DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Priority
This application, filed 3 April, 2023, is a national stage application of PCT/EP2021/076571, filed 28 September, 2021, which claims foreign benefit of application EP20200669.8, filed 8 October, 2020.
Status of the Application
Receipt is acknowledged of Applicant's claimed invention, filed 1 July, 2026, in the matter of Application N° 18/029,982. Said documents have been entered on the record.
Claims 1-5, 10 and 13 are amended. Claims 16-23 are new. No new matter was introduced.
Thus, Claims 1-6 and 10-23 represent all claims currently under consideration.
Examiner notes it appears applicant has legal representation but a valid power of attorney has not been filed in the present application. Providing representative information in an Application Data Sheet (ADS) does not constitute a power of attorney. See 37 CFR 1.76(b)(4) and MPEP § 408. For information on appointing a power of attorney, see MPEP § 402.02 et seq.
Response to Amendment/Arguments
Applicant’s amendments and arguments filed 1 July, 2026, are sufficient to overcome all previous objections and rejections under 35 U.S.C. §103.
Below can be found new grounds of rejection necessitated by amendments.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends.
Claim 20 depends form Claim 1, which recites a fungicidal mixture comprising “…compound I and one fungicidal compound II…”. However, Claim 20 further recites that the mixture is free from fungicidal compounds other than “…compound I and one or more fungicidal compounds II," thereby broadening the scope of Claim 1 to encompass mixtures including multiple fungicidal compounds II. Accordingly, Claim 20 does not further limit the subject matter from which it depends.
One suggested amendment to overcome the rejection would be to amend Claim 20:
FROM: "compound I and one or more fungicidal compounds II"
TO: "compound I and the fungicidal compound II"
Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 1-6, 10-19, and 21-23 are allowed.
Applicant' s invention involves a fungicidal mixture, pesticidal composition and methods for use thereof.
The closest prior art appears to be Kilaru et al. (WO 2020/165403 A1, of previous record), which teaches fungicidal mixtures including Compound I (cyclobutrifluram) in combination with numerous fungicidal compounds (e.g., mefenoxam, penflufen, oxathiapiprolin, fluxapyroxad, etc.) and generally suggests such combinations. However, Applicant has amended the claims to recite a significantly narrowed selection of specific Compound II species. As amended, the prior art of record does not provide a sufficient motivation to select from the thousands of compounds encompassed by the disclosed genus. In addition, Applicant has presented evidence demonstrating synergistic activity for the claimed combinations (Remarks filed 1 July, 2026, and instant Specification, Pg 18-21, Examples 1-5).
As such, Kilaru represents the closest known prior art but does not anticipate or render obvious the allowable Claims 1-6, 10-19, and 21-23 in the present application.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Donna M. Nestor whose telephone number is (703)756-5316. The examiner can normally be reached generally (w/flex): 5:30a-5p EST M-Th.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kortney Klinkel can be reached at 571-270-5239. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/D.M.N./ Examiner, Art Unit 1627
/SARAH PIHONAK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1627
Prosecution Insights