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 .
The amendment filed 1/30/2026 has been entered. Claims 2 and 4-30 have been cancelled. Claims 1 and 31 have been amended. Claims 1, 3 and 31 are pending and are under examination.
Nucleotide and/or Amino Acid Sequence Disclosures
REQUIREMENTS FOR PATENT APPLICATIONS CONTAINING NUCLEOTIDE AND/OR AMINO ACID SEQUENCE DISCLOSURES
Items 1) and 2) provide general guidance related to requirements for sequence disclosures.
37 CFR 1.821(c) requires that patent applications which contain disclosures of nucleotide and/or amino acid sequences that fall within the definitions of 37 CFR 1.821(a) must contain a "Sequence Listing," as a separate part of the disclosure, which presents the nucleotide and/or amino acid sequences and associated information using the symbols and format in accordance with the requirements of 37 CFR 1.821 - 1.825. This "Sequence Listing" part of the disclosure may be submitted:
In accordance with 37 CFR 1.821(c)(1) via the USPTO patent electronic filing system (see Section I.1 of the Legal Framework for Patent Electronic System (https://www.uspto.gov/PatentLegalFramework), hereinafter "Legal Framework") as an ASCII text file, together with an incorporation-by-reference of the material in the ASCII text file in a separate paragraph of the specification as required by 37 CFR 1.823(b)(1) identifying:
the name of the ASCII text file;
ii) the date of creation; and
iii) the size of the ASCII text file in bytes;
In accordance with 37 CFR 1.821(c)(1) on read-only optical disc(s) as permitted by 37 CFR 1.52(e)(1)(ii), labeled according to 37 CFR 1.52(e)(5), with an incorporation-by-reference of the material in the ASCII text file according to 37 CFR 1.52(e)(8) and 37 CFR 1.823(b)(1) in a separate paragraph of the specification identifying:
the name of the ASCII text file;
the date of creation; and
the size of the ASCII text file in bytes;
In accordance with 37 CFR 1.821(c)(2) via the USPTO patent electronic filing system as a PDF file (not recommended); or
In accordance with 37 CFR 1.821(c)(3) on physical sheets of paper (not recommended).
When a “Sequence Listing” has been submitted as a PDF file as in 1(c) above (37 CFR 1.821(c)(2)) or on physical sheets of paper as in 1(d) above (37 CFR 1.821(c)(3)), 37 CFR 1.821(e)(1) requires a computer readable form (CRF) of the “Sequence Listing” in accordance with the requirements of 37 CFR 1.824.
If the "Sequence Listing" required by 37 CFR 1.821(c) is filed via the USPTO patent electronic filing system as a PDF, then 37 CFR 1.821(e)(1)(ii) or 1.821(e)(2)(ii) requires submission of a statement that the "Sequence Listing" content of the PDF copy and the CRF copy (the ASCII text file copy) are identical.
If the "Sequence Listing" required by 37 CFR 1.821(c) is filed on paper or read-only optical disc, then 37 CFR 1.821(e)(1)(ii) or 1.821(e)(2)(ii) requires submission of a statement that the "Sequence Listing" content of the paper or read-only optical disc copy and the CRF are identical.
Specific deficiencies and the required response to this Office Action are as follows:
The size of the ASCII text file should be in bytes not KB. Currently, the size of the ASCII text files is in “KB”.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:.
The disclosure is objected to because it contains an embedded hyperlink and/or other form of browser-executable code. See page 1 under “background art”.
In the amended specification filed 3/27/24, the specification refers to “Lactobacillus plantarum CECT 30929 (also referred in this description as DSM 33765)” at page 2:
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In the amended specification filed 1/30/2026, “Lactobacillus plantarum CECT 30929” has been changed to “Lactobacillus plantarum CECT 30292”.
The change is the accession numbers was not annotated in the marked up copy of the specification:
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694
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All changes made to the specification should be annotated in a marked copy.
Applicant is requested to submit a new marked up copy of the specification to make sure that all changes made to the specification filed 3/27/24 have been properly marked up along with a clean copy (without markings) of the amended specification. Applicant is advised annotate all the changes made to the specification. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections Withdrawn
The objection to claims 1, 4, 8, 19, and 31 are withdrawn in view of the amendment to the claims.
Claim Rejections - Withdrawn
The rejection of claims 1, 3-4 and 6-29 under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement is withdrawn in view of the amendment to the claims. Applicants arguments have been considered but is moot in view of the cancellation of the claims.
The rejection of claims 2 and 4-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the enablement requirement (biological deposit) is withdrawn in view of the cancellation of the claims.
The rejection of claims 7-24 under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph (scope of enablement), is withdrawn in view of the cancellation of the claims. Applicants arguments have been considered but is moot in view of the cancellation of the claims.
The rejection of claims 1-29 and 31 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph is withdrawn in view of the cancellation of the claims.
Regarding the rejection of claim 31 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, Applicant has responded to this rejection by citing several paragraphs of the specification for abilities of the deposited strain. The instant rejection with respect to claim 31 would be withdrawn for the following reasons: Applicant is advised that limitations from the specification are not imported into the claims. The instant specification does not define “improve”. Therefore, the dictionary definition of “improve” which is to “enhance in value or quality: make better”1 is applied for interpreting “improve”.
The rejection of claims 1-25 and 27-30 under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a natural phenomenon without significantly more is withdrawn in view of the amendment to the claims.
Claim Rejections Maintained
The rejection of claims 1, 3 and 31 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the enablement requirement is maintained. Applicants reply is missing the statement that
that all restrictions upon public access to the deposit will be irrevocably removed upon the grant of a patent on this application and that the deposit will be replaced if viable samples cannot be dispensed by the depository is required. This requirement is necessary when deposits are made under the provisions of the Budapest Treaty as the Treaty leaves this specific matter to the discretion of each State.
Status of Claims
Claims 1, 3 and 31 are rejected.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 OLUWATOSIN A OGUNBIYI whose telephone number is (571)272-9939. The examiner can normally be reached IFP.
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, Gary Nickol can be reached at 5712720835. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/OLUWATOSIN A OGUNBIYI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1645
1 Dictionary definition “improve”: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/improve retrieved 3/4/2026.