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
This action is in response to the papers filed August 7, 2026.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s reply filed 08/07/2026 to the Requirement for Restriction/Election mailed 06/10/2026 is acknowledged.
Applicant elected without traverse Invention I, drawn to a method of cell culture, and astrocytes, as the species of starting cell or tissue type.
Claims 7-14 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention/species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Claim Listing
The instant claims are the original claims filed 05/31/2024.
Claims 1-14 are pending.
Claims 7-14 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention/species.
Claims 1-6 are under examination.
Priority
The instant application 18/680,912 was filed on 05/31/2024. This application claims priority based on U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/470,105 filed 05/31/2023.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/08/2024 has been considered.
The listing of references in the specification is not a proper information disclosure statement. 37 CFR 1.98(b) requires a list of all patents, publications, or other information submitted for consideration by the Office, and MPEP § 609.04(a) states, "the list may not be incorporated into the specification but must be submitted in a separate paper." Therefore, unless the references have been cited by the examiner on form PTO-892, or by applicant in an information disclosure statement (IDS), they have not been considered.
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 1-6 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites a process comprising the step(s) of “contacting a cell, astrocyte, or tissue with proteins Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4 (BMP4), Transforming Growth Factor Beta-2 (TGFβ-2), Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin (TSLP), Dickkopf WNT Signaling Pathway Inhibitor 1 (DKK1), and Neuroligin 1 (NLGN1) providing cultured astrocytes.”
The recitation is found to be indefinite. In this case, there appears to be a missing punctuation mark (e.g., a comma) or conjunction (e.g., an “and” statement) between “(NLGN1)” and “providing.” Therefore, it is unclear whether the phrase “providing cultured astrocytes” is (i) a functional result of performing the “contacting” step or (ii) the second step in the claimed process.
For these reasons, one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. Dependent claims are included in the basis of the rejection because they do not correct the deficiencies of the claim upon which they depend.
Amending claim 1, line 5, by changing the phrase “(NLGN1) providing” to the phrase “(NLGN1), thereby providing” would be remedial.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Voss, Anna J. (12 Apr 2022) “Quantitative Identification of Ligand and Receptor Pairs that Drive Astrocyte Development” Emory College of Arts and Sciences of Emory University, thesis submission, 40 pages.
The cited reference was found on the Emory University website for theses and dissertations. A copy of the source webpage, accessed on 08/27/2026, is attached to this Office action. The webpage indicates that the reference was uploaded on 04/12/2022. See, URL: https://etd.library.emory.edu/concern/etds/nc580n96s?locale=it. Accordingly, absent evidence to the contrary, the date of public availability of the cited reference is considered to be 04/12/2022.
Claims 1-6 are found to be anticipated by the cited reference. Voss discloses a method of culturing cells with BMP4, TGFβ-2, TSLP, DKK1 and NLGN1, thereby providing cultured astrocytes. See, e.g., Abstract, pages 5-6, 12 and 17, and Figure 3.
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Voss et al. (1 Jun 2022) “Computational Identification of Ligand-Receptor Pairs that Drive Human Astrocyte Development” bioRxiv preprint, 44 pages.
Claims 1-6 are found to be anticipated by the cited reference. Voss discloses a method of culturing cells with BMP4, TGFβ-2, TSLP, DKK1 and NLGN1, thereby providing cultured astrocytes. See, e.g., Summary, pages 5, 7-8, 19, 23-25, and Figure 3.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES J GRABER whose telephone number is (571)270-3988. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday: 9:00 am - 4:00 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, James D Schultz can be reached at (571)272-0763. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JAMES JOSEPH GRABER/Examiner, Art Unit 1631
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