Patent Application 15874500 - Compounds And Compositions For The Treatment Of

Title: Compounds And Compositions For The Treatment Of Cancer

Application Information

Invention Title: Compounds And Compositions For The Treatment Of Cancer
Application Number: 15874500
Submission Date: 2025-05-20T00:00:00.000Z
Effective Filing Date: 2018-01-18T00:00:00.000Z
Filing Date: 2018-01-18T00:00:00.000Z
National Class: 514
National Sub-Class: 236500
Examiner Employee Number: 85360
Art Unit: 1611
Tech Center: 1600

Rejection Summary

102 Rejections: 1
103 Rejections: 1

Cited Patents

No patents were cited in this rejection.

Office Action Text

DETAILED ACTION
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 2/07/2025 has been entered.
Pre-AIA Status of the Claims
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 2/07/2025, have been fully considered. Rejections and/or objections not reiterated from previous office actions are hereby withdrawn. The following rejections and/or objections are either reiterated or newly applied. They constitute the complete set presently being applied to the instant application.
Detailed Response to Arguments
Applicant’s elected species – i.e.,
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and compositions thereof – reads upon claims 1, 10, 12-13, 55 and 74, as well as claim 32 (drafted independently) and claims 44 and 51 (dependent therefrom), and claim 54 (drafted independently) and claim 75 (dependent therefrom). That is, the elected species reads on claims 1, 10, 12-13, 32, 44, 51, 54-55 and 74-75.
The elected species has been searched and is deemed to be free of the prior art and non-obvious as discussed in US Application 14/775,354 (now US Patent 9,890,127). A Terminal Disclaimer over US Patent No. 9,890,127 was filed in in the instant case on 11/08/2021.
Accordingly, in the Action mailed 2/04/2019, the search was expanded as called for under current Office Markush practice - a compound by compound search - to include a single additional species (M.P.E.P. § 803.02). That species was
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In the response filed 8/05/2019, Applicant overcame the rejection by amending the claims to exclude said species.
In the Action mailed 11/05/2019, the search was expanded as called for under current Office Markush practice - a compound by compound search - to include a single additional species (M.P.E.P. § 803.02). That species was
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and the isomer thereof
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.
In the response filed 3/05/2020, Applicant overcame the rejection by amending the claims to exclude said species.
In the Action mailed 3/16/2020, the search was expanded as called for under current Office Markush practice - a compound by compound search - to include a single additional species (M.P.E.P. § 803.02). That species was
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In the response filed 6/16/2020, Applicant overcame the rejection by amending the claims to exclude said species.
In the Action mailed 9/16/2020, the search was expanded as called for under current Office Markush practice - a compound by compound search - to include a single additional species (M.P.E.P. § 803.02). That species was
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In the response filed 12/16/2020, Applicant overcame the rejection by amending the claims to exclude said species.
In the Action mailed 2/03/2021, the search was expanded as called for under current Office Markush practice - a compound by compound search - to include a single additional species (M.P.E.P. § 803.02). That species was
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In the response filed 5/03/2021, Applicant overcame the rejection by amending the claims to exclude said species.
In the Action mailed 8/09/2021, the search was expanded as called for under current Office Markush practice - a compound by compound search - to include a single additional species (M.P.E.P. § 803.02). That species was
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In the response filed 12/08/2021, Applicant overcame the rejection by amending the claims to exclude said species.
In the Action mailed 8/09/2021, the search was expanded as called for under current Office Markush practice - a compound by compound search - to include a single additional species (M.P.E.P. § 803.02). That species was
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In the response filed 5/16/2022, Applicant overcame the rejection by amending the claims to exclude said species.
In the Action mailed on 5/24/2022, the search was expanded as called for under current Office Markush practice - a compound by compound search - to include a single additional species (M.P.E.P. § 803.02). That species was
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In the response filed 5/16/2022, Applicant overcame the rejection by amending the claims to exclude said species.
In the Action mailed on 9/29/2022, the search was expanded as called for under current Office Markush practice - a compound by compound search - to include a single additional species (M.P.E.P. § 803.02). That species was
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In the response filed 12/28/2022, Applicant overcame the rejection by amending the claims to exclude said species.
In the Action mailed on 2/06/2023, the search was expanded as called for under current Office Markush practice - a compound by compound search - to include a single additional species (M.P.E.P. § 803.02). That species was:
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In the response filed 6/06/2023, Applicant overcame the rejection by amending the claims to exclude said species.
In the Action mailed on 7/07/2023, the search was expanded as called for under current Office Markush practice - a compound by compound search - to include a single additional species (M.P.E.P. § 803.02). That species was:
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In the response filed 10/04/2023, Applicant overcame the rejection by amending the claims to exclude said species.
In the Action mailed on 10/26/2023, the search was expanded as called for under current Office Markush practice - a compound by compound search - to include a single additional species (M.P.E.P. § 803.02). That species was:
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In the response filed 2/23/2024, Applicant overcame the rejection by amending the claims to exclude said species.
In the Action mailed on 7/17/2024, the search was expanded as called for under current Office Markush practice - a compound by compound search - to include a single additional species (M.P.E.P. § 803.02). That species was:
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In the response filed 10/17/2024, Applicant overcame the rejection by amending the claims to exclude said species.
In the Action mailed on 11/07/2024, the search was expanded as called for under current Office Markush practice - a compound by compound search - to include a single additional species (M.P.E.P. § 803.02). That species was:
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In the response filed 2/07/2025, Applicant has overcome the rejection by amending the claims to exclude said species.
Accordingly, the search has again been expanded as called for under current Office Markush practice - a compound by compound search - which identified two additional species (M.P.E.P. § 803.02). Those species are:
(a)
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wherein, in Formula II-b, R1 is H; R2 is alkyl and H; R3 is H; and R4 is heteroaryl, which reads on pending claims 32, 44 and 74; and
(b)
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wherein, in Formula II-i, R1 is H; R2 is optionally substituted aryl; and R4 is fluoro, which reads on pending claims 1 and 55.
Rejections to those claims follow.
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 –
(b) the invention was patented or described in a printed publication in this or a foreign country or in public use or on sale in this country, more than one year prior to the date of application for patent in the United States.

Claims 32, 44 and 74 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(b) as being anticipated by Sicar et al (US 4,717,730).
Instant claim 32 is drawn to a compound of Formula II-b which embraces the following compound species
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wherein R1 is H; R2 is alkyl and H; R3 is H; and R4 is heteroaryl, which reads on pending claims 32 and 44.
Sicar et al teach the compound 4,5-dihydro-6-[4-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)phenyl]-5-methyl-3(2H)-pyridazinone (Column 8, Lines 34-35, Example 4) which is the instantly claimed compound.
Accordingly, claims 32 and 44 are anticipated.
Claim 74 is drawn to a pharmaceutical composition comprising the compound of claim 32 and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or excipient.
Sicar et al teach “[a] pharmaceutical composition… comprising an effective amount of 4,5-dihydro-6-[4-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)phenyl]-5-methyl-3(2H)-pyridazinone… and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier” (Column 11, claim 1).
Accordingly, claim 74 is also anticipated.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.

This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims under 35 U.S.C. 103(a), the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned at the time any inventions covered therein were made absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and invention dates of each claim that was not commonly owned at the time a later invention was made in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 103(c) and potential 35 U.S.C. 102(e), (f) or (g) prior art under 35 U.S.C. 103(a).
Claims 1 and 55 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Black (US 6,525,053).
Claim 1 is drawn to a compound of Formula II-i which embraces the following compound species
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wherein R1 is H; R2 is optionally substituted aryl; and R4 is fluoro.
Black teaches the compound
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(Column 26, Example 6) and “various stereoisomers… thereof” (Column 24, Lines 29-32).
As such, claim 1 is rejected as prima facie obvious. As stated by the court in In re Deuel, 51 F.3d 1552 (Fed Cir 1995), “[a] known compound may suggest its analogs or isomers, either geometric isomers (cis v. trans) or position isomers (e.g., ortho v. para)”.
Claim 55 is drawn to a pharmaceutical composition comprising the compound of claim 1 and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or excipient.
Black teaches that “[t]he present invention also provides pharmaceutical compositions which comprise compounds of the present invention formulated together with one or more non-toxic pharmaceutically acceptable carriers” (Column 33, Lines 28-31).
As such, claim 55 is also rejected as prima facie obvious.
Claim Objections
As indicated above, Applicant’s elected species reads on claims 1, 10, 12-13, 32, 44, 51, 54-55 and 74-75.
The elected species has been searched and is deemed to be free of the prior art and non-obvious as discussed in US Application 14/775,354 (now US Patent 9,890,127).
Accordingly, in the instant Action, the search has been expanded as called for under current Office Markush practice - a compound by compound search - which identified two compound species (M.P.E.P. § 803.02). Those species are:
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which reads on pending claims 32, 44 and 74; and
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which reads on pending claims 1 and 55.
Since the search has not been expanded beyond the additional species identified above, claims 10, 12-13, 51, 54 and 75, which are directed to the elected species but which do not include the single additional species, are objected to and have not been further examined.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CRAIG D RICCI whose telephone number is (571) 270-5864. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Thursday, and every other Friday, 7:30 am - 5:00 pm ET.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Bethany Barham can be reached on (571) 272-6175. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CRAIG D RICCI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1611