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 .
Application Status
Claims 1,4-13,15-17,19-24 are currently pending. Claims 2,3,14 and 18 have been cancelled.
Any rejection or objection not reiterated herein has been overcome by amendment.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 4-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 4 is indefinite in the recitation of “wherein the k-mers have a length of at least 16 bases”. The scope of the claim is unclear since claim 1 does not reference k-mers. There is also insufficient antecedent basis for the limitation “the k-mers”. Claim 7 depends from claim 4 and is rejected for the same reason.
Claim 5 is indefinite in the recitation of “from the clusters identified…”. The scope of the claim is unclear since claim 1 does not recite “clusters identified”. A clustering algorithm is disclosed to correct for PCR and sequencing errors to assemble rearrangement clonotypes and/or incomplete rearrangement clonotypes. Claim 6 and 8 depend from claim 5 and are rejected for the same reason.
Response to Remarks: It is noted that all comments relate to withdrawn rejections or other acceptable amendments.
Conclusion
Claims 1, 9-13,15-17, 19, 24 are free of the art and claims 4-8 are rejected.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Lisa Horth whose telephone number is (703)756-4557. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8-4 EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Gary Benzion can be reached at (571) 272-0782. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LISA HORTH/Examiner, Art Unit 1681
/GARY BENZION/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1681
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