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 .
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 47,48 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Khan, S. N. ( Growth response of two forest tree species to VAM and
Rhizobium inoculations, Indian Forester, (Nov., 1999) Vol. 125, No. 11, pp.
1125-1128. print, Title: Growth response of two forest tree species to VAM and
Rhizobium inoculations). Khan teach inoculation of Acacia nilotica seedlings with VAM and Rhizobium and Populus deltoides. The USPTO is having a challenge obtaining Khan in full reference form.
Claim(s) 47,48 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by. Devi, Priya A.( Agricultural University, Coimbatore, India. Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry, 2020, 9(6), 2016-2021). Devi teach treating rice seeds with Sphingobium yanoikuyae enhances rice plant growth from improve fixing atmospheric nitrogen.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 47-51,54,55,58,66,67,72,79,81,86,95,97,98,107,109-111,114,115,117, 123-125,137,139,144-147,151,155,156,162,166, 170,172,173,183,185,259,260 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Freeman III, US Application US 20230292762; 09/21/2023 based on Provisional Application 63/318549; 03/10/2022.
The applied reference has a common Assignee with the instant application. Based upon the earlier effectively filed date of the reference, it constitutes prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2). Provisional Application claims 1, 10, 13-19, 31,36-51,57,58,61-63,70. The US Application US 20230292762 makes teach and claim:
“1. A plant inoculant composition for treating a host plant comprising at least one 5 heterologous endophyte bacterial strain selected for an ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen, increase nitrogen uptake in plants, and a media composition containing at least one nutrient additive operable to enhance survival and colonization of the at least one heterologous endophyte bacterial strain in the host plant.
10. The composition of Claim 1, wherein said biocides include fungicides, insecticides, nematocides, and herbicides.
13. The composition of Claim 1, wherein said at least one heterologous endophyte bacterial strain comprises at least one of Pseudomonas koreensis, Curtobacterium sp., Rhizobium tropici bv populus, and Sphingomonas yanoikuyae.
13. The composition of Claim 1, wherein said at least one heterologous endophyte bacterial strain comprises at least one of Pseudomonas koreensis, Curtobacterium sp., Rhizobium tropici bv populus, and Sphingomonas yanoikuyae.
14. The composition of Claim 13, wherein said plurality of heterologous endophyte bacterial strains comprises at least two of Pseudomonas koreensis, Curtobacterium sp., Rhizobium tropici bv populus, and Sphingomonas yanoikuyae.
15. The composition of Claim 13, wherein said plurality of heterologous endophyte bacterial strains comprises at least three of Pseudomonas koreensis, Curtobacterium sp., Rhizobium tropici bv populus, and Sphingomonas yanoikuyae.
16. The composition of Claim 13, wherein said plurality of heterologous endophyte bacterial strains comprises Pseudomonas koreensis, Curtobacterium sp., Rhizobium tropici bv populus, and Sphingomonas yanoikuyae.
17. The composition of Claim 1, wherein said the endophyte bacterial strains Pseudomonas koreensis, Curtobacterium sp., Rhizobium tropici bv populus, and Sphingomonas yanoikuyae can all be tracked and positively identified using gene specific PCR primers.
18. The composition of Claim 1, wherein said the endophyte bacterial strains Pseudomonas koreensis, Curtobacterium sp., Rhizobium tropici bv populus, and Sphingomonas yanoikuyae can all be tracked and positively identified in planta using gene specific PCR primers.
19. The composition of Claim 1, wherein said the endophyte bacterial strains Pseudomonas koreensis, Curtobacterium sp., Rhizobium tropici bv populus, and Sphingomonas yanoikuyae can all be tracked and positively identified by using FAME fatty acid methyl ester GC-FAME ID.
15. The composition of Claim 13, wherein said plurality of heterologous endophyte bacterial strains comprises at least three of Pseudomonas koreensis, Curtobacterium sp., Rhizobium tropici bv populus, and Sphingomonas yanoikuyae.
16. The composition of Claim 13, wherein said plurality of heterologous endophyte bacterial strains comprises Pseudomonas koreensis, Curtobacterium sp., Rhizobium tropici bv populus, and Sphingomonas yanoikuyae.
17. The composition of Claim 1, wherein said the endophyte bacterial strains Pseudomonas koreensis, Curtobacterium sp., Rhizobium tropici bv populus, and Sphingomonas yanoikuyae can all be tracked and positively identified using gene specific PCR primers.
18. The composition of Claim 1, wherein said the endophyte bacterial strains Pseudomonas koreensis, Curtobacterium sp., Rhizobium tropici bv populus, and Sphingomonas yanoikuyae can all be tracked and positively identified in planta using gene specific PCR primers.
19. The composition of Claim 1, wherein said the endophyte bacterial strains Pseudomonas koreensis, Curtobacterium sp., Rhizobium tropici bv populus, and Sphingomonas yanoikuyae can all be tracked and positively identified by using FAME fatty acid methyl ester GC-FAME ID.
20. The composition of Claim 1, wherein said at least one heterologous endophyte bacterial strain reduces acetylene.
21. The composition of Claim 1, wherein said at least one heterologous endophyte bacterial strain has the active nitrogenase gene subunit Nif H.
22. The composition of Claim 1, wherein the at least one heterologous endophyte bacterial strain is operable to increase biomass in said host plant treated with said composition.
23. The composition of Claim 1, wherein the at least one heterologous endophyte bacterial strain is operable to increase amino acid production in said host plant treated with said composition.
24. The composition of Claim 1, wherein said at least one heterologous endophyte bacterial strain exhibits fixation of atmospheric nitrogen in said host plant treated with said composition when said host plant is planted in nitrogen depleted soil or when said host plant is planted in nitrogen rich soil.
25. The composition of Claim 1, wherein said inoculation with at least one
heterologous endophyte bacterial strain increases total nitrogen accumulation in plant shoots.
26. The composition of Claim 1, wherein said inoculant composition increases leaf chlorophyll in said host plant treated with said inoculant composition.
27. The composition of Claim 1, wherein said inoculant composition increases tolerance to abiotic stress in said host plant treated with said inoculant composition.
28. The composition of Claim 1, wherein said inoculant composition increases tolerance to plant diseases in said host plant treated with said inoculant composition.
29. The composition of Claim 1, wherein said inoculant composition increases root biomass, root branching, root hairs, or any root ultra-structure changes.
30. The composition of Claim 1, wherein said inoculant composition increases seedling germination, seedling emergence, and seedling biomass weight in said host plant treated with said inoculant composition.
31. The composition of Claim 1, that is used for inoculating a dormant seed embryo for a short or long term, with one or more species Pseudomonas koreensis, Curtobacterium salicaceae, Rhizobium tropici bv populus, and Sphingomonas yanoikuyae.
32. The composition of Claim 1, further comprising one or more Rhizobium species.
33. The composition of Claim 1, further comprising one or more Mycorrhizae species.
34. The composition of Claim 1, further comprising an endophytic yeast strain including but not limited to WP1.
35. The composition of Claim 1, wherein said at least one heterologous endophyte bacterial strain is selected for and used in conjunction with plant-microbial boosters or prebiotics comprising one or more of a osmo-protectants, a amino acid, an antioxidant, a mineral nutrient, a plant hormone or plant growth elicitor, a carbohydrate, and a mucilage gel used either as separate applications or as a mixture applied to said host plant.
36. The composition of Claim 1, further comprising one or more of a fungicide, an insecticide, an herbicide, a biostimulant, a plant growth regulator, an adjuvant and a fertilizer used either as separate applications or as a mixture applied to said host plant.
37. The composition of Claim 1, wherein the composition comprises a carrier composition enabling said plant inoculant composition to be applied to seeds.
38. The composition of Claim 1, wherein the composition comprises a carrier composition enabling said plant inoculant composition to be applied to foliar portions of said host plant.
39. The composition of Claim 1, wherein the composition comprises a carrier composition enabling said plant inoculant composition to be applied to soil adjacent to said host plant.
40. The composition of Claim 1, wherein the at least one heterologous endophyte bacterial strain is freeze-dried into a flowable powder prior to incorporation into said inoculant composition.
41. The composition of Claim 1, wherein said at least one heterologous endophyte bacterial strain is encapsulated in microbeads or large beads incorporated into said inoculant composition.
42. The composition of Claim 38, wherein said inoculant composition is a suspension composition.
43. The composition of Claim 39 or 40, wherein said inoculant composition is a dry composition.
44. The composition of Claim 39 or 40, wherein said inoculant composition
comprises dry granules composition.
45. The composition of Claim 1, wherein said inoculant composition comprises dry granules composition.
46. The composition of Claim 1, wherein said inoculant composition comprises a liquid composition operable to be applied as a foliar spray.
47. The composition of Claim 1, wherein said inoculant composition comprises a liquid composition operable to be applied in furrow.
48. The composition of Claim 1, wherein said inoculant composition comprises a liquid composition operable to be used in coating a fertilizer.
49. The composition of Claim 1, wherein said inoculant composition comprises a liquid composition operable to be applied to a dry powder carrier for use in coating a fertilizer.
50. The composition of Claim 1, wherein said inoculant composition comprises a beaded composition operable to be used in coating a fertilizer.
51. A plant inoculant composition comprising at least one heterologous endophyte bacterial strain selected from Pseudomonas koreensis, Curtobacterium sp., Rhizobium tropici bv populus, and Sphingomonas yanoikuyae for heterologous application to a host plant.
The claims taught in Provisional Application 63318549 make instant clams obvious.
This rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 might be overcome by: (1) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(a) that the subject matter disclosed in the reference was obtained directly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint inventor of this application and is thus not prior art in accordance with 35 U.S.C.102(b)(2)(A); (2) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(b) of a prior public disclosure under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(B); or (3) a statement pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) establishing that, not later than the effective filing date of the claimed invention, the subject matter disclosed and the claimed invention were either owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person or subject to a joint research agreement. See generally MPEP § 717.02.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALTON NATHANIEL PRYOR whose telephone number is (571)272-0621. The examiner can normally be reached 7-4:00 M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sue Liu can be reached at 571-272-5539. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ALTON N PRYOR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1616
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