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 1-15 are pending in this application.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of species b. (Pyridazine ring fused to 1,3-diazole or 1,2-diazole attached to a phenyl) in the reply filed on 06/16/2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
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The examiner searched the elected species b. and found a prior art and the search was stopped. After applicant’s response to this Office Action, the examiner would expand the search to cover full scope of the elected invention of species b.
3. The claims are drawn to multiple inventions for reasons set forth in the restriction requirement. The claims are examined only to the extent that they read on the elected invention. Cancellation of the non-elected subject matter is recommended in response to this Office Action. To expedite prosecution, the examiner recommends that applicants amend formula (I-0) according to the elected species and also delete non-elected species from claim 7.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
4. In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
5. 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.
6. Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Stimac et al. Journal of Heterocyclic Chemistry (1991), 28(2), 417-23. Cited reference teaches the following compound that is the same as applicants when applicant’s formula (I-0) the following substituents: X1 = X5 = N; X2 = C; R1 = H; R3 = methyl; p = 2; M = O; A = bond and R4 = alkyl.
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Since said prior art compound is the same as applicants, a 102(a)(1) rejection is proper.
7. Claims 1 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Gilligan et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,365,589. Cited reference teaches the following two compounds that are the same as applicants when applicant’s formula (I-0) the following substituents: X1 = X2 = N; X5 = C; R1 = Cl; R3 = alkyl; p = 2; M = O; A = bond and R4 = alkyl.
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Since said prior art compounds are the same as applicants, a 102(a)(1) rejection is proper.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
8. In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
9. 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)(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.
10. Claims 1-4, 9-13 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Zhang et al. WO-2023028534 A1 (equivalent to US20240262806 A1, claims priority to a provisional application 63/237,049 filed on 08/25/2021). Cited reference taches the following compounds that are the same as applicants.
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Since said compounds are the same as applicants, a 102(a)(2) rejection is proper.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
11. 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.
12. Claims 1-5, 11-13 and 15 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:
a. Claim 1 and claims dependent thereon are rejected because variable X6 in compound formula (I-0) is not defined. What is it? The examiner recommends that applicants delete variable X6 from the chemical structure of formula (I-0).
b. Regarding claims 2-5, 11-13 and 15, the term "preferably" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
c. In claim 10, the phrase “treating a disease mediated by NLRP3” is indefinite. What is covered and what is not? How can one tell if a given disease is not embraced by the claim? It is recommended that applicants recite specific diseases to overcome this rejection.
Objection
13. Claims 7-8 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Information Disclosure Statement
14. Applicant’s Information Disclosure Statement, filed on 04/05/2024 has been acknowledged. Please refer to Applicant’s copies of the 1449 submitted herewith.
Conclusion
15. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Kahsay Habte Ph.D. whose telephone number is (571)272-0667. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:30 - 5:00 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, JEFFREY MURRAY can be reached on 571-272-9023. 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 https://ppair-my.uspto.gov/pair/PrivatePair. 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.
/Kahsay Habte/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1624
June 29, 2026
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