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
1. The Election filed 3/30/2026, in response to the Office Action of 2/17/2026, is acknowledged and has been entered. Applicants elected without traverse Group I and the species of GLUT1 and GLUT3, the mechanism of introduction into the T cell as a DNA vector, and a T cell species of a primary T cell. Claims 1-5, 9, 14-16, and 30-31 are pending. Claims 6-7, 18-22, 25, and 29 have been withdrawn from further consideration by the examiner under 35 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to non-elected inventions. Claim 5 is withdrawn as being drawn to non-elected species. Claims 1-4, 9, 14-16, and 30-31 are currently under prosecution as drawn to the elected species.
Priority
2. Application claims the benefit and priority of PCT/US2022/016573 filed 2/16/2022 which claims the benefit of provisional application 63/150,635 filed on 2/18/2021. The Application has been reviewed and priority has been granted to provisional 63/150,635. Therefore, the application has the effective filing date of 2/18/2021.
Claim Objections
3. Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 1 recites “SCL2A nucleic acids” which appears to be a typo. The correct acronym for Solute Carrier Family 2 Members is “SLC2A”. Appropriate correction is required.
Specification
4. The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: Throughout the disclosure, the specification flips between the incorrect acronym SCL2A and the correct acronym SLC2A. The correct acronym for Solute Carrier Family 2 Members is “SLC2A”. Applicants should correct the acronym throughout the specification. See Tables 1 and 2 of the instant specification and GeneCards® website for SLC2A1 and SLC2A3 (printed May 2026) for the correct acronyms.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
5. Claims 1-4, 9, 14-16, and 30-31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by McGinness (WO2020/010110 A1, pub. 1/9/2020; cited on IDS from 2/21/2025) and evidenced by GeneCards® website for SLC2A1 and SLC2A3 (printed May 2026).
Claims 1-4, 9, 14-16, and 30-31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McGinness (WO2020/010110 A1, pub. 1/9/2020; cited on IDS from 2/21/2025).
McGinness discloses genetically modified primary T cells that are overexpressing a glucose transporter where the GLUT-overexpressing T cell overexpresses one or more glucose transporters that include GLUT1 and GLUT3. (See McGinness, pg. 2 lines 24-31, also pg. 62 lines 20-24; claims 1-4) that is introduced into the T cell through a DNA vector (See McGinness, pg. 6 lines 4-8).
As evidenced by GeneCards®, SLC2A is a family of nucleic acids that encode the GLUT protein. Thus, T cells genetically modified to overexpress the GLUT protein would inherently be expressing one or more heterologous SLC2A nucleic acids.
McGinness further discloses a method of using the GLUT-overexpressing T cells for adoptive cell transfer therapy (See McGinness, pg. 6 lines 11-18) for treating cancer including glioma and glioblastoma (See McGinness, pg. 7, lines 19-25).
McGinness also discloses that the GLUT overexpressing T cells have enhanced metabolic fitness relative to a T cell that does not express one or more GLUT transporters, and that GLUT-overexpressing T cells have increased survival and cell growth in a glucose restricted environment relative to a T cell that does not overexpress the GLUT protein. (See McGinness, pg. 63 line 27- pg. 64 line 9; also see Figs. 3-11).
Conclusion
6. Claims 1-4, 9, 14-16, and 30-31 are rejected.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LINDSAY DUNN whose telephone number is (571)272-5825. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8-4:30.
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.
/LINDSAY DUNN/Examiner, Art Unit 1644
/Laura B Goddard/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1642
Prosecution Insights