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 group I and the species of BBM4 in the reply filed on 8/7/2026 is acknowledged.
Applicants’ election of species of BBM4 is free of the prior art. As a result the search has been extended to a compound of formula I where FRTL is F3 as shown in claim 15, BBMecL is Asp-X as recited in claim 17 and AA is any dye from claim 19. If prior art is then found that anticipates or renders obvious the Markush-type claim with respect to a nonelected species, the Markush-type claim shall be rejected and claims to the nonelected species held withdrawn from further consideration. The prior art search, however, will not be extended unnecessarily to cover all nonelected species. Should applicant, in response to this rejection of the Markush-type claim, overcome the rejection, as by amending the Markush-type claim to exclude the species anticipated or rendered obvious by the prior art, the amended Markush-type claim will be reexamined. The ** > examination < will be extended to the extent necessary to determine patentability of the Markush-type claim. In the event prior art is found during the reexamination that anticipates or renders obvious the amended Markush-type claim, the claim will be rejected and the action can be made final unless the examiner introduces a new ground of rejection that is neither necessitated by applicant' s amendment of the claims nor based on information submitted in an information disclosure statement filed during the period set forth in 37 CFR 1.97(c) with the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(p). See MPEP § 706.07(a). Amendments submitted after the final rejection further restricting the scope of the claim may be denied entry if they do not comply with the requirements of 37 CFR 1.116. See MPEP § 714.13. See MPEP 803.02.
Claims 2-3,5,7-8,15-17 (elected structure does not read on claim 2),21-23,25 (imaging agent elected) and 27-41 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species or invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
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) 1,18-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Low et al. (US 2015/0023874 A1), cited IDS.
Low discloses folate receptor binding ligands conjugated to imaging agents including rhodamine (meeting AA of claim 19) through linkages that include amino acids which include Asp-Cys, reading on the claimed BBMecLAsp-X in claim 17. See entire disclosure, especially abstract, [0043]-[0082],[0084], scheme 2 at [0238] and claims. Specific structures included the following conjugate in Scheme 2:
PNG
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168
586
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Greyscale
, featuring Asp-Cys bond, where R is an imaging agent.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES W ROGERS whose telephone number is (571)272-7838. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30-6:00 PM.
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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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/JAMES W ROGERS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1618
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