DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
2. Claims 1, 3, 5, 23, 26-31, 36-39, 42, 51, 54 and 55 are pending.
Claims 2, 4, 6-22, 24, 25, 32-35, 40, 41, 43-50, 52 and 53 have been cancelled.
Claims 54 and 55 have been added.
Claims 1, 3, 5, 23, 26-31, 36, 38, 39, 42 and 51 have been amended.
Claims 1, 3, 5, 23, 26-31, 36-39, 42, 51, 54 and 55 are examined on the merits.
Information Disclosure Statement
3. The information disclosure statement filed January 25, 2024 fails to comply with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97, 1.98 and MPEP § 609 because the publications, cite numbers 1 and 3 are not legible copies, as well as cite number 1 does not state the publication date. It has been placed in the application file, but the information referred to therein has not been considered as to the merits. Applicant is advised that the date of any re-submission of any item of information contained in this information disclosure statement or the submission of any missing element(s) will be the date of submission for purposes of determining compliance with the requirements based on the time of filing the statement, including all certification requirements for statements under 37 CFR 1.97(e). See MPEP § 609.05(a).
Specification
4. The disclosure is objected to because it contains an embedded hyperlink and/or other form of browser-executable code, see sentence bridging pages 1 and 2; page 25, lines 10-12; and page 27, lines 4 and 5. Applicant is requested to review the entire document. Applicant is required to delete the embedded hyperlink and/or other form of browser-executable code; references to websites should be limited to the top-level domain name without any prefix such as http:// or other browser-executable code. See MPEP § 608.01.
Claim Objections
5. Claims 1 and 42 is objected to because of the following informalities:
a. claim 1, lines 4, 11, 14; recite “…selected from the amino acid sequences of SEQ ID NOs: [X]…, however there is only one (1) sequence cited. The language should be consistent with the option(s).;
b. the conjunction, or should be cited after the semicolon on line 3 of segment (v); and
c. antibodies, MGC018 and BTH1704 is italicized on line 2 of steps (ii) and (v) line 2, respectively of claim 42. It is art know to italicize family, genus, species and subspecies names. An antibody is not commonly italicized as the noted scientific nomenclature.
Correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
6. 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.
7. Claims 5, 23, 26-31, 42 and 55 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.
a. Claim 5 (viii), line 3; claim 23, line 6; claims 27 and 30, lines 4 and 5; and on line 4 of claims 26, 28 and 29 cite “preferably” and/or “more preferably”. This is an exemplary term, which is indefinite because the scope of the claims is not clear, as well as it is not clear if the language following the term is an example or preference and not clearly limitations. Hence, the metes and bounds cannot be determined.
b. Claim 42 cites “such as” in each step segment, (i)-(vii). This phrase is regarded as exemplary language. Hence, the claim is indefinite because the scope of the claim is not clear. The metes and bounds cannot be determined.
8. Claim 1 recites the limitation "the interaction" in line 19. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
9. Claims 51 and 54 recite the limitation "the treatment" in line 3 and line 1, respectively. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
10. Claims 3, 36-39 and 55 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.
Conclusion
11. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to ALANA HARRIS DENT whose telephone number is (571)272-0831. The Examiner works a flexible schedule, however she can generally be reached 8AM-8PM, Monday through Friday.
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, Julie Wu can be reached on 571-272-5205. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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ALANA HARRIS DENT
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1643
July 8, 2026
/Alana Harris Dent/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1643
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