DETAILED ACTION
Status of the Application
Claims 1-10 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 .
A preliminary amendment filed on 02/21/2025 amending the specification to insert the required incorporation by reference statement for the sequence listing and adding claims 7-10 is acknowledged.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119
(a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. KR10-2022-0085235, filed on
07/11/2022. The instant application is a 371 national stage application of PCT/KR2023/007164
filled on 05/25/2023.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 01/10/2025, 04/29/2026 and 08/05/2026 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 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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Jia et al. (US2025/0304979A1, PCT filed on 12/28/2021).
Claim 1 is directed to a malate:quinone oxidoreductase variant consisting of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 in which proline at position 113 in the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4 is substituted with serine. Claim 2 is directed to a polynucleotide encoding the variant of claim 1. Claim 3 is directed to a transformant comprising the variant of claim 1. Claim 4 is directed to the transformant of claim 3, which is a Corynebacterium sp. microorganism. Claim 5 is directed to transformant of claim 3, which has ability to produce L-glutamic acid. Claim 6 is directed to a method for producing L-glutamic acid, comprising steps of: culturing the transformant of claim 3 in a medium; and recovering L-glutamic acid from the transformant or the medium in which the transformant has been cultured. Claim 7 is directed to a transformant comprising the polynucleotide of claim 2. Claim 8 is directed to the transformant of claim 7, which is a Corynebacterium sp. microorganism. Claim 9 is directed to the transformant of claim 7, which has ability to produce L-glutamic acid. Claim 10 is directed to a method of producing L-glutamic acid, comprising steps of: recovering L-glutamic acid from the transformant or the medium in which the transformant has been cultured.
Jia et al. teaches an amino acid sequence in which the proline at position 113 is substituted with a serine and the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4 has 100% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 2 of the instant application (see paragraph [0028], claim 11 and sequence alignment below). Jia et al. teaches a polynucleotide encoding the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 of the instant application as SEQ ID NO :1 (see claim 4). Jia et al. teaches a bacterium (transformant) in the genus Corynebacterium to produce L-glutamic acid (see claims 1-5). Jia et al. teaches a method for producing L-glutamic acid, comprising culturing the bacterium of claim 1 and recovering L-glutamic acid from the culture. Jia et al. teaches the bacterium having the ability to produce and accumulate L-glutamic acid of interest in a medium and/or cells of the bacterium (see paragraph [0014]). Jia et al. teaches a bacterium (transformant), which is characterized in the genus Corynebacterium, having improved expression of a polynucleotide encoding the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 with the proline at position 113 substituted with serine to generate L-glutamic acid (see claims 1-5) Therefore, Jia et al. anticipates claims 1-10 as written/interpreted.
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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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