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
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 1-6 and 11-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN 107324873A.
Regarding claims 1-3, 5, 11, 14 and 18, CN107324873A discloses a method for preparing a fertilizer, comprising heating a mixture containing organic matter and a dispersant at a temperature of 50-90 C. (See Paragraph [0022] of the English translation. CN 107324873A teaches in Paragraphs [0022] and [0012] and [0042] that the dispersant may be bentonite. CN 107324873A also discloses in Paragraph [0026] that water is added to the mixture. CN 107324873A teaches in Paragraph [0017] that the organic matter may be amino acid powder or feather protein powder. The amino acid powder and feather protein powder of CN 107324873A would comprise at least 5% by mass of total carbon and/or at least 1% by mass of organic carbon relative to the total mass of the carbon compound, to no less extent than the proteins and amino acids recited in applicant’s claim 3. The difference between the composition disclosed by CN 107324873A, and that recited in claims 1-3, 5, 11, 14 and 18, is that CN 107324873A does not disclose that the composition has a water content comprised between 1 and 5% by mass relative to the total mass of the composition. It would be obvious to provide a water content comprised between 1 and 5% by mass relative to the total mass of the composition in the composition of CN 107324873A. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so, since CN 107324873A discloses in Paragraphs [0009] and [0060] that water is added to the mixture, which would be expected to evaporate at the heating temperature of 50 to 90 C.
Regarding claims 4 and 16, CN 107324873A discloses in Paragraph [0031] that the composition includes 0 to 5 parts protein powder and in Paragraph [0041[ that 1 to 1.5 parts of dispersant (i.e. bentonite) is added to the mixture. Such amounts of protein powder and bentonite would overlap with the range of 70/30-5/95 of bentonite to carbon compound recited in claim 4, or a mass ratio comprised in the range of 57/43 – 10/90, as recited in claim 16.
Regarding claims 6, 19 and 20, CN 107324873A discloses in Paragraph [0013] that the composition includes the minerals nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus.
Regarding claim 12, CN 107324873A discloses in Paragraph [0004] that the composition is a fertilizer.
Regarding claim 13, application of the composition of CN 107324873A to soil would improve the bioavailabilty of macronutrients and micronutrients to no less extent than the composition recited in applicant’s claim 12.
Regarding claim 17, the addition of water as disclosed in CN 107324873A would be expected to provide a humidification in a content of 0.1 ml to 10 ml of water per gram of mixture.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN 107324873A as applied to claim 3 above, and further in view of CN107216227A. It would be further obvious from CN107216227A to include molasses in the composition of CN 107324873A. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so, since CN107216227A discloses molasses as a culture medium in Paragraphs [0030] and [0032], and the compositions of CN 107324873A and CN107216227A are analogous in that both are directed to fertilizers which include macronutrients, bentonite (Paragraphs [0020], [0027] and [0032]), and organic carbon.
Claim 7, 9 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN107216227A in view of CN107324873A. CN107216227A discloses a culture medium comprising macronutrients, bentonite and organic carbon. (See Paragraphs [0020, [0027] 0030] and [0032].)
Regarding claim 7, the difference is that CN107216227A does not disclose that the culture medium should include a composition as recited in applicant’s claim 1.. CN 107324873A discloses a method for preparing a fertilizer, comprising heating a mixture containing organic matter and a dispersant at a temperature of 50-90 C. (See Paragraph [0022] of the English translation. CN 107324873A teaches in Paragraphs [0022] and [0012] and [0042] that the dispersant may be bentonite. CN 107324873A also discloses in Paragraph [0026] that water is added to the mixture. CN 107324873A teaches in Paragraph [0017] that the organic matter may be amino acid powder or feather protein powder. The amino acid powder and feather protein powder of CN 107324873A would comprise at least 5% by mass of total carbon and/or at least 1% by mass of organic carbon relative to the total mass of the carbon compound, to no less extent than the proteins and amino acids recited in applicant’s claim 3. It would be obvious to provide the composition of CN107324873A in the culture medium of CN 107216227A. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so, since the compositions of CN107216227A and CN 107324873A are analogous in that both are directed to fertilizers which include macronutrients, bentonite and organic carbon, and CN107216227A suggests in Paragraph [0005] that the composition would improve the quality of soil and increase the number of beneficial microorganisms soil. The method steps recited in claim 7 would be expected to occur when including the composition of CN 107324873A in the culture medium of CN107216227A with molasses as the culture medium.
Regarding claim 9, it would be obvious to provide the composition at the recited concentration, since one of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that the concentration should be high enough to be effective, but not so high as to be toxic to the soil.
Regarding claim 10, fertilizers are typically applied before and/or during the growth of plants.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
Claims 1-7 and 9-20 are 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.
In claim 1, line 6, “obtainable” renders the scope of the claim vague and indefinite, since it is unclear whether the composition would necessarily have the characteristics of a composition actually obtained by the recited method, or whether the composition could also have other characteristics, as long as it would be “obtainable” by the recited method.
In claim 7, penultimate line, it is indefinite as to what “surface” refers to.
CN 107226767A and CN 105565987 A are made of record for disclosing fertilizers ich include clay and organic components.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WAYNE A LANGEL whose telephone number is (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, Anthony Zimmer can be reached at 571-270-3591. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WAYNE A LANGEL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1736