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 .
Receipt is acknowledged of Applicant’s Restriction Requirement Response filed on 06/03/2026; and IDS filed on 10/23/2023.
Claims 8-10 are drawn to non-elected species
Claims 1-3, 5-10, 13-19, 34-37 are pending in the instant application.
Claims 8-10, 13-16, 18-19, 34-37 are withdrawn from further consideration.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I (claims 1-3, 5-10, 17) in the reply filed on 06/03/2026 is acknowledged.
Applicant's election with traverse of specie election of claim 3 in the reply filed on 06/03/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that Claim 3 and 5-7 are directed to properties of the claimed molecules and are not mutually exclusive. A single molecule as claimed satisfies all of claims 3 and 5-7 simultaneously. The Examiner finds this argument persuasive; thus, claims 5-7 are rejoined.
Note, claim 17 is rejoined with Group I.
Note, claims 8-10 are drawn to non-elected species.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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(s) 1-3, 5-7, 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by ZHOU et al (Nebraska Red: a phosphinate-based near-infrared fluorophore scaffold for chemical biology applications. Chem. Commun., 2016, 52, 12290—12293).
Regarding claims 1-2, ZHOU teaches a compound such as NR666 (see pg. 12290 at Fig. 1; and is provided below).
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Regarding claims 3, 5-7, these limitations are inherent properties of the compound. Additionally, Applicant stated in the Restriction Requirement Response filed on 06/03/2026 that “Claim 3 and 5-7 are directed to properties of the claimed molecules and are not mutually exclusive. A single molecule as claimed satisfies all of claims 3 and 5-7 simultaneously”.
Regarding claim 17, the compound would inherently be biocompatible, because this is a chemical/physical property of the compound.
Telephonic Inquiries
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAKE MINH VU whose telephone number is (571)272-8148. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9:00am-5:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Hartley can be reached at (571) 272-0616. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JAKE M VU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1618
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