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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 2/2/2026 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) 1,3,5-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mighty Mogul(US2017/0275070).
As per claims 1,3,7, Mighty Mogul, Inc. (hereinafter Mighty) teaches a method for making a biodegradable drinking straw (para [0002], (0079]; The invention relates to an edible and biodegradable package material composition and uses thereof. The composition of the invention is not limited to a food package. In some embodiments, the composition of the invention can be used for making a non-food package or non-package articles, for example a straw.), the method comprising the steps of:
a. providing non-altered corn starch (para [0046), [0053]-[0054]; claims 1, 10 and 19; The composition comprises a polysaccharide component, a protein component, or a combination thereof. The polysaccharide can comprise structurally non-altered corn starch);
b. mixing the structurally non-altered com starch with one improver to make a biodegradable mixture (para [0046], [0048]. (0053)-(0054], [0071]; claims 1-2. 10 and 18-19; The biodegradable composition comprises a polysaccharide component, a protein component, or a combination thereof, wherein said polysaccharide component is a carrageenan. The composition further can comprise one or more additional polysaccharide components. Other suitable polysaccharides include starch. Starch based polysaccharides can be obtained from corn. In yet another aspect, the package material composition includes an antimicrobial agent. Examples of an antimicrobial agent include enzyme (e.g., lysozyme. peroxidase).
Further. providing the composition would indicate that a blend of materials used. Please also see instant specification. instant para (0020]: "[T)he improver comprises a biological enzyme preparations and an edible colloid preparations ... [T]he one or more than one edible colloid preparations comprises one or more than one of konjac gum, agar, carrageenan, sodium alginate, guar gum, gellan gum, and xanthan gum.". Thus. here, the combination of sodium alginate and enzyme would provide the improver.);
c. extruding the edible biodegradable mixture (para [0002], (0084]; The invention relates to an edible and biodegradable package material composition and uses thereof. Sheets or films of the invention can be extruded into molds forming bottles and containers of various size and shape.).
d. cooling the drinking straw shaped extrusion(para [0167]-[0174); example 14).
e. cutting the cooled drinking straw shaped extrusion to an appropriate drinking straw length([0174); example 14).
f. drying the cut drinking straws(para [0173); example 14).
g. packaging the dried drinking straws(para [0012])
Mighty teaches that the structurally non-altered corn starch can be present in an amount of about 5 to about 100%([0048]-[0054]) of the drinking straw.
Mighty teaches that the straw comprises an antimicrobial biological enzyme and a colloid component such as sodium alginate([0048]-[0054], [0071]). Mighty does not specifically teach that the enzyme is in the form of glucose oxidase. However, it would have been obvious to adjust the amounts and types of enzymes in order to provide the needed antimicrobial effect.
Regarding claim 5-6, Mighty teaches that the straw comprises an antimicrobial biological enzyme and a colloid component([0048]-[0054], [0071]). Mighty does not specifically teach that the enzymes are the ones claimed. However, it would have been obvious to adjust the amounts and types of enzymes in order to provide the needed antimicrobial effect.
Regarding claim 8, Mighty teaches that the straw comprises an improver comprising a biological enzyme preparations and an edible colloid preparations ... [T]he one or more than one edible colloid preparations comprises one or more than one of konjac gum, agar, carrageenan, sodium alginate, guar gum, gellan gum, and xanthan gum.". Mighty teaches that the straw comprises the colloids in an amount of about 5 to about 100%([0048]-[0054]). It would have been obvious to use 5-20% of each colloid as taught in Mighty. Konjac is considered to be an equivalent colloid so it would have been further obvious include it in with the colloid mixture as claimed in an amount of 5-20%.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 2/2/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The applicant argues that Mighty Mogul teaches away from having a straw with 90-98% non-altered corn starch. The applicant points to example 16 which shows a combination of carrageenan and corn zein having the best results. However, while Mighty Mogul may prefer carrageenan as the polysaccharide, the reference also teaches that the polysaccharide can be in the form of non-altered corn starch in an amount of 5-100%(para 48-54).
Furthermore, Mighty Mogul does not require both polysaccharide and protein in the starch and actually states "The invention relates to an edible and biodegradable package material composition and uses thereof. Specifically, the invention relates to a package material composition comprising a polysaccharide component, a protein component, or a combination thereof, in order to produce a transformational package that is both edible and naturally biodegradable."(para 46). Please note the use of the term "or" to indicate that both polysaccharide and protein are recited in the alternative.
The applicant argues that the claimed straw has unexpected properties, such as being soaked in normal water temperature(25C) for 1-1.5 hours without breaking. However, the applicant has not compared the closest prior art to demonstrate that the results are actually unexpected.
Conclusion
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/KATHERINE D LEBLANC/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1791