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 .
Claim 21-38 are pending as amended 6/12/24 and are considered herein.
Formalities:
The IDS of 10/22/24 and references therein have been considered. A signed copy of the IDS is provided herewith.
The drawings of 2/23/24 are accepted.
The specification of 2/23/24 is accepted.
Applicant’s priority is noted to be:
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Double Patenting
U.S. Patent Nos. 9,867,885, 10,646,582 were considered for NSDP rejections, however, the Formula 1 block copolymer contains copolymer B containing B1 through B4 monomers, while the present claim consists of B1 through B3 monomers and thus, there is no common subject matter.
U.S. Patent No. 11,938,191 was considered for NSDP rejections, however, the claims of the patent require T1 to be a targeting moiety, which is defined in the specification (paragraph 27) as being a moiety specifically binding a cell surface target, and the presently claimed “absent or hydrogen” would not so-bind. Thus, there is no common subject matter claimed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 21-38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
(For purposes of simplicity, the Examiner will refer to the present Application’s publication, 2024/0325552.)
Claims 21 and 31 each contain a structure where T1 is absent or a hydrogen, and in the context that L1 is absent or a linking moiety.
At no point does the specification teach that T1 is a hydrogen, or why it is a hydrogen. There is simply no such teaching. In addition, when L1 is a linking moiety, it is because there is a T1 present, which is taught to be a targeting moiety (e.g., paragraph 9). In addition a targeting moiety is a complex structure capable of specifically binding to a cell surface molecule (e.g., paragraph 88). If T1 is a hydrogen, it is not a targeting moiety, as such is not specific for a cell surface molecule, and then no L1 is required to link it to the rest of the molecule. At best then, the hydrogen, in the context of a linking moiety, the linking moiety is present as long as it has a hydrogen on it. However, then the linking moiety is not required, as it is required to attach the targeting moiety.
The Art teaches chemistry as is well known in the art, but provides no reason for a hydrogen attached to a linking moiety, beyond the attachment of anything to the rest of the structure.
Therefore, the Artisan would not have understood Applicant to have been in possession of embodiments where T1 is a hydrogen or the presence of L1 at all in these instances of T1 being absent or being a hydrogen.
Claims free of the Art of Record
The claims are free of the art of record. To wit, while many disclosures talk about block copolymers of various elements, none provide the specific elements as claimed presently, and thus, given the variety distinct elements and blocks, the specific ones claimed herein are obvious over the art. For example, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2011/0305660 to Stayton, et al., provides may polymers that are close but do not have the same structure combinations for the polymers as presently claimed (e.g., Formula IIA).
Conclusion
No claim is allowed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT M KELLY whose telephone number is (571)272-0729. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 8a-5p.
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ROBERT M. KELLY
Examiner
Art Unit 1638
/ROBERT M KELLY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1638