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 .
RCE papers were filed 01/22/2026.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 1-4 and 6-20 remain withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 04/18/2025.
Applicant is reminded that upon the cancelation of claims to a non-elected invention, the inventorship must be corrected in compliance with 37 CFR 1.48(a) if one or more of the currently named inventors is no longer an inventor of at least one claim remaining in the application. A request to correct inventorship under 37 CFR 1.48(a) must be accompanied by an application data sheet in accordance with 37 CFR 1.76 that identifies each inventor by his or her legal name and by the processing fee required under 37 CFR 1.17(i).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim 5 remains rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by WO2018013929. WO teaches compound VIII (GSK343) on page 15 and that the compounds of the invention have the ability to treat T cell exhaustion which includes treating chronic viral disease (e.g. HBV) (page 4 line 30). The WO teaches that the compound GSK343 which is compound VIII of the instant claim 5 treats HBV. The same patient population with the same condition being treated with the same drug with the same outcome means that the same drug (GSK343 which is the instant compound VIII) means that GSK343 must be treating HBV infection by reducing cccDNA and/or pgRNA in infected cells. This in inherency. This anticipates the instant claim 5.
Conclusion
Claim 5 is rejected. Claims 1-4 and 6-20 remain withdrawn. No claim is allowed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to D MARGARET M SEAMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-0694. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-4pm Eastern.
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/D MARGARET M SEAMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1625