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 .
Current Status of 18/263,442
This Office Action is responsive to the amended claims and Applicant remarks of 05/06/2026. Claims 27-29, 32-33, 52-54, and 56-59 are pending and have been examined on the merits.
Priority
The instant application is a national stage entry of PCT/CN2022/074172, international filing date 01/27/2022, which claims priority to Chinese Patent application No. 202110118008.8, filed 01/28/2021, and Chinese Patent application No. 202111457630.8, filed 12/01/2021.
Response to Arguments
112(b) Rejections:
Applicants have amended claims 28, 29, and 31-34 to remove indefinite phrases. These amendments render the previous rejections moot. The rejection is withdrawn.
101 Rejections:
Applicants have amended claims 54 and 55 so that they fall within one of the statutory categories of invention. These amendments render the previous rejection moot and the rejection is withdrawn.
102 Rejections:
Applicants allege that the compounds of instant claim 27 are distinguishable from the compounds of Graupe, Isobe, and Dellaria for several reasons. First, the substituent on the carbon atom of the imidazole ring is required to be sulfur in the amended claims, whereas the compounds of Graupe and Dellaria require either a hydroxyl or carbonyl group at this position. The amended instant compound now requires a tricyclic core. None of the cited references used in the rejections suggest a tricyclic system.
Regarding the rejection of the species of reference Valiante, Applicants allege that the instantly claimed compounds differ from those of the reference due to the requirement that the instant compounds must contain and cyclic moiety or a tertiary amine bound to the nitrogen atom of the imidazole ring. These arguments have been considered and are found persuasive. The rejections are withdrawn.
103 Rejections:
Applicants allege that the compounds of amended claim 27 differ from those of Graupe and Gekeler. The differences between the instantly claimed compounds and Graupe are discussed above. Applicants allege that the amended compound of claim 27 differ from those of Gekeler due to the carbon atom of the imidazole ring is not taught as being -S-R as claimed by the instant compound. Additionally, the moiety attached to the nitrogen atom of the imidazole ring does not include a cyclic moiety, as required by the amended compound. These arguments have been fully considered and are found persuasive. The rejection is withdrawn.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 04/29/2026 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 27 and 54 objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 27 recites “B is selected from chemical bond.” This should be corrected to read “a chemical bond.” Claim 54 recites “A method for treat a disease.” This should be corrected to read “A method for treating a disease.” Appropriate correction is required.
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 applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 29, 32, 33, 53, and 56-59 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.
Each of the indicated claims recite “The compound, and the stereoisomer, the optical isomer, the pharmaceutically acceptable salt, and the solvate thereof according to claim 27.” As written, it is uncertain whether the dependent claims requires all the listed forms or recites alternatives. Accordingly, the metes and bounds of the claims are not clearly defined. The Examiner suggests replacing “and” with “or” after “compound” to clarify that the recited compound forms are alternatives, rather than cumulative required forms.
Claims 32 and 59 recite the limitation "the prodrug" in line two of the claims. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claims.
Claims 56 and 57 recite the limitation "RA" in the third lines of the claims. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. This rejection can be rendered moot by correcting “RA” to “RA.”
Conclusion
Claim 27 is objected to for informalities and is not in condition for allowance. The remaining claims are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §112(b) and/or objected to. Accordingly, no claims are allowed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CONNOR KENNEDY ENGLISH whose telephone number is (571)270-0813. The examiner can normally be reached Monday Friday, 8 a.m. 5 p.m. ET..
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/C.K.E./Examiner, Art Unit 1625 /Andrew D Kosar/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1625
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