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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 1/5/26 has been entered.
Claim 1 is amended. Claims 1,3-4,7-8,13-15,19-20,55 are pending.
The previous 112 first paragraph rejection is withdrawn due to the amendment.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claim(s) 1,3-4,7-8,13-15,19-20, 55 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bowman (WO 2018/195220) in view of Huntsman ( 2016/0128367), Yang ( CN 101283789) and Sekiguchi ( WO 2006059541).
For claims 1,8 Bowman disclose a composition comprising a protein source, a starch source from flour of plant, vitamin and mineral, nutritious oil and additional flavorings. The composition comprises about 1-20 grams of plant-derived protein per serving. The protein can be provided in the form of a flour and can be selected from combination of chickpea, soy. The starch source is selected from plant flour including peanut flour. The multi-vitamin supplement includes vitamin A, B, D, C and E and minerals includes calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc and manganese. The composition comprises daily value of essential vitamins and minerals. ( see paragraphs 0023-0024, 0030,0033,0039,0041,0044,0046,0048,0050,0058-0059) For claim 8, the claim does not recite a specific ingredient; the glycan equivalent can be any material in the same class of ingredient. For instance, another legume can be used for chickpea and soy or another nut can be used for peanut. Bowman discloses other legumes and other nuts. The Bowman composition does not contain milk, powdered milk or milk product.
For claims 13-14, Bowman discloses the oil including vegetable oil such as canola, coconut, corn, etc.. ( see paragraph 00109)
For claim 19, Bowman discloses the oil including animal fat such and the oil can be one or more oil. ( see paragraph 00109).
For claim 20, Bowman discloses the composition comprises sugar which is sucrose. ( see paragraph 00105)
Bowman does not disclose the kcal, the protein ratio, fat ratio, the fat gram and the inclusion of green banana as in claim 1, the kcal as in claim 3, the ranges as in claim 4, the ratio as in claim 7, and the soybean amount as in claim 15 and the fat ratio as in claim 55.
Huntsman discloses stable convenient whole food nutritional supplement. The food includes chickpeas, peanut, legumes, fiber and vitamins and minerals. Huntsman teaches whole food source such as banana can be added. ( see paragraphs 0055, 0056,0015,0007)
Yang disclose a method for preparing green banana powder. The banana power is used in flavoring. The green banana is a source of resistant starch which is a dietary fiber. ( see abstract, page 3)
Sekiguchi discloses gelatinous food base. Sekiguchi teaches adding flavoring imparting agent including fragrance, fruit etc. Fragrances such as orange, strawberry, banana etc.. can be used. ( see paragraphs 0037, 0038)
Bowman teaches other ingredients including flavorings. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add green banana as a flavoring source when such taste is desired. Huntsman shows that banana is added to nutritional food comprising ingredients similar to Bowman. Yang teaches to use green banana powder as flavorings. Sekiguichi discloses to use banana for fragrance and flavoring. The inclusion of green banana would have been an obvious matter of taste preference. One of ordinary skill in the art would also have been motivated to add green banana powder as taught in Yang because it’s a source of resistant starch which is a dietary fiber. The inclusion of green banana further enhances the nutrition of the Bowman food product. Bowman discloses that the food comprises 1-20 gram protein and example 1 on page 31 shows a 100 g serving. Thus, it is obvious the amount of protein is per 100 g serving and the amount of fat in example 1 is 3 gram/100 g serving. Since the protein provides 1-20 gram and including chickpea, soy flour, the protein already falls within the claimed range. Bowman discloses in paragraph 0024 that the composition comprises a daily value of essential vitamins and mineral and discusses the leading causes of hidden hunger at young age. The amount of Kcal, protein and fat ratios can readily be calculated from the macronutrients. It is known carbohydrates provides 4 cal, protein is 4 cal and fat is 9 cal. In example 1 of Bowman, the kcal would be approximate 405kcal for 70.7 gram of carbohydrate, 24 gram of protein and 3 gram of fat. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to determine the kcal depending on the amount of protein, flour, fat and flavoring such as banana included in the composition. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to vary the kcal by varying the amount of fat, protein and other ingredients depending the intended consumer and the nutrition desired to provide. It would have been readily obvious to determine the protein and fat ratio once the kcal is known. It would have been obvious to include the chickpea, peanut flour, soy flour and banana in varying ratio depending on the taste, nutrition, flavor desired. Such parameter can readily be determined by one of ordinary skill in the art through routine experimentation. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use soybean oil as using a known alternative ingredient to perform the same function of providing a fat source. The amount to use would have been an obvious matter of taste preference.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1,3-4,7-8,13-15,19-20, 55 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. New prior art is added to show the use of banana as flavorings. Applicant continues to argue the exceedingly large number of combination without providing any basis to the calculation. The formula and number given in the previous response is the correct formula for 38 when 2 is selected. Regardless, the point made is not relevant. Even if many possible combinations are possible, the combination of chickpea flour, peanut flour and soy flour is clearly disclosed in Bowman as explained in the rejection. Thus, there is no question of reasonable expectation of success because Bowman discloses the combination of chickpea, peanut flour and soy flour.
Conclusion
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February 2, 2026
/LIEN T TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1793