DETAILED ACTION
Notice of 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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I in the reply filed on 8/11/2026 is acknowledged. The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claims 14-17 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Applicant’s election without traverse of a single species in the reply filed on 8/11/2026 is also acknowledged.
The elected species read upon claims 1-7 and 13. Claims 6-12 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Expansion of Election of Species Requirement
As indicated above, the elected species:
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(Compound 13),
reads upon claims 1-7 and 13.
The elected species has been searched and is deemed to be free of the prior art and non-obvious.
The closest prior art is CAS RN 2231420-41-8 (entered into STN on 7/24/2018) and taught by Barbosa (WO 2018/126072 – published 7/05/2018) as an integrin agonist (Page 117, Compound 42) having the following structure:
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which differs from Applicant’s elected compound species as indicated by arrows in the following ways:
(a) in Compound 42, the position equivalent to n is 1 as opposed to 2; and
(b) in Compound 42, R3 is aryl substituted with the heteroaryl tetrazole as opposed to aryl substituted with heterocycle piperazine;
It would not have been obvious to carry out the multiple substitutions of Compound 42 taught by Barbosa to arrive at Applicant’s instantly elected compound species with a reasonable expectation of success.
As such, Applicant’s elected compound species is determined to be free of the art and non-obvious.
Accordingly, the search has been expanded as called for under current Office Markush practice – a compound-by-compound search – to include a single additional species (M.P.E.P. § 803.02). That species is:
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, which embraces an instantly claimed compound wherein R1 is aryl; R2 is H; n is 1; X is -O-, and R3 is substituted aryl – which reads on pending claims 1-7 and composition claim 13. A rejection to those claims follows.
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.
Claims 1-7 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(b) as being anticipated by Barbosa (WO 2018/126072).
Claim 1 is drawn to a compound which embraces the following compound species:
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wherein R1 is aryl; R2 is H; n is 1; X is -O-, and R3 is substituted aryl – which reads on pending claims 1-7.
The instantly claim compound is taught by Barbosa (Page 117, Compound 42).
Accordingly, claims 1-7 are anticipated.
Claim 13 is drawn to the compound of claim 1 and a pharmaceutically acceptable vehicle.
Barbosa further teaches “formulations containing the compounds described herein in combination with one or more pharmaceutically acceptable excipients” (Paragraph 0008) including “injectable preparations... formulated... using... vehicles including water” (Paragraph 0145).
Accordingly, claim 13 is also anticipated.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CRAIG D RICCI whose telephone number is (571) 270-5864. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Thursday, and every other Friday, 7:30 am - 5:00 pm ET. 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, Bethany Barham can be reached on (571) 272-6175. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CRAIG D RICCI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1611
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