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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/11/2025 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over English translation Matsubayashi(WO-2009104660A1) in view of full English translation of JP 2016-013115(provided by the office).
Regarding claims 1,4, Matsubayashi teaches a packaged carbonated beverage having
A content of carbon dioxide(example 4, beverage contains carbonated water)
A pH of 3.0 to 4.5(p.8, 6th full paragraph)
An alcohol content of greater than 9v/v%(p.4)
Sodium and potassium content(p.6, 4th full paragraph, potassium and sodium malate).
An acidity of 0.655g/100ml(example 8)
Matsubayashi is silent on the pressure of the carbon dioxide gas, the sodium content and weight ratio of potassium content to sodium content.
However, JP ‘115 teaches a packaged alcoholic carbonated beverage having
A carbon dioxide gas pressure of from 0.8 to 3.5kgf/cm^2(claim 3)
A sodium content of 0.03 to 1.1g/L(3 to 110mg/100ml)(claim 1)
A molar ratio of sodium content of (Na/K) of 0.5 to 60(claim 1), which equates to a molar ratio of 2 to 0.017(1/0.5 to 1/60) for K/Na. This further equates to a weight ratio of K/Na of 0.03 to 3.39(K molar mass of 39g/mol and Na has molar mass of 23g/mol).
JP ‘115 teaches that the carbonated beverage has an enhanced alcohol taste with “a complex taste composed of sweetness, bitterness, complex taste, weight, irritation, and the like peculiar to alcoholic beverages when drinking alcoholic beverages”( p.2, 1st full paragraph).
It would have been obvious to modify Matsubayashi to have a carbon dioxide gas pressure of from 0.8 to 3.5kgf/cm^2, a sodium content of 0.03 to 1.1g/L(3 to 110mg/100ml), and a weight ratio of K/Na of 0.03 to 3.39 as taught in JP ‘115 in order to provide an enhanced alcohol taste with “a complex taste composed of sweetness, bitterness, complex taste, weight, irritation, and the like peculiar to alcoholic beverages when drinking alcoholic beverages.”
Matsubayashi teaches forming the beverage by adjusting the acidity(in terms of citric acid) of the beverage to be 0.655mg/100ml(example 8). As stated above, it would have been obvious to adjust the sodium content and weight ratio of potassium content to sodium content of the beverage in view of JP ‘115.
Regarding claim 2, Matsubayashi does not specifically teach a fruit juice content of 0 to 9w/w% but also states that “the amount of fruit juice or fragrance is not limited”(p.7,2nd full paragraph). Therefore, it would have been obvious to adjust the amount of fruit juice depending on the amount of fruit flavor desired.
Regarding claims 3,5, Matsubayashi teaches the presence of potassium ions such as potassium chloride but does not require the use of potassium citrate(p.7, 1st full paragraph). Therefore, it would have been obvious to use another form of potassium salt such as potassium chloride, which renders obvious a concentration of 0mg/100ml potassium citrate(i.e. less than 20mg/100ml as claimed).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/11/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The applicant argues that JP ‘115 does not teach an alcohol content of 5 to 16v/v% as now required in claims 1 and 4. However, please see the new reference Matsubayashi(WO-2009104660A1) and rejection above.
Conclusion
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/KATHERINE D LEBLANC/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1791