DETAILED ACTION
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
2. The amendment filed March 2, 2026 has been received and entered. The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code, not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action. Any rejection set forth in a previous Office action that is not specifically set forth below is withdrawn.
3. Claims 1-24 are pending.
Election/Restrictions
4. In the reply filed on August 11, 2025, applicant elected Group I, claims 1-17 without traverse.
5. Claims 18-24 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
6. Claims 1-17 are examined on the merits.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
7. Claims 1-5 and 14-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to natural products without significantly more for the reasons set forth in the previous Office action.
All of applicant’s arguments regarding this ground of rejection have been fully considered but are not persuasive. Applicant argues that the claimed invention is directed to patent eligible subject matter because:
Paragraph [0023] indicates that mixing the specified extracts together as commensurate in scope with the stated claims changes the function, or other properties of the extracts in a marked way in comparison with the closest naturally occurring counterpart. More specifically, "Formulations containing the Witch's Hair Lichen (Alectoria Sarmentosa) extract are 75% more digestible than formulations without this extract". Thus, adding Witch's Hair Lichen to the chosen combination of reindeer lichen and lung lichen produces a marked distinction.
However, applicant has not provided evidence to support the assertion that the combination of the extracts increases the digestibility of the products. Thus, without evidence to show that the combination produces a marked distinction, the claims are still considered to be properly rejected as being drawn to patent ineligible subject matter.
Claim Objections
8. Claims 6-13 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 Susan Hoffman whose telephone number is (571)272-0963. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 8:30am - 5:00pm.
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/SUSAN HOFFMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1655