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 Claims
Claims 1-12, 14, 15, 17, and 21-22 are canceled.
Claims 13, 16, 18-20, and 23 are pending.
The previous rejections under 112(b) have been withdrawn in view of Applicant’s amendments.
Upon further review, claims 16, 20, and 23 are rejected.
Upon further review, claims 13 and 18-19 are objected to.
Priority
Application No. 18/245,714 filed on 03/16/2023 is a 371 of PCT Application No. PCT/CN2020/115820 filed on 09/17/2020.
Applicant has provided a certified English translation of PCT Application No. PCT/CN2020/115820 (See documents submitted 11/30/2025).
Claim Objections
Claim 13 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 13 recites “SEQ ID No.1 and SEQ ID No.2”. Applicant should amend the claim to include a space after “No.” and before “1” or “2”, so the claim reads “SEQ ID No. 1 and SEQ ID No. 2”.
Claim 13 also recites “the reagent or kit includes the specific primer pair…”. For improved clarity, the claim should recite “wherein the reagent or kit includes the specific primer pair…”
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 16 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 16 recites in lines 5-6 “wherein, the method for identifying or assisting in identifying the heading date of rice comprising the following steps of:…”. For improved clarity, Applicant should delete the comma following “wherein” and replace “comprising” with “comprises”, so that the claim recites “wherein the method for identifying or assisting in identifying the heading date of rice comprises the following steps of:…”.
Claim 16 recites in lines 9, 18, and 23 “SEQ ID No.1”. Applicant should amend the claim to include a space after “No.” and before “1”, so the claim reads “SEQ ID No. 1”.
Claim 16 recites in line 17 “the method for rice breeding uses a specific primer pair…”. For improved clarity, Applicant should amend the claim to recite “wherein the method for rice breeding uses a specific primer pair…”.
Claim 16 recites in line 17-20 “…a specific primer pair that is two single-stranded DNAs shown in SEQ ID No. 1 and SEQ ID No. 2 for identifying or assisting in identifying the heading date of rice; or a reagent or kit for identifying or assisting in identifying the heading date of rice…”. For improved clarity, Applicant should amend the claim to replace the semicolon following “rice” with a comma, so that the claim recites “…a specific primer pair that is two single-stranded DNAs shown in SEQ ID No. 1 and SEQ ID No. 2 for identifying or assisting in identifying the heading date of rice, or a reagent or kit for identifying or assisting in identifying the heading date of rice…”.
Claim 16 recites in line 21 “the breeding method of rice with early-heading without yield drag comprising the following steps of:…”. For improved clarity, Applicant should amend the claim to include “wherein” and replace “comprising” with “comprises”, so that the claim recites “wherein the breeding method of rice with early-heading without yield drag comprises the following steps of:…”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 18 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 18 recites “The method according to claim 16, characterized in that, the…”. Applicant should amend the claims to delete the comma following “characterized in that”, so that the claims recite “The method according to claim 16, characterized in that the…”. For improved clarity, Applicant may also consider amending the claim to recite “wherein”, rather than “characterized in that”.
Claim 18 recites “…the step of detecting an obtained PCR product is to detect a size of the PCR product by electrophoresis and/or to detect the sequence information of the PCR product by sequencing”. For improved clarity, the claim should be amended to recite“…the step of detecting an obtained PCR product comprises detecting a size of the PCR product by electrophoresis and/or to detecting the sequence information of the PCR product by sequencing”, or another grammatically correct equivalent of Applicant’s choosing.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 19 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 19 recites “The method according to claim 16, characterized in that, the…”. Applicant should amend the claims to delete the comma following “characterized in that”, so that the claims recite “The method according to claim 16, characterized in that the…”. For improved clarity, Applicant may also consider amending the claim to recite “wherein”, rather than “characterized in that”.
Claim 19 recites “SEQ ID No.3” and “SEQ ID No.4”. Applicant should amend the claim to include a space after “No.” and before “3” or “4”, so the claim reads “SEQ ID No. 3” and “SEQ ID No. 4”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 20 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 20 recites “The method according to claim 16, characterized in that, the…”. Applicant should amend the claims to delete the comma following “characterized in that”, so that the claims recite “The method according to claim 16, characterized in that the…”. For improved clarity, Applicant may also consider amending the claim to recite “wherein”, rather than “characterized in that”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 23 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 23 recites “A rice with early-heading without yield drag produced by the method according to claim 16”. For improved clarity, Applicant should amend the claim to include “plant” after “rice”, so that the claim recites “A rice plant with early-heading without yield drag produced by the method according to claim 16”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Indefiniteness
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 20 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 20 depends from claim 16, and specifically references the wherein clause of claim 16 that is “wherein the method for identifying or assisting in identifying the heading date of rice comprising the following steps of:…”. In claim 16, this wherein clause requires a specific primer pair that is two single-stranded DNAs shown in SEQ ID No. 1 and SEQ ID No. 2. However, claim 20 only requires “a specific primer pair” or “a reagent or kit”. It is unclear if the primer pair in claim 20 is the same primer pair as claimed in claim 16, or if the claim encompasses primer pairs other than the primer pair in claim 16. For this reason, the metes and bounds of the claim are unclear.
It is further noted that if the referenced primer pair in claim 20 is intended to be the same primer pair as SEQ ID NOs. 1 and 2 in claim 16, claim 20 would invoke a 112(d) rejection as it is currently written because claim 20 does not further limit claim 16.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 16 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fang (CN-108085320-A).
Claim 16 is drawn to any of the following methods:
a method for identifying or assisting in identifying the heading date of rice;
a method for rice breeding;
a breeding method of rice with early-heading without yield drag;
wherein, the method for identifying or assisting in identifying the heading date of rice comprising the following steps of: using the genomic DNAs of a late-heading parent MH63, an early-heading parent DEH229 and a progeny line to be identified as templates respectively, using a specific primer pair that is two single-stranded DNAs shown in SEQ ID No. 1 and SEQ ID No. 2 to carry out PCR amplification, detecting an obtained PCR product, and determining the heading date of the progeny line to be identified according to the following method: if a PCR amplification product of the progeny line to be identified is the same as that of a PCR amplification product of the late-heading parent MH63, then the progeny line to be identified is a late-heading line or a candidate for late-heading line; if the PCR amplification product of the progeny line to be identified is the same as that of an early-heading parent DEH229, the line to be identified is an early-heading line or a candidate for an early-heading line;
the method for rice breeding uses a specific primer pair that is two single-stranded DNAs shown in SEQ ID No. 1 and SEQ ID No. 2 for identifying or assisting in identifying the heading date of rice; or a reagent or kit for identifying or assisting in identifying the heading date of rice;
the breeding method of rice with early-heading without yield drag comprising the following steps of: using DEH229 as a parent or one of the parents to breed progenies, using a specific primer pair that is two single-stranded DNAs shown in SEQ ID No.1 and SEQ ID No. 2 for identifying or assisting in identifying the heading date of rice to select early-heading materials from the progenies for further breeding to obtain rice with early-heading without yield drag.
Claim 23 is drawn to a rice with early-heading without yield drag produced by the method according to claim 16.
Regarding claim 16, Fang discloses the purpose of the present invention is to provide a dominant early maturing rice gene Ef-cd and its application, which is used to promote early maturing of rice without affecting yield, thereby further increasing the yield of hybrid rice and adapting to the conditions of short growth period in high latitude regions (i.e. a breeding method) (summary of the invention. Fang discloses determining a gene associated with early heading date in early-heading line D248 compared to late-heading line SH881 by extracting total RNA of the leaves of SH881 and D248 by TRIzol (Invitrogen, USA), and 1 μg total RNA was used to synthesize cDNA by ReverTra Ace qPCR RT Master Mix (Example 1 of Fang). Fang discloses the full-length cDNA sequences of the OsSOC1 and Os03g0122500 genes of SH881 and D248 were amplified and the PCR products were recovered and sequenced (Example 1 of Fang) (i.e. Fang discloses using both a reagent and a kit for identifying or assisting in identifying the heading date of rice).
Therefore, because claim 16 only requires in the broadest embodiment the method for rice breeding uses a reagent or kit for identifying or assisting in identifying the heading date of rice, Fang discloses the instantly claimed invention.
Regarding claim 23, Fang discloses the plants identified to have the Ef-cd gene promote early maturing of hybrid rice without affecting yield (Example 5 of Fang). Therefore, because the rice plant of claim 23 can be produced by any method of claim 16 including the method disclosed by Fang above, and further discloses plants identified to have the Ef-cd gene promote early maturing without affecting yield, Fang discloses the instantly claimed invention of a rice with early-heading without yield drag produced by the method according to claim 16.
Closest Prior Art
In view of Applicant’s submission of the English translation of the PCT priority document, the closest prior art is now Fang (CN-108085320-A).
Claims 13 and 18-20 appear free of the prior art.
Regarding claims 13 and 18-20, the closest prior art is Fang (CN-108085320-A). Fang teaches OsSOC1 (i.e. Os03g0122600) and Os03g0122500 (transcribed from a portion of Os03g0122600 antisense strand) are candidate genes responsible for early heading in rice line D248 as compared to SH881 (example 1). Fang teaches upon further analysis, variation was not found in the cDNA sequences of OsSOC1 (Os03g0122600) of D248 and SH881 lines, but was found in Os03g0122500 (Example 1). Fang teaches the Os03g0122500 variant in D248 is the early flowering dominant gene (Ef-cd) responsible for early heading (entire document).
Fang does not teach, disclose, or otherwise render obvious a specific primer pair that is SEQ ID No. 1 and 2 which amplifies an approximate 100 bp region within Os03g0122600 gene. Specifically, the region amplified by SEQ ID No. 1 and 2 does not appear to correspond to any mutated regions identified in Ef-cd and there is no teaching or motivation to amplify the specific, relatively short region of the Os03g0122600 gene to identify rice with an early heading date.
Conclusion
No claims are allowed.
Claims 16, 20, and 23 are rejected.
Claims 13 and 18-19 are objected to.
Claims 13 and 18-20 appear free of the prior art.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JESSICA N STOCKDALE whose telephone number is (703)756-5395. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30-5:00 CT.
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JESSICA N. STOCKDALE
Examiner
Art Unit 1663
/JESSICA NICOLE STOCKDALE/Examiner, Art Unit 1663
/CHARLES LOGSDON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1662