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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
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 1-7 are rejected under 35 USC §103 over Spender et al., (hereinafter Spender) WO 2018/045248 A1. This rejection is set forth in the prior Office action mailed on February 09, 2026.
Note that Spender teaches mixing cellulose nanofibrils and a blend including Saccharide fatty acid ester(s) (SFAE), glyceride(s) and fatty acid salts, since Spender teaches the use of SEFOSE 1618U, which is a blend sucrose fatty acid ester and fatty acid salts (see ¶-[0074]-[0075], which teach that SEFOSE 1618U is a sucrose fatty acid ester made from soybean oil (soyate) and soyate is a mixture of fatty acid salts from soybean) and the SEFOSE can be emulsioned with monostearate (¶-[0022] and [0122]) which is a glyceride1 and thus still reading on the newly added limitation.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed April 30, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive, because no arguments were provided by the rejection over Spender.
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 JOSE A FORTUNA whose telephone number is (571)272-1188. The examiner can normally be reached MONDAY- FRIDAY 11:30 PM- 9:00 PM.
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, Abbas Rashid can be reached at 571-270-7457. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOSE A FORTUNA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1748
JAF
1 monostearate (glyceryl monostearate) is a glyceride.
Glycerol monostearate is a monoglyceride, meaning it is an ester formed from glycerol (a trihydroxy alcohol) and one molecule of stearic acid (a saturated fatty acid) Wikipedia+1. In chemical terms, glycerides are esters of glycerol with one or more fatty acids. Monoglycerides are the simplest form of glyceride, containing only one fatty acid chain attached to the glycerol backbone via an ester bond.
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