DETAILED ACTION
Status of the Application
Claims 1, 3-13, 15 and 16 are pending.
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
The preliminary amendment filed on 07/30/2024 amending claims 6, 8, 9, 10 and 12,
cancelling claim 14, adding claims 15 and 16 and amendment to the specification to update the filing information and addition of the statement of incorporation of a Sequence Listing XML file is acknowledged.
The preliminary amendment filed on 07/03/2026 amending claims 3-5 and cancelling claim 2 is acknowledged.
Applicants’ election without traverse of Group I, claims 1, 5-13, 15-16 all partially, drawn in part to a D-amino acid oxidase (DAAO) variant derived from the polypeptide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:1, comprising at least one amino acid substitution at position K29 selected from G, H, I, N, Q, W, Y, C, or L; nucleic acid; method for preparing the DAAO; PPO preparation method; L-glufosinate preparation method and a transformant in a communication filed on 07/03/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 3-4 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as
being drawn to a nonelected group, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election
was made without traverse in the reply filed on 07/03/2026.
Claims 1, 5-13, & 15-16 are under consideration and are being examined herein.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119
(a)-(d) to parent Application No. CN202210114692.7, filed on 01/30/2021. The instant application is a 371 national stage application of PCT/CN2023/073897 filled on 01/30/2023.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 11/13/2024 and 10/11/2025 are acknowledged. The submissions are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 9 is objected for the following typographical error, “oxidas”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(a) Written Description
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 1 is directed to a D-amino acid oxidase, wherein the amino acid sequence of the D-amino acid oxidase has one amino acid residue difference selected from the following as compared to SEQ ID NO: 1: K29G/H/I/N/Q/W/Y/C/L and the D-amino acid oxidase has an activity and/or a thermal stability not lower than that of a D-amino acid oxidase of the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 1. Claims 5-13, & 15-16 depend directly or indirectly from claim 1.
While the specification appears to have support for the K29G/H/I/N/Q/W/Y/C/L mutations for SEQ ID NO: 1 that have increased thermal stability (see table 7), claim 1 reads, “has an activity and/or a thermal stability not lower than that of a D-amino acid oxidase as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 1” and the only enzymes that it shows support for having activity not lower than SEQ ID NO: 1 (Enz. 1) are Enz. 27 (V42Y-C234L), and Enz. 32 (E195Y-C234L-V326W) (see Table 8). These mutants do not fall under the scope of claim 1, and therefore a person of ordinary skill in the art would not recognize from the specification that the Applicant was in possession of the full scope of the claimed invention.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(b)
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 8-13, and 15-16 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.
Regarding claim 8 (claim 9 depending therefrom), the phrase "such as" renders the claims indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d). Correction is required.
Regarding claim 10 (claims 11 and 12 depending therefrom), the phrase "such as" renders the claims indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d). Correction is required.
Regarding claim 11, the phrase "such as" renders the claims indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d). Correction is required.
Regarding claim 15 (claim 16 depending therefrom), the phrase "such as" renders the claims indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d). Correction is required.
Regarding claim 10 (claims 11 and 12 depending therefrom), the phrase "for example" renders the claims indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d). Correction is required.
Regarding claim 8 (claim 9 depending therefrom), the phrase "preferably" renders the claims indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d). Correction is required.
Regarding claim 10 (claims 11 and 12 depending therefrom), the phrases "preferably" and “more preferably” renders the claims indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d). Correction is required.
Regarding claim 11, the phrase "preferably" renders the claims indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d). Correction is required.
Regarding claim 13, the phrase "preferably" renders the claims indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d). Correction is required.
Regarding claim 15 (claim 16 depending therefrom), the phrase "preferably" renders the claims indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d). Correction is required.
Claim 10 (claims 11 and 12 depending therefrom) is indefinite in the recitation of a broader range followed by a narrow range “1 : (0.5-3), for example, 1 : 1” and “1 : (20-60); for example, 1 : 40”. Correction is required.
Claim 13 is indefinite in the recitation of a broader range followed by a narrow range “7-10, preferably 8.4-8.6” and “28-35°C, preferably 30-33°C”. Correction is required.
Closest Prior Art
The prior art does teach mutations to a D-amino acid oxidase (GenBank accession: POY70719, Malfatti et al. Front Microbiol 8, 2528 (2018)). However, the prior art does not teach an amino acid sequence of the D- amino acid oxidase has one amino acid residue difference compared to SEQ ID NO: 1: K29G/H/I/N/Q/W/Y/C/L. Based on the prior art, it would not be obvious to make such mutations and would require more than routine experimentation to discover an increase in thermal stability and/or increased activity over SEQ ID NO: 1.
Conclusion
No claim is in condition for allowance.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DALTON KIEFER, PhD whose telephone number is (571)272-1235. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-5 EST.
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/DALTON EDWARD KIEFER/Examiner, Art Unit 1652
/ROBERT B MONDESI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1652
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