DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This Office Action is in response to the paper filed 12 November 2025. Claim 87 has been amended. Claims 3, 8-14, and 17, and the species of SEQ ID NOs: 1-302 and 304-455, remain withdrawn. Claims 87-94, 108, and 109 are currently pending and under examination.
This application claims benefit of priority to International Application No. PCT/US2015/038187, filed June 26, 2015, U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/156,021, filed May 1, 2015, U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/156,028, filed May 1, 2015, U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/098,296, filed December 30, 2014, US. Provisional Application No. 62/098,298, filed December 30, 2014, U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/098,299, filed December 30, 2014, U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/098,302, filed December 30, 2014, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/098,304, filed December 30, 2014.
Withdrawal of Rejections:
The rejection of claims 87-94 under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a natural product without significantly more, is withdrawn.
The rejection of claims 87-94 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112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement, is withdrawn.
The rejection of claims 87-93 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hattingh et al., is withdrawn.
The rejection of claims 87, 94, 108, and 109 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hattingh et al., and further in view of Henn et al., is withdrawn.
Claim Objections
Claims 108 and 109 with the elected species of SEQ ID NO: 303 are allowable. These claims are objected to due to the presence of the non-elected species SEQ ID NOs: 1-302 and 304-455. To overcome this objection, it is suggested that the non-elected species be removed.
New Rejections Necessitated by Amendment:
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.
Claims 87-94 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.
The term “increases resistant” in claim 87 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “increases” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. Here, there metes and bounds are indefinite, because it is unclear what the baseline/control amount is intended to be for determining if resistance to fungal pathogen stress has been increased.
Claims 88-94 are included in this rejection, as these claims depend from above rejected claims and fails to remedy the noted deficiencies.
Response to Arguments
In view of Applicant’s amendments/argument, the previous rejections have been withdrawn. Therefore, Applicant’s arguments are moot. However, new rejections have been set forth above.
Conclusion
Claims 87-94 are rejected but with the elected species of SEQ ID NO: 303 appear to be free of the art. Claims 108 and 109 are objected to due to the presence of non-elected species, but are allowable with the elected species of SEQ ID NO: 303.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JENNIFER M.H. TICHY whose telephone number is (571)272-3274. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday, 9:00am-7:00pm ET.
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/JENNIFER M.H. TICHY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1653