DETAILED CORRESPONDENCE
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 .
Status of Application
The remarks filed on 3/27/2026 are acknowledged.
Claims 1-16 are pending.
Response to Amendments/Arguments
The remarks filed 3/27/2026 have been fully considered and are persuasive in overcoming the previous art rejections, which are hereby withdrawn. The claims are free of the art. However, upon further consideration and interpretation of the claims, examiner identifies that independent claim 1 drawn to a cancer therapeutic agent, does not explicitly require a cancer therapeutic agent as an ingredient, and is unclear. Therefore, examiner is making a 35 USC 112(b) rejection.
Since the new grounds of rejection are not necessitated by amendment, this action is made NON-FINAL.
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 1-16 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 1 is drawn to a cancer therapeutic agent; however, claim 1 does not positively recite a cancer therapeutic agent as a required ingredient in the cancer therapeutic agent gel particle, which makes the claim indefinite. Examiner requests that the presence of a cancer therapeutic agent be explicitly recited for clarity.
Claims 2-16 are included in the rejection because they do not correct for the defect of the claim from which they depend.
Appropriate correction is required.
Conclusion
No claims are allowed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to QUANGLONG N TRUONG whose telephone number is (571)270-0719. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:00am-5:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Robert A Wax can be reached on 571-272-0623. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/QUANGLONG N TRUONG/Examiner, Art Unit 1615
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