Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/545,711

PROCESS FOR THE PREPARATION OF NLRP3 INHIBITORS

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Dec 19, 2023
Examiner
JACKSON, SHAWQUIA
Art Unit
1626
Tech Center
1600 — Biotechnology & Organic Chemistry
Assignee
Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
78%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 5m
To Grant
74%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 78% — above average
78%
Career Allow Rate
1410 granted / 1810 resolved
+17.9% vs TC avg
Minimal -3% lift
Without
With
+-3.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 5m
Avg Prosecution
29 currently pending
Career history
1839
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
2.0%
-38.0% vs TC avg
§103
7.1%
-32.9% vs TC avg
§102
19.3%
-20.7% vs TC avg
§112
52.2%
+12.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1810 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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 Claims 1-6 and 9-31 are currently pending in the instant application. Applicants have amended claims 3-6, 11-15 and 20-30 and canceled claims 7-8 and 32 in an amendment filed on December 19, 2023. Claims 9-10, 12-20 and 22-31 are rejected, claims and 21 are objected and claims 1-6 are considered allowable in this Office Action. I. Priority The instant application is a CON of PCT/EP2022/067126, filed on June 23, 2022 and claims benefit of Foreign Application INDIA 2021410280, filed on June 23, 2021. II. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on May 1, 2024 and December 10, 2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements have been considered by the examiner. III. Rejections 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. Claims 9-10 and 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Harrison, et al. (WO 2020/157069 A1). The instant invention claims PNG media_image1.png 117 767 media_image1.png Greyscale PNG media_image2.png 225 606 media_image2.png Greyscale The Harrison, et al. reference teaches the following reaction PNG media_image3.png 165 767 media_image3.png Greyscale wherein X is -OPh (see example 5, page 185).. This species of compound anticipates the genus compound of the instant claimed process, wherein the genus structure and its definitions are stated above. Claims 16-20 and 22-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Veits, et al. (WO 2019/191112 A1). The instant invention claims PNG media_image4.png 220 757 media_image4.png Greyscale PNG media_image5.png 113 774 media_image5.png Greyscale PNG media_image6.png 175 649 media_image6.png Greyscale The Veits, et al. reference teaches the following reaction PNG media_image7.png 349 773 media_image7.png Greyscale wherein R2 is -benzyl and R3 is OMs (see example 46, page 377). This species of compound anticipates the genus compound of the instant invention, wherein the genus structure and its definitions are stated above. Claims 16-20 and 22-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Gharbaoui, et al. (US 20060154940 A1). The instant invention claims PNG media_image4.png 220 757 media_image4.png Greyscale PNG media_image5.png 113 774 media_image5.png Greyscale PNG media_image6.png 175 649 media_image6.png Greyscale The Gharbaoui, et al. reference teaches the following reaction PNG media_image8.png 269 434 media_image8.png Greyscale wherein R2 is -O-isopropyl (see example 3, page 17). This species of compound anticipates the genus compound of the instant invention, wherein the genus structure and its definitions are stated above. Claim 31 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Cooper, et al. (WO 2019/008025 A1). The instant invention claims PNG media_image9.png 398 622 media_image9.png Greyscale PNG media_image10.png 751 552 media_image10.png Greyscale PNG media_image11.png 158 417 media_image11.png Greyscale The Cooper, et al. reference teaches the following reaction PNG media_image12.png 247 677 media_image12.png Greyscale which has the compound PNG media_image13.png 107 81 media_image13.png Greyscale (see example 192, page 319). This compound is the same compound found in claim 31 and therefore anticipates the instant claimed compound. Claim 31 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Registry No. 95798-23-5. The instant invention claims PNG media_image9.png 398 622 media_image9.png Greyscale PNG media_image10.png 751 552 media_image10.png Greyscale PNG media_image11.png 158 417 media_image11.png Greyscale The Registry No. 95798-23-5 reference teaches the compound PNG media_image14.png 109 231 media_image14.png Greyscale wherein R2 is -C(O)O-benzyl. This species compound reads on the genus compound found in claim 31 and therefore anticipates the instant claimed compounds. IV. Objections Dependent Claim Objections Dependent Claims 11 and 21 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected based claim. To overcome this objection, Applicant should rewrite said claims in an independent form and include the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claim. V. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Shawquia Jackson whose telephone number is 571-272-9043. The examiner can normally be reached on 7:00 AM-3:30PM. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Adam Milligan can be reached on 571-270-7674. 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). /SHAWQUIA JACKSON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1626
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Dec 19, 2023
Application Filed
Feb 21, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
78%
Grant Probability
74%
With Interview (-3.4%)
2y 5m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1810 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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