DETAILED ACTION
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 the invention of Group I, claims 31-64, in the reply filed on 2/19/2026 is acknowledged.
Applicant’s election without traverse of the specie, Compound 51, in the reply filed on 2/19/2026 is acknowledged.
Compound 51 has the following structure:
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198
421
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Claims 65-105 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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 2/19/2026.
Claims 44, 51, 52 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected specie, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 2/19/2026.
As the elected specie is found to be free of art, the search is extended to the specie, with X being
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133
103
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. and every other moieties attached to the core structure stays the same.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 31-43, 45-50, 53-64 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 11,661,437 (‘437).
‘437 teaches a genus of compounds represented by compound of formula I, with Rx is a methyl and hydroxy at the 3-position, the other Rx are hydrogen, Ry and Rf are hydrogen, X is C, Y is -CR23R24-, with R23 as a methyl and R24 is H, R21 is a substituted heteroaryl with cyano, (the heteroaryl being a pyrozoyl moiety as it is present in many exemplified compounds in ‘437) (see col. 2, line 24 – col. 6, line 46). ‘437 teaches the genus of compounds are known to be useful in treating CNS disorders such as MDD by affecting the GABA receptors (see the abstract for example).
‘437 does not expressly teach such compound.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to make such compound.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make such compound because the compounds of the ‘437 reference is well-known to be useful in treating CNS disorders, possessing the teachings of ‘437, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to synthesize and employ any of the compound disclosed in the reference, including the elected compound for it is effective in treating CNS disorders.
No claims are allowed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAN MING R HUI whose telephone number is (571)272-0626. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 9:30-5:30.
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, Kortney Klinkel can be reached at 571-270-5239. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SAN MING R HUI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1627
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