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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 6/3/26 has been entered.
Claims 1-2 are amended and claim 15 is added. Claims 1-5 and 15 are pending. Claim 13 remains withdrawn. Claim 16 is added but it’s depended from claim 6 which is a withdrawn claim. Thus, claim 16 is also withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 is vague and indefinite. The claim recites providing an aqueous coating and glazing composition; however, it’s unclear what is intended or encompassed by “ aqueous”. The claim does not recite any liquid component; it’s unclear what is meant by aqueous.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim1-5 and 15 allowable over the prior art because applicant’s argument is persuasive. Greene does not disclose an aqueous composition containing 31-51% sucrose, 4-12% pregelatinized starch and 28-41% soluble fiber.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 6/3/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In the response, applicant argues that the amendment to claims 1 and 13 overcomes the restriction requirement because claims 1 and 13 are both directed to the same inventive concept. This argument is not persuasive. As set forth in the final office action mailed on 3/4/26, new claim 13 and original claim 1 are different and do not share the same or corresponding technical feature. The amended claim 13 is directed to a method of formulating and aqueous coating and glazing composition. The new method is different from the original elected claim 1 which is directed to a method for coating and glazing ready to eat breakfast cereals by applying onto a surface a mixture. The method of claim 1 and method of amended claim 13 do not share the same or corresponding special technical feature. The amended claim 13 does not require the applying step of claim 1 and the amounts of sucrose, starch and soluble fiber as required by claim 1. The method of claim 1 does not require the forming of aqueous coating and glazing composition having reduced amount of sucrose wherein the sucrose is reduced by 20-60%. The two methods are distinct and do not share the same or corresponding technical features. Claim 13 remains withdrawn.
Applicant’s argument directed at the 103 rejection is persuasive. The rejection is withdrawn.
Conclusion
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September 18, 2026
/LIEN T TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1793
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