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 1-7 and 13-21 are still at issue and are present for examination.
Claims 8-12 remain withdrawn as drawn to non-elected invention.
Applicants' arguments filed on 8/3/26 have been fully considered and are deemed to be persuasive to overcome some of the rejections previously applied. Rejections and/or objections not reiterated from previous office actions are hereby withdrawn.
In view of applicant’s amendment, species B is now allowable.
Therefore, 2 additional species, namely,
a modified polypeptide having at least 80% identity to SEQ ID NO:1 with a mutation at position F62Y is examined as follows:
a modified polypeptide having at least 80% identity to SEQ ID NO:1 with a mutation at position 161,
are examined as follows:
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that 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.
Claims 1, 3-7, 13, 19 and 21, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Jiang et al., “Jiang” (UniProt database, accession No. D2XV89, 3/2010).
Jiang teaches an amino acid sequence having xylanase activity having 87% identity to instant SEQ ID NO:1 with an F62Y modification, prior to this invention, anticipating claims 1, 3-6, 13 19 and 21. Said sequence of Joan also inherently has increased thermal tolerance and/or stability compared to SEQ ID NO:1, anticipating claim 7.
Claim 1, 5, 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Atanasova et al., “Atanasova” (UniProt database, accession No. A0A2T4BGK4, 7/2018).
Atanasova teaches an amino acid sequence having 96.2% identity to instant SEQ ID NO:1 having a substitution at position 161, prior to this invention, anticipating claims 1, 5, 13-14.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 15-18, 20 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. This is because modified xylanases having at least 80% identity to SEQ ID NO:1 with a substitution at position 3 appear to be novel. Further, the prior art does not suggest such specifically claimed product. Hence, claims 2, 15-18, 20, which recite said limitations are also non-obvious.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARYAM MONSHIPOURI whose telephone number is (571)272-0932. The examiner can normally be reached full-flex.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Melenie L Gordon can be reached at 571-272-8037. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MARYAM MONSHIPOURI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1651
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