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
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on June 5, 2025, has been entered.
Applicant’s amendment filed June 5, 2025, is acknowledged and has been entered. Claims 6, 17 and 18 have been amended. Claims 11-13 have been canceled.
Claims 1-7, 10 and 14-18 are pending.
Claims 1-5, 7 and 10 have been withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a non-elected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Claims 6 and 14-18 are under examination.
Grounds of Rejection Withdrawn
The grounds of rejection set forth in the previous Office action have been obviated or rendered moot by Applicant's amendment.
New Grounds of Rejection
35 U.S.C. 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends. In this case, claim 14 depends from clam 6 which recites “insulin-like growth factor-2 (IGF-2) or an active fragment having amino acids from position 25 to position 91 of IGF-2”, while claim 14 recites that “IGF-2 includes full length IGF-2 and an active fragment thereof” such that claim 14 does not require the active fragment to have amino acids from position 25 to position 91 of IGF-2. As such claim 14, fails to include all the limitations upon which it depends.
Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
In this case, it is suggested that claim 14 could be amended to recite that the macrophage is cultured in the presence of IGF-2 to obviate the rejection. Claim 15 would then also need to be amended to depend from claim 6 and to recite that the macrophage is cultured in the presence of the active fragment having amino acids from position 25 to position 91 of IGF-2,
Conclusion
Claims 6 and 16-18 are allowed. Claim 15 is objected to for depending upon a rejected base claim.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Brad Duffy whose telephone number is 571-272-9935. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri.
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.
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.
Respectfully,
Brad Duffy
571-272-9935
/Brad Duffy/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1643
December 23, 2025