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 .
Status of the Application
Receipt is acknowledged of the amendment and response filed 8/9/2025. Claims 1,3-5 and 7-17 are pending in the application. Claims 1,3-5, 7 and 8 were amended, and new claims 7-17 were added.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1,3-5 and 7-17 are rejected under 35 USC 103 as being unpatentable over Inokawa (JP2019-187392A) in view of Kudo (JP2019-122268A) and further in view of Nakahara et al. (JP2004-283056A).
Regarding claim 1 and dependent claims, Inokawa discloses a paste seasoning composition that includes 1 mass% or more of solid ingredients, 30 mass% or more of oil and at , has up to 8% water, and therefore, may not contain water; the SFC exceeds 0.5% and the viscosity of the composition at 25 deg. C is 2000mPa.s or more (see working examples 1-4). Inokawa further discloses an edible emulsifier with HLB greater than 4, which includes polyglycerol fatty acid esters as they can have HLB values from 2-16. One of ordinary skill in the art would have selected PGFE for its versatility as an emulsifier/thickener in food compositions, including pastes. Furthermore, one would have selected a suitable PGFE based on the content of oil and water in the paste and the selected other ingredients, to prepare a paste composition with desired properties with a reasonable expectation of success. In effect, Inokawa discloses the limitations of an oil and fat content of 30 wt.% or more, a water content of 10% or less, solid food ingredients as claimed, a paste like viscosity known for spoon dispensing in the art , texture control to maintain dispersibility of solid ingredients in an oil continuous matrix.
Kudo discloses a paste seasoning composition that includes 1 mass% or more of solid ingredients, 30 mass% or more of oil and at , has up to 8% water, and therefore, may not contain water; the SFC exceeds 0.5% and the viscosity of the composition at 25 deg. C is 2000mPa.s or more (see claim 1 and working examples). Kudo further discloses a content of extremely hardened oil/fat in the composition in the claimed range. Kudo discloses polyglycerol fatty acid ester as thickening agent/emulsifier in a preferred embodiment (see working example). Kudo (claim 1, working example) discloses mixing ingredient, oil and fat and water as claimed, adjusting solid fat content, to produce a paste seasoning, as claimed.
Nakahara discloses an oil-based paste seasoning produced by grinding dried spice or food materials with edible oil and fat , optionally with heat treatment, to obtain a homogeneous paste containing dispersed solid ingredients. This reference evidences that incorporation of dried food materials into oil-fat paste seasonings was well known prior to the filing date of the current application.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify the paste seasoning composition of Inokawa with adjustment of liquid oil and hardened oil ratios in order to achieve suitable viscosity and stability. Nakahara further supports that incorporating dried food materials into oil based seasonings is conventional, and that such materials may be ground or dispersed in an oil continuous phase.
Claim 1 recites a viscosity of 2000 mPa.s or more at 25 deg. C and a shear rate of 1 s-1 and an ingredient exhibiting a specific load derivative ( N/%) under deformation.
Inokawa teaches paste-like viscosities suitable for handling and storage, and it is considered that the claimed viscosity value represents a routine selection within known paste seasoning ranges.
With respect to the load-derivative limitation, Inokawa and Nakahara disclose the use of solid ingredients whose texture and fracture behavior affect mouthfeel. The numerical values are objective measurements and therefore an obvious optimization by experimentation.
The claimed seasoning composition therefore represents a predictable variation of known oil based paste seasonings wherein fat composition, viscosity and solid ingredient properties are experimentally optimized to achieve a desired texture and stability.
Response to Arguments
Claim amendments render the previous rejections under 35 USC 112(b) and 35 USC 103 moot.
The applicant previously argued that the cited references rely on shortening-based fat systems which require heating and destroy brittle fracture behavior of dried ingredients , and the claimed invention is distinguished by excluding shortening.
None of the cited references necessarily require the use of a commercial shortening. Rather, they disclose fat systems comprising liquid oil and hardened oil, the relative proportions of which are adjusted to control texture and stability of paste seasonings. Such fat systems are not limited to plastic shortening structures and may encompass a range of solid fat contents and crystal morphologies.
For these reasons, applicant’s arguments are not completely persuasive.
Conclusion
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 Subbalakshmi Prakash whose telephone number is (571)270-3685. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday.
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/SUBBALAKSHMI PRAKASH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1793