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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I in the reply filed on 7/15/2026 is acknowledged.
Applicant further elected species, but upon search of the claim the election of species is WITHDRAWN.
Claims 62 and 130 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected inventions, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 7/15/2026.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1, 2, 20-22, 25-27, 31, 38-43, 46, 49-53, 55, 58, and 64 are allowed.
Claims 3, 4, 6, 11, 15, 32, 33, and 61 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
The claims are free of the prior art.
The prior art, for example Gong et al. had taught proximity assays where a donor recognition probe and an acceptor recognition probe were coupled to two parts of an analyte, and oligonucleotides attached to each were used to create a readable tag, and the prior art had taught multiplexing such an assay. See Figure 1, Gong et al., for example. In Gong et al, the reporter polynucleotide is created by extension of the first and second oligonucleotides. See Figure 1. A similar assay was known where the reporter polynucleotide was created using ligation, see Figure 1 of Lundberg et al.
However, no reference taught or suggested using a transpose to create the reporter oligonucleotide.
Although Fernandez et al. US 9938524 had taught an antibody coupled to transpose for tagging of chromatin, there was no suggestion or rational to modify the systems taught by Gong and Lundberg by using a transposition reaction to create the reporter polynucleotide. Thus, since all independent claims herein require this step, the claims are free of the prior art.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
Claims 3, 4, 6, 11, 15, 32, 33, and 61 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.
In claims 3, 4, 6, 11, 15 it is unclear if the recitation of “the first molecule” refer to the first molecule in part (a) or part (b) of claim 2 from which claim 3 depends. The phrase lacks proper antecedent basis and thus renders the claims unclear.
Claims 4, 6, 11, and 15 are unclear when reciting a CRISPR-associated protein that is “specific to a first subsequence of the polynucleotide” or “specific to the first target polynucleotide” because the CRISPR protein itself is not specific for a polynucleotide, it is the guide or crRNA that is specific for the polynucleotide. It is unclear if the claim is intended to refer to a protein alone specific to a polynucleotide or to a protein/RNA complex specific to the polynucleotide subsequence.
In claim 32, “the fluid” in part (a) lacks proper antecedent basis because the claim does not previously recite “a fluid” or a first condition. This makes it unclear what is being referenced and what the condition of the fluid is supposed to be “second” to.
In clam 32, “the blocker” in part (b) lacks proper antecedent basis.
Claim 33 is indefinite also because it depends on claim 32.
In claim 61, the phrase “the first and second forms of the first one of the analytes” lacks proper antecedent basis because claim 51 does not require first and second forms.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Juliet Switzer whose telephone number is (571)272-0753. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Thursday, 8:00 AM-3:30 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, Winston Shen can be reached at (571)-272-3157. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Juliet Switzer
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1682
/JULIET C SWITZER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1682
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