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 .
This office action is in response to amendment filed on 4/29/26. Claims 1,6,7,9,12,14 are amended and claims 3-5 are cancelled. Claims 1-2,6-14 are pending.
The previous 112 second paragraph rejection is withdrawn due to the amendment.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claim 1 is 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 limitation “ culturing the cell in the porous multilayer nanofilm” is vague and indefinite because it’s unclear what is intended by “ in the porous multilayer nanofilm” because the nanofilm is formed on the cells. It’s not in a culture medium. ( for prior art application, it’s interpreted as just culturing the cells having the nanofilm formed thereon)
The new rejection is necessitated by amendment.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claim(s) 1-2, 6-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vein ( WO 2006/041429) in view of Hong ( KR 102066258B1), Zhao ( 2016/0002483), Elfenbein ( WO 2020123876) and Hu ( CN 104650369).
For claims 1,2, 12 Vein discloses a method for producing tissue engineered meat. The method comprises the steps of culturing muscle stem cells in vitro and allowing these to differentiate into specific types of muscle cells ( the step are equivalent to the claimed performing differentiation of cultured cells and muscle tissue is formed because differentiation and forming muscle cells are formed). For claim 2, the cells are pluripotent embryonic mesenchymal stem cells. For claim 13, Vein discloses tissue engineered meat obtained from the method. Tissue engineered meat is the same as the claimed cultured meat because it is obtained from cultured cells. Also, the claim does not define what constitutes cultured meat. ( see paragraphs 0009, 0011)
For claim 9, Vein discloses that muscle cells may be grown in culture into muscle tissue that are attached to a support structure such as two or three dimensional scaffold. For scaled up production, the preferred method is to use a bioreactor. ( see paragraphs 0012, 0015)
For claim 10, Vein discloses exposing the muscle cells to an electric or oscillating current to minic exercise and increase the similarity in texture between meat grown ex vivo and meat derived from whole animals. ( see paragraph 0019)
For claim 11, Vein discloses adding fat cells to muscle cells. Also, Vein discloses adding vitamins to increase nutritional value of the engineered meat. Spice and seasoning can be added to make different derivatives of meat products. ( see paragraphs 0016,0020, 0022)
For claim 13, Vein discloses the tissue engineered meat can be used to make derivatives of meat products such as meatballs, fishballs, hamburger patties etc.. Thus, the engineered meat is used to substitute for beef, fish etc.. ( see paragraph 0022)
Vein does not disclose coating surfaces of cells and forming crosslinking as in claim 1, the material as in claims 4-7 , the thickness as in claim 8, adding a colorant as in claim 11 and the agent as in claim 14.
Hong discloses a coating method for the cross-assembly of a first solution containing a positively charged material and a second solution containing negatively charged material on the surface of stem cells. The coating contains protein kinase inhibitor( ROCK) which gives faster cell growth and minimizing damage caused by induced stem cells in the coating process of the multi-layer nanofilm. The inhibitor is considered a cell growth factor. The coating is done by stacking a positively charged material and a negatively charged material. The positively charged material includes fibrinogen, silk fibroin, casein, elastin etc.. The negatively charged material includes cellulose, heparin, dextran sulfate, etc… The coating is a cross-linked complex. The nano-film promote cell mass formation by strengthening intercellular attraction when induced stem cells form a culture. Since the same material is used in the same type of coating, it’s obvious the same type of bonding in claim 3 is present.
Zhao discloses nano-cellulose coating. The coating is useful for forming edible coatings/films on plant parts and other objects. The composition comprises crosslinking agent. The crosslinking links at least two molecules through chemical bond such as covalent bond. Zhao discloses the crosslinking agents includes glutaraldehyde ( see paragraphs 0068-0069,0073,0079,0132, 0156)
Elfenbein discloses synthetic food compositions including cultured food products such as meat products, sushi grade fish meat etc.. Elfenbein teaches to use crosslinking agent to strength the connection between the fibers formed from solution containing gelatin, collagen and cellulose. ( see paragraph 0390)
Hu discloses preparation method to form gelatin nanofiber membrane. Hu teaches to use dimethylamino propyl ethyl carbodiimide hydrochloride/N hydroxy sulfosuccinimide as crosslinking agent.
Vein discloses growing stem cell and attaching to a support structure. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the teaching of Hong to coat the cells to protect them, to minimize damage and enhance growth during processing steps to make the tissue engineered meat. Vein discloses ingredients can be added to the culture medium; thus, the addition would not be contraindicated. The nanofilm layer in Hong is a multilayer complex as Hong discloses multilayered nanofilm. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to determine the layers and thickness depending on the degree of protection desired. Furthermore, since Hong discloses nanofilm layer, it’s obviously inherent that the thickness is within the range claimed. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to add a colorant when desiring to make product resembling actual meat obtained from animal. Such parameter would have been within the skill of one in the art.
It’s known in the art to use crosslinking agent to reinforce bonding between ingredients as shown in Zhao, Elfenbein and Hu. It’s would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use crosslinking agent to further strengthen multilayer film disclosed in Hong to enhance the structural integrity of the film to promote the growth of the cells. Using an ingredient for its art-recognized function would have been within the skill of one in the art. It would have been obvious to use known cross-linking agents as taught in HU and Zhao. The porous nature comes from the crosslinking of the multilayer film. Thus, such property is inherently present when the Hong film is crosslinked between layers on the Vein cells.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 4/29/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In the response, applicant argues Hong does not disclose crosslinking through covalent bond with a crosslinking agent. This argument is not persuasive because references were added in the previous response to show the obviousness of crosslinking the layers with crosslinking agent. Claim 14 was rejected previously to with new references to address the crosslinking by the use of crosslinking agent. New reference is also added to address the specific agent recited in claim 14. Applicant does not argue why the combination would not have been obvious. It’s known in the art to use crosslinking agent to reinforce bonding between ingredients as shown in Zhao, Elfenbein and Hu. It’s would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use crosslinking agent to further strengthen multilayer film disclosed in Hong to enhance the structural integrity of the film to promote the growth of the cells. Using an ingredient for its art-recognized function would have been within the skill of one in the art. It would have been obvious to use known cross-linking agents as taught in HU and Zhao. The porous nature comes from the crosslinking of the multilayer film. Thus, such property is inherently present when the Hong film is crosslinked between layers on the Vein cells.
Conclusion
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.
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July 6, 2026
/LIEN T TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1793
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