DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
2. The Applicants submitted claim amendments on 5/4/2026 in response to the office action mailed on 2/4/2026. The status of the claims are as follows.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
3. The rejection of claims 2-3, 6 and 26 under 35 USC 112(b) have been withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. Claims 1-6, 8-11, 13, 15-17, 19, 22, 25-26 and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (US 2022/0248738 A1) to Kyle et al. (hereinafter Kyle) in view of (US 2014/0302135 A1) to Durvasula et al. (hereinafter Durvasula) in further view of (US 2002/0160109 A1) to Yeo et al. (hereinafter Yeo).
The above noted rejection is hereby maintained.
Response to Arguments
5. Applicant's arguments filed 5/4/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The Applicants arguments that “extra steps” are required is not persuasive as the requirement is that the prior art combination teaches the required steps of the method claimed and the term “comprising” does not exclude extra steps. Yeo stating that “spray drying is not commonly used” is not persuasive and this is not teaching away, just stating that it is uncommon, but known. The argument would be persuasive if claims 10-11 and 23 were incorporated into claim 1, which would be entered after final to advance prosecution and be allowed.
Allowable Subject Matter
6. Claims 10-11 and 23 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. If the limitations of claims 10-11 and 23 were all added to claim 1 they would be considered allowable and entered after final.
7. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The specific microbial species and the period of viability if entered into claim 1 would be considered non-obviousness.
Conclusion
8. THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
9. 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.
10. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEFFREY D WASHVILLE whose telephone number is (571)270-3262. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
11. 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.
12. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Randy Gulakowski can be reached at 571-270-3262. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
13. 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.
/JEFFREY D WASHVILLE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1766
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