafter “WO’018”.
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