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 allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). 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, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on April 10, 2026 has been entered.
Claims 64-81 as set forth in the Examiner’s amendment entered March 19, 2026, are pending in the application and are under examination.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed on April 10, 2026, has been considered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 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.
Claims 69 and 79 are 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 69 recites “The polypeptide of claim 68, wherein the polypeptide is a monoclonal antibody”, but claim 68 recites that “the polypeptide is a chimeric antigen receptor”. Similarly, claim 79 recites “The polypeptide of claim 78, wherein the polypeptide is a monoclonal antibody”, but claim 78 recites that “the polypeptide is a chimeric antigen receptor”.
Therefore, claims 69 and 79 fail to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends. It is suggested that claim 69 be amended to depend from claim 67 and claim 79 be amended to depend from claim 77 to obviate the rejection of claims 69 and 79.
Conclusion
Claims 64-68, 70-78 and 80-81 are allowed.
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 works a flexible schedule.
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
June 13, 2026
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