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 .
Claims 1-21 are pending and are under examination.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed 10/15/2024 has been considered and an initialed copy is enclosed.
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 14 and 15 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 1, please include the full meaning of “LINUP” which is the acronym for Liver stage Nuclear Protein. See specification on page 5 line 22.
In claim 14, “at least” is repeated.
In claim 15, “at least” is repeated.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-21 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 that the “genetically modified to disrupt a LINUP gene that encodes a Liver Stage Nuclear Protein”. The claim also recites “preventing the biological function of a protein encoded by the wildtype LINUP gene”.
“The wildtype LINUP gene” lacks antecedent basis because there is no prior mention of “a wildtype LINUP gene”.
In addition, it is not clear whether the protein referred to in the phrase “preventing the biological function of a protein encoded by the wildtype LINUP gene” is the same as “a Liver Stage Nuclear Protein” also mentioned in the claim.
In order to clarify this issue, it is suggested that the claim recite the following:
“A live Plasmodium-species organism that is genetically modified to disrupt a wildtype LINUP (Liver Stage Nuclear Protein) gene that encodes a Liver Stage Nuclear Protein, thereby preventing the biological function of said protein encoded by the wildtype LINUP gene”. This is only a suggestion as such an amendment would need to take into consideration the language of subsequent dependent claims as currently written.
In claim 2: the claim recites “The live Plasmodium-species organism of claim 1 that arrests life cycle development in late liver stage within a mammalian intermediate host”. It is not clear what is being arrested. As written it appears the live Plasmodium species is doing the arresting. However, in the specification it appears that it is the genetically modified Plasmodium species that is arrested at the late liver stage of development. See specification at p. 5 under summary. It is suggested that claim 2 is amended to clarify this issue.
In claim 6 and 7, “the functional LINUP gene” lacks antecedent basis as claim 1 does not recite a “functional LINUP gene”
Status of Claims
Claims 1-21 are rejected.
Conclusion
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/OLUWATOSIN A OGUNBIYI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1645
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