The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group II in the reply filed on 8-3-2026 is acknowledged. Claims 1-7 and 17-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Claims 8-16 are currently under examination.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statement filed on 9-6-2024 has been considered. An initialed copy is attached hereto.
It should be noted that the listing of references in the specification is not a proper information disclosure statement. 37 CFR 1.98(b) requires a list of all patents, publications, or other information submitted for consideration by the Office, and MPEP § 609.04(a) states, "the list may not be incorporated into the specification but must be submitted in a separate paper." Therefore, unless the references have been cited by the examiner on form PTO-892, they have not been considered.
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.
Claim 15 is 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.
Said claim is rendered vague and indefinite by the use of the phrase “…interferon-β is glycosylated at Asn29)”. Without the recitation of a baseline sequence it is impossible to determine which specific residue is meant to be engendered by “position 29”. Consequently, it is impossible to determine the metes and bounds of the claimed invention.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
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 8-11, 13 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hecht et al. (U. S. Patent Application Publication US 2018/002709 – IDS filed on 9-6-2024).
Hecht et al. disclose methods of selecting ribosomes utilizing a puromycin derivative (see abstract and paragraph [0030] for example). Given there is no limitation with regard to the puromycin derivative, the amino acid to be added or the protein to which said amino acid added, Hecht et al. anticipates all the limitation of the claimed invention.
Claims 8-11, 13 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Dedkova et al. (Biochemistry 51.1, pages 401-415 – IDS filed on 9-6-2024).
Dedkova et al. disclose methods of selecting ribosomes utilizing a puromycin derivative (see abstract and paragraph [0030] for example). Given there is no limitation with regard to the puromycin derivative, the amino acid to be added or the protein to which said amino acid added, Dedkova et al. anticipates all the limitation of the claimed invention.
Conclusion
No claim is allowed.
Claims 12 and 14 are objected to for being dependent on a rejected claim.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT A ZEMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-0866. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday; 6:30 am - 3pm EST.
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/ROBERT A ZEMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1645 August 18, 2026
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