Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 29, 2026
Application No. 18/278,078

INHIBITORS OF EPHB3 SIGNALING

Final Rejection §103
Filed
Aug 21, 2023
Priority
Mar 04, 2021 — provisional 63/156,700 +1 more
Examiner
SHIAO, REI TSANG
Art Unit
1691
Tech Center
1600 — Biotechnology & Organic Chemistry
Assignee
The Brigham And Women`S Hospital Inc.
OA Round
2 (Final)
80%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
46%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 80% — above average
80%
Career Allowance Rate
1629 granted / 2037 resolved
+20.0% vs TC avg
Minimal -34% lift
Without
With
+-34.5%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
2y 0m
Avg Prosecution
42 currently pending
Career history
2073
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.0%
-39.0% vs TC avg
§103
33.1%
-6.9% vs TC avg
§102
3.6%
-36.4% vs TC avg
§112
9.3%
-30.7% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 2037 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 . DETAILED ACTION Priority and Status of the Claims 1. This application is a 371 PCT/US2022/018894 03/04/2022, which claims benefit of the provisional application: 63156700 03/04/2021. 2. Amendment of claims 1, 17-26, 28-31 and 33 in the amendment filed on 3/23/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 1 and 17-35 are pending in the application. Responses to Amendments/Arguments 3. The rejection of claim 31 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) has been overcome in the amendment filed on 3/23/2026. 4. Qiao et al. ‘671, Liu et al. ‘386, Miller et al. ‘483 and Qiao et al. ‘597 independently do not disclose the instant compounds of formula (I), therefore they are distinct from the instant invention. The rejection of claim 1 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) has been overcome in the amendment filed on 3/23/2026. 5. Applicant's arguments regarding the rejection of claims 1 and 17-35 under 35 U.S.C. 103 (a) over Qiao et al. ‘597 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicants claim a compound of formula (I), PNG media_image1.png 208 300 media_image1.png Greyscale , or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, and the compounds of formula (I) is a compound of formula (Ia), (Ic), (Id) or (if), i.e., PNG media_image2.png 188 306 media_image2.png Greyscale , wherein R1 is optionally substituted aryl, and R5 is heteroaryl; or PNG media_image3.png 204 404 media_image3.png Greyscale , wherein R1 is aryl; or PNG media_image4.png 192 408 media_image4.png Greyscale , wherein R1 is aryl; or PNG media_image5.png 228 358 media_image5.png Greyscale , wherein R5 is cycloalkyl, see claim 1. Qiao et al. ‘597 discloses a compound/composition comprising a compound of formula (II), PNG media_image6.png 292 314 media_image6.png Greyscale , or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof; wherein: R1' is halogen; R2' is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and lower (C1-C8) alkyl; and R3' is hydrogen, halogen, cycloalkyl, cycloheteroalkyl, aryl, or heteroaryl, see claim 7 in column 22. The difference between instant claims and Qiao et al. ‘597 is that the instant claims are embraced within the scope of Qiao et al. ‘597. Qiao et al. ‘597 compounds still read on the instant compounds of formulae (Ia), (Ic), (Id) and (If), R1 is optionally substituted aryl, and R5 is heteroaryl, cycloalkyl, or heterocyclealkyl. Therefore Qiao et al. ‘597 compounds still render the instant compounds of formulae (Ia), (Ic), (Id) and (If). The rejection of claims 1 and 17-35 under 35 U.S.C. 103 (a) over Qiao et al. ‘597 is maintained. 6. THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 extension fee 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. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to REI TSANG SHIAO whose telephone number is (571)272-0707. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:30 am-5:00 pm. 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, Renee Claytor can be reached on 571-272-8394. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /REI TSANG SHIAO/ Rei-tsang Shiao, Ph.D.Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1691 May 04, 2026
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Aug 21, 2023
Application Filed
Dec 23, 2025
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
Mar 23, 2026
Response Filed
May 06, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
80%
Grant Probability
46%
With Interview (-34.5%)
2y 0m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 2037 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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