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 1-8 and 10-20 are pending in this application.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election with traverse of Group I in the reply filed on 09/01/2026 is acknowledged. Upon further review of the case, it is deemed necessary to withdraw the Restriction Requirement between Groups I-II.
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 1-8 and 10-20 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 the phrase “deuterated compound” is indefinite. What is covered and what is not? How can one tell if a given compound is deuterated or not? What does the deuterated compound look like? Note that there is no guidance or support for said phrase in the specification. In order to overcome this rejection, the examiner recommends that applicants delete said phrase.
b. Claim 5 is rejected because there is no period at the end of the claim. If the table of the compounds is the end of the claim, applicants have to insert a period at the end of the table.
Information Disclosure Statement
5. Applicant’s Information Disclosure Statement, filed on 08/06/2024 has been acknowledged. Please refer to Applicant’s copies of the 1449 submitted herewith.
Conclusion
6. 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.
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/Kahsay Habte/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1624
September 22, 2026
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