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 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. Claim s 1-6, 8-17, 19 and 20 are is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Blanchard et al (US 2021/0300837) for the reasons given in the last Office Action. Claims 7 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Blanchard et al as applied to claim FILLIN "Pluralize claim, if necessary, and then insert the claim number(s) which is/are under rejection." \d "[ 3 ]" [ s 1 and 11 above, and further in view of Smith et al (US 10,870,608), for the reasons given in the last Office Action. Claim 23 and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Blanchard et al as applied to claim s 1 and 11 above, and further in view of Yadav (US 2020/0079704) (newly cited) or Osburn (US 4,014,675) (newly cited). It would be further obvious from either Osburn or Yadav to carry out the encapsulation in Blanchard et al by the step of thermoforming. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so, since Yadav and Osburn both establish the conventionality of forming fertilizers by thermoforming . (See Paragraph [0037] of Yadav, and col. 2, lines 50-65 of Osburn .) It is further noted that Blanchard et al suggest in Paragraph [0015] that the pouch can be formed by thermoforming. Claims 21 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Blanchard et al as applied to claim FILLIN "Pluralize claim, if necessary, and then insert the claim number(s) which is/are under rejection." \d "[ 3 ]" [ s 1 and 11 above, and further in view of applicant’s admitted prior art. It would be further obvious from applicant’s admitted prior art to sparge the fertilizer granules of Blanchard et al with a carboxylic acid formulation . One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so, since applicant admits in the last full paragraph on page 23 of the specification that an example of such material is available from Helena Agri-Enterprises, LLC. Applicant’s argument, that the claimed cold water -soluble film is designed to dissolve immediately upon exposure to water at temperatures as low as 33F, is not convincing. Blanchard teaches in Paragraph [0014] that the film is water soluble at temperatures less than about 50 F . It would not be unexpected from such disclosure that the film would be water-soluble at temperatures as low as 33 F. In any event, Blanchard et al teach in Paragraph [0014] that if a sufficient number of acetate groups are allowed to remain after the hydrolysis of poyv nyl l acetate, the film is soluble in cold water less than about 50 F. It would be obvious from such disclosure to allow a sufficient number of acetate groups to remain so as to form a film which is soluble at temperatures as low as 33 F. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL . See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT WAYNE A LANGEL whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571) 272-1353 . The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday from 8:15 am to 4:15 pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT Anthony Zimmer can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 571-270-3591 . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /WAYNE A LANGEL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1736