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 .
FINAL DETAILED ACTION
1. Applicant’s response filed on June 24, 2026 is acknowledged. Claims 1-4, 6-7, 9, 13 and 15-16 are currently pending. Claims 6, 9, and 15 have been amended. Claims 5, 8, 10-12, and 14 have been canceled. Claims 1-4 and 6-7 were previously withdrawn. Claims 9, 13 and 15-16 are currently under examination.
Objections Withdrawn
2. In view of Applicant’s amendments, the objection to the disclosure because it contains an embedded hyperlink and/or other form of browser-executable code, see for example page 21 is withdrawn.
Rejections Withdrawn
3. In view of Applicant’s amendments, the rejection of claim(s) 9-16 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Jilin University, CN103875922A; Published: 06/25/14 is withdrawn.
4. In view of Applicant’s amendments, the rejection of claim(s) 9-13 and 16 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Qingdao, CN 103555707 A; Published: 2/5/14 is withdrawn.
5. In view of Applicant’s amendments, the rejection of claim(s) 9-11 and 13-16 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Schmidt et al, JP2015205896A; Published: 11/19/15 is withdrawn.
New Grounds of Rejection Necessitated by Amendment
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
6. Claim(s) 9, 13, and 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Keshtmand et al., WO 2017/095897 A1; Published: 6/8/17.
Independent claim 9 is drawn to a feed for livestock and/or poultry, the feed comprising trehalose and probiotics, wherein the probiotics comprises live microbial cells that are only of a bacterium belonging to the genus Bacillus , and wherein the feed comprises 0.05% by mass to 2% by mass trehalose per feed solid and 3.0 x105 to 1.0 x109 live microbial cells per 1 g of feed solid.
Keshtmand discloses a dry stable composition comprising Bacillus subtilis together with trehalose. The composition comprises less than about 5%, 1% or 0.1% by weight of trehalose (see page 4, lines 28-33 and page 5, lines 9-11; page 6-7, lines 27-36 and 4; meets claim 9). The live bacteria is at least 1x109 cfu/g (see page 10, lines 5-6). The composition provides benefit to an animal and can be in the form of an animal feed product (see page 7, lines 20-21).
Lastly, as it pertains to claim limitations such as “for livestock and/or poultry”, “feed for an early rearing period ” and “feed for a starter feed or a grower feed” are being viewed as limitations of intended use. A recitation of the intended use of the claimed invention must result in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art in order to patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art. If the prior art structure is capable of performing the intended use, then it meets the claim. In a claim drawn to a process of making, the intended use must result in a manipulative difference as compared to the art. See In re Casey, 152 USPQ 235 (CCPA 1967) and In re Otto, 136 USPQ 458, 458.
Since the Office does not have the facilities for examining and comparing applicants’ composition with the composition of the prior art, the burden is on applicant to show a novel or unobvious difference between the claimed product and the prior art. See In re Best, 562 F.2d 1252, 195 USPQ 430 (CCPA 1977) and In re Fitzgerald et al., 205 USPQ 594.
Conclusion
7. No claim is allowed.
8. 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.
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LAKIA J JACKSON-TONGUE whose telephone number is (571)272-2921. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 930AM-530PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anne Gussow can be reached at (571) 272-6047. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LAKIA J JACKSON-TONGUE/Examiner, Art Unit 1645 September 2, 2026
/BRIAN GANGLE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1645
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