DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 04/02/2026 and 07/01/2026, were in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98. The IDS documents were considered. A signed copy of Form PTO-1449 is enclosed herewith.
Status of the Claims
Claims 21-23, 26, 29 and 34-41 are pending.
Applicants’ arguments, filed on 05/21/2026, 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 Rejections and/or objections not reiterated from previous Office actions are hereby withdrawn.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 of rejections and/or objections presently being applied to the instant application.
Applicants’ amendments filed on 05/21/2026, have been entered into the record. Applicants have amended claims 21, 34, 39 and 41. Therefore, claims 21-23, 26, 29 and 34-41 are subject of the Office action below.
Withdrawn Rejections
The rejection of claims 21-23, 26, 29 and 34-41 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, is overcome by the Applicants’ amendments, and is hereby withdrawn. For example, Applicants have amended claim 21 to delete “wherein the composition achieves at least 4-log kill of a gram-negative and/or, gram-positive microbial population on the surface”.
The rejection of claims 21-23, 26, 29 and 34-41 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over:
1) Hodge of record (U.S. Pub. No. 20130255729);
2) Hodge of record in view of Fazlara of record (American-Eurasian J. Agric & Environ Sci, 2012); and
3) Hodge of record in view of: 1) Bratescu of record (US Pub. No. 20040071653); and 2) USEPA of record (Published 05/13/2004),
is overcome by the Applicants’ amendments, and is hereby withdrawn. For example, Applicants have amended claim 21 to recite a “composition consisting”.
The rejection of claims 21-23, 26, 29 and 34-41 on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims of U.S. Patent Nos: i)10,426,162; ii) 11,406,103; and iii) 11,540,512, is withdrawn because the Applicants have submitted a Terminal Disclaimer under 37 C.F.R. § 1:321(c) in the response filed on 05/21/2026.
Maintained Rejections
The provisional rejection of claims 21-23, 26, 29 and 34-41 on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims of U.S. Patent Application Nos: 1) 18/052,786; 2) 15/445,431; 3) 17/302,350; 4) 18/053,987; 5) 18/051,245; and 6) 18/053,987, is maintained for the reasons of record set forth in the previous Office action.
Response to Applicants’ Arguments/Remarks
Applicants have not properly addressed the specific grounds of rejections as discussed in the previous Office action setting. Applicants request that the obvious-type double patenting rejections be held in abeyance (see page 9 of Remarks filed on 05/21/2026).
Response
Applicants’ comments are acknowledged. However, the rejections will be maintained until a terminal disclaimer is filed or the claims are amended to obviate the rejections.
For the reasons above, and those made of record in the previous Office action, the rejections are maintained.
Conclusion
No claim is allowable.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice
Correspondence
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to IBRAHIM D BORI whose telephone number is (571)270-7020. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Friday 8:00AM-5:00PM(EST).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, JEFFREY S LUNDGREN can be reached on 571-272-5541. 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). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/IBRAHIM D BORI/
Examiner, Art Unit 1629
/JEFFREY S LUNDGREN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1629
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