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 .
Claims 1-4, 7-8, 11-13, 16-19, and 21-31 are pending in this application.
35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph
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 1-2, 7, 11, 16-19, and 21-31 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.
(1) In independent claim 1, “G and R5 are taken together to form N-OR15” is vague and indefinite. Does it mean the N is double bonded to the ring moiety, or does it leave open the variation that N is single bonded to the ring moiety and the N can be substituted? The metes and bounds of this structural feature are unclear. See also claims 16-19.
(2) Definition of R10 includes C1-7 haloalkoxy. This would result in, for example, O-O-CF3, which appears to be a highly reactive substituent that may not be stable. Thus, this substituent is confusing as R10 here, and one skilled in the art would be confused as to a substituent that could have been intended instead. See below for additional context.
(3) Also for R10, “carboalkyl” and “carboalkoxy” are confusing –
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It is not clear what meaning or limitation “carbo” brings to “alkyl” or “alkoxy.”
(4) Claims 22 and 23 recite chemical nomenclature, but there are big gaps or large number of spaces between terms. This raises uncertainty as to whether there are missing terms. See examples below –
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(4) In claim 23 there is a period after compound 4, but the claim continues with three more compounds. After the last compound (compound 9), there is no period. A claim must end with a period and there should be no more claim text afterwards.
(5) Claim 28 has an unusual indefiniteness problem. Claim 28 depends on a subsequent claim, claim 29, which is not per se indefinite. However, claim 29 and its base claim(s) do not provide a definition of (b1) to (b16) active ingredients – only claim 26 provides such a definition (and claim 28 does not depend on claim 26). Consequently, recitation of (b1) to (b16) in claim 28 is a recitation of ingredients that are undefined with respect to claim 28 and its base claim.
Claims dependent on these claims, which do not cure deficiencies of their base claims, are included in this ground of rejection.
Objection to claims
Claims 3, 4, 8, 12, and 13 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Prior art discussion
The Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority cited US 4,208,202 and WO 2013/149704.
US 4,208,202 discloses the following compounds for regulating plant growth, wherein Q is an alkylene radical having 2-5 carbon atoms, which can be substituted by halogen, CN, or lower alkyl or alkoxy:
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.
Thus, US 4,208,202 fails to teach or suggest a substituent that corresponds to G or R5 and G taken together to form N-OR15, as required in the instant application claims.
WO 2013/149704 (US 2015/0031670 is a patent family member) discloses the following compounds as methionine aminopeptidase inhibitors:
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, wherein
X can be C=O, R3 can be OH. However, R-Y- does not correspond to or suggest R5 of the instant application claims.
US 5,705,456 is cited to further show the state of the art. US 5,705,456 discloses the following compounds as intermediates of herbicides (columns 1-2):
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, wherein Ar is
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, and wherein
X does not correspond to or suggest the NR4SO2Rf moiety of the instant application claims.
In sum, the prior art taken as a whole does not adequately disclose, suggest, or otherwise render obvious the presently claimed compounds.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to JOHN PAK whose telephone number is (571)272-0620. The Examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Friday from 8:30 AM to 5 PM.
If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner's SPE, Fereydoun Sajjadi, can be reached on (571)272-3311. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571)273-8300.
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/JOHN PAK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1699