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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 7/29/26 has been entered.
Claims 1, 11-13 are amended and claims 9,15-18 are cancelled. Claims 1-8,10-14 are pending.
The previous 112 and objection are withdrawn due to the amendment.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claim(s) 1,3-6,8,10-11, 13-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jp 5767017 in view of Fujii ( TW 201633929).
For claims 1,8 Jp017 disclose a noodles loosening improver. The improver comprises fat and oil, emulsifier and thickening polysaccharide. The fat/oi, emulsifier and thickener are dissolved in 100 parts aqueous medium. The amount of thickener is .5-30 parts, fat/oil as .05-5 parts and .05-7 parts emulsifier. The amounts of aqueous medium can range from 30-100 parts. The aqueous medium is water. ( see pages 2,3,5)
For claims 3,4,13, the emulsifier acid fatty acid ester, glycerin lactic acid fatty, sorbitan fatty acid ester etc.. ( see pages 2-3)
For claims 6,14, the thickener is added in .5-30 parts. ( see pages 2-3)
For claim 10, Jp 017 discloses starch-containing foods comprising the loosening improver. The loosening improver is attached to the surface of the starch-containing foods. ( see pages 2,5)
For claims 11, Jp 017 discloses a method for improving loosening property of starch-containing food comprising the steps of emulsifying a solution containing water, thickener, fat, oil and emulsifier to obtain an emulsified solution. Attaching the emulsified solution to the surface of the starch-containing food. The amount of water ranges from 30-100 parts. ( see pages 3, 5)
Jp 017 does not disclose the viscosity and the thickener as in claim 1, the proportion as in claims 4,13, and the thickener as in claims 5,14.
Fujii discloses a solution for separation improvement agent comprising hemicellulose and polysaccharides chosen from locust bean gum, xanthan gum, tara gum etc.. The solution has a viscosity in the range of 100-2000mPa/s when added or sued for surface treatment. The amount of viscosity modifier to be added is in the range of .001-30%. ( see abstract, page 4 second paragraph)
Both Jp 017 and Fujii are directed to separation improvement agent for starch-containing containing thickening polysaccharide. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use xanthan gum as an obvious matter of using an alternative ingredient to carry out the same function of thickening. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to follow the guideline of Fuiji for the viscosity and to optimize depending on the degree of fluidity desired in the emulsion. Such parameter can readily be determined by one skilled in the art. Jp017 discloses emulsifier including monoglyceride fatty acid ester, propylene glycol fatty acid ester, sorbitan fatty acid ester etc.. The emulsifier is included in amount .05-7. The amount recited in claim 4 can be at minimum of .05% ( 10% time .5, the emulsifier is 10% of the amount of emulsifier of .5-80% in the fat composition) to maximum of 48% ( 60% time 80%). The other emulsifier in claim 4 include 0 because the range is 0-40. In any event, Jp017 discloses different emulsifiers can be used. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use a mixture of different emulsifiers as an obvious matter of preference.
Claim(s) 2,12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jp 5767017 in view of Fujii (TW 201633929) as applied to claims 1,3-6,8,10-11, 13-14 above, and further in view of Ando ( JP 2019010020)
For claims 2,12, Jp 017 discloses the fat/oil component of the loosening composition is .05-5 and the emulsifier is in the range of .05-7. Thus, the content of fat/oil in the oil/emulsifier composition can be 50% ( .05/.05+.05) , 41% ( 5/5+7) or maximum of 99% ( 5/.05+5). The content of emulsifier can be 50 ( .05/.05+.05), 58% ( 7/5+7). The amounts fall within the claimed ranges.
Jp 017 does not disclose the HLB of the emulsifier.
Ando discloses fat composition that can suppress binding of food. Ando discloses emulsifier having HLB from 3-10 to provide optimum emulsifiability in water. ( see page 3)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use emulsifier having HLB as disclosed in Ando to facilitate emulsification of the emulsifier in water.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jp 5767017 in view of Fujii ( TW 201633939) as applied to claims 1,3-6,8,10-11,13-14 above, and further in view of Okada ( Jp 2019141006).
Jp017 does not disclose the amount of fatty acid having 8-10 carbon and amount of unsaturated fatty acid as in claim 7.
Okada disclose loosening agent for noodle. Okada discloses the oil/fat component comprises 35-100% medium chain fatty acid having 6-10 carbon atom. Okada teaches that the use of the medium chain fatty acid improves the dispersibility in aqueous solution. ( see abstract and section under heading oil and fat)
Jp017 discloses glycerides of fatty acids having 6-24 carbon atoms can be used. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use glycerides with medium chain fatty acids as taught in Okada to obtain the benefit of facilitating dispersibility. It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to follow the guideline of Okada for the amount and to optimize depending on the property desired. Jp017 also discloses glycerides with double bonds which are unsaturated fatty acids. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use more unsaturated fatty acid as it’s known such fat is healthier. It would have been within the skill of one in the art to determine the amount depending on the nutrition desired. Such parameter can readily be determined through routine experimentation.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 7/29/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In the response, applicant argues that Jp017 requires gum Arabic as an essentially thickener component; thus, one of ordinary skill in the art would not have been motivated to replace the essential gum Arabic thickener with other polysaccharide because doing so would fundamentally alter the invention of Jp017 and its intended purpose. This argument is not persuasive. Jp017 discloses using gum Arabic as a thickener. There is no criticality exclusive to the use of gum Arabic. Jp017 does not disclose that only gum Arabic can be used. The intended purpose of gum Arabic in Jp017 is as a thickener agent. Thus, it would have been readily obvious to one skilled in the art to use other functionally equivalent ingredients disclosed in Jujii as thickener.
Applicant further argues that Jujii provides no teaching or suggestion that the essential gum Arabic component of Jp017 should be replaced by other polysaccharide. This argument is not persuasive. Jp017 discloses gum Arabic as thickener and Jujii discloses other gums as thickener. Given that the two references teach different types of gum can be used as thickener. It would have been well within the skill of one in the art to replace gum Arabic with another type of gum that is functionally equivalent as serving as thickener agent. Applicant further argues that Jujii requires hemicellulose; thus, one would not have motivated to employ Fujii viscosity modifiers independently of the required hemicellulose. This argument is not persuasive. Fujii is only rely upon for the teaching of different gums to be used as thickeners. The hemicellulose in Fujii is not disclosed as thickener. Thus, one skilled in the art would have readily exchange gum Arabic for another gum disclosed in Fujii as thickener without using hemicellulose.
Applicant states the present application demonstrated that even without requiring hemicellulose, the claimed composition provides favorable loosening properties. The statement is not relevant as applicant has not established any unexpected result over the prior art. The composition disclosed in Jp017 does not include hemicellulose. Furthermore, the claims do not exclude hemicellulose from the language comprising. Claims 1 and 11 also recite soybean polysaccharide which is a broad class that would include hemicellulose because hemicellulose is a major polysaccharide found in soybeans.
Conclusion
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September 4, 2026
/LIEN T TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1793
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