DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1, 2, and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2017/0072128 to Frodsham.
In the specification and figures, Frodsham discloses the apparatus substantially as claimed by Applicant. With regard to claims 1, 4, Frodsham discloses an apparatus and method for removing undesirable products from blood through magnetic separation (see ¶0004). The apparatus comprises a blood dialysis circuit with an input port 14 and output port 18, pump 22 for pumping blood through the circuit, a magnetic separation filter 34 that is capable of removing an protein bound to magnetic nanoparticles, a pressure gauge 48, as well as a gas trap (see ¶0044-0045).
With regard to claim 2, Frodsham discloses that the separation filter comprises a magnetic pad 120 and an enclosure 82 with ports 26, 38, at opposite ends (see FIGS 3a, 7 see ¶0049, 0053, 0057-0058).
With regard to claim 3, Frodsham discloses that the magnet may comprise a collection of smaller magnets 120 on a steel back plate 134 that is attached to aluminum frame pieces 142, 146, teaching a non-magnetic tray for supporting the magnetic pad (see FIG 11 and ¶0066).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2017/0072128 to Frodsham in view of WO 2021/222991 to Moroz.
In the specification and figured, Frodsham discloses the method substantially as claimed by Applicant. With regard to claim 5, Frodsham discloses the steps of directing the patient’s arterial blood through a dialysis circuit with a pump and a catheter, separating proteins bound to a ferromagnetic material, and returning the treated blood, minus the targeted molecules, to the patient (see ¶0069-0070). Frodsham does not disclose that the magnetic nanoparticles are bound to transthyretin amyloid proteins.
However, Moroz discloses an extracorporeal blood circuit comprising a hemodialysis unit 4, treatment zone 5, and that returns blood to the patient (see FIG 1, ¶0062, 0063). The treatment zone comprises a complexing agent (ultra-large cage structure protein, or ULCS) that may bind to a targeted molecule M for which the ULCS has been designed. Blood flows through the treatment zone, the ULCS binds to the target molecule, the treated blood is directed to the dialyzer 4, and the target molecule is removed with magnetic force in the dialyzer (see ¶0013, 0064, claim 4). Moroz specifically teaches that the ULCS may be used to target transthyretin (see ¶0006). Taken together, the references suggest a method of removing a target molecule, transthyretin, via selective binding and magnetic removal.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
US 2022/0378823 Chen et al
Creating an antibody-antigen complex and removing targeted complex from blood.
US 9,220,831 Ingber et al
Magnetic separation system
US 2014/0008210 Guia et al
Magnetic separation system
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LESLIE R DEAK whose telephone number is (571)272-4943. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9am to 5:30pm.
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/LESLIE R DEAK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3799
28 May 2026
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