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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-11 are currently pending in the instant application. Claims 1-11 are rejected in this Office Action.
I. Priority
The instant application claims benefit of US Provisional Application 63/626,971, filed on January 30, 2024 and claims benefit of Foreign Application REPUBLIC OF KOREA 10-2024-0181865, filed on December 9, 2024.
II. Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on January 24, 2025, August 6, 2025 and July 15, 2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements have been considered by the examiner.
III. Rejections
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the second paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112:
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 1-11 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. Specifically, claim 1 contains the limitation in the definitions of variables R1, R2, R3 and R4 which state that the variables “are each independently any one or more selected from the group consisting of ….”. It is unclear what Applicants are attempting to claim with the phrase “or more” since there is only one of each variable present in the formula I. For example, R1 is a substituent on the benzene ring of the indole het group and cannot be two groups at the same time. Therefore, the claims are considered indefinite. Applicants are suggested to amend claim 1 and claim 6 so that the variable definitions or the compounds listed not include the phrase “or more” to overcome the above rejection.
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 1-5 and 7-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Park, et al. (Chem. Commun., 2020, 56, 4180). The instant invention claims
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687
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The Park, et al. reference teaches fluorophore containing derivatives such as
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125
248
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(See page 4180, scheme 1C) wherein R1 and R2 are -SO3-; R3 and R4 are -CH2-C(=O)-OH; m is 1; Z is Cl. This species of compound anticipates the genus compound of the instant invention, wherein the genus structure and its definitions are stated above.
Claims 1-2, 5 and 7-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Heston, et al. (WO 2006093991 (abstract) retrieved from STN, Document No. 145:306783). The instant invention claims
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812
687
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The Heston, et al. reference teaches fluorophore containing derivatives such as
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189
481
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(See RN 69415-17-4) wherein R1 and R2 are -SO3-; R3 and R4 are (Y)nH; Y is CH2; n is 1; Z is Cl. This species of compound anticipates the genus compound of the instant invention, wherein the genus structure and its definitions are stated above.
Claims 1-5 and 7-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tsai, et al. (Mol. Pharmaceutics, 2017, 14, 2766-2780). The instant invention claims
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812
687
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The Tsai, et al. reference teaches fluorophore containing derivatives such as
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147
374
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(See page 2768, Figure 1A) wherein R1 and R2 are -H; R3 and R4 are -CH2-CH2-O-H; n is 1; Z is Cl. This species of compound anticipates the genus compound of the instant invention, wherein the genus structure and its definitions are stated above.
IV. Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Shawquia Jackson whose telephone number is 571-272-9043. The examiner can normally be reached on 7:00 AM-3:30PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Adam Milligan can be reached on 571-270-7674. 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 http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
/SHAWQUIA JACKSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1626
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