DETAILED ACTION
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
2. The amendment filed December 1, 2025 has been received and entered. The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code, not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action. Any rejection set forth in a previous Office action that is not specifically set forth below is withdrawn.
3. Claims 1-6 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
4. Claims 1-6 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.
As discussed in the previous Office action, the claims are indefinite because it is unclear what is meant by “Chinese herbal medicine”. Applicant argues “In term "Chinese herbal medicine", "Chinese" means that the origin of the herb medicine is in China, not indicates that the ingredients must be sourced from China. It is already a conventional expression. For example, in Wikipedia, there is a similar fixed expression "Chinese herbology"…”.
However, applicant has not provided a definition for this “conventional expression”. In addition, the Wikipedia page cited by applicant appears to be https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_herbology. However, this webpage also does not provide a clear definition of what would make a composition a “Chinese herbal medicine”. This webpage states “There are roughly 13,000 medicinals used in China and over 100,000 medicinal recipes recorded in the ancient literature…For many plants used as medicinals, detailed instructions have been handed down not only regarding the locations and areas where they grow best, but also regarding the best timing of planting and harvesting them…(see page 2).” Thus, referring to this definition, it is unclear if the ingredients in applicant’s composition must be prepared according to the traditional medicinal recipes, grown in the specified locations, or planted and harvested in the traditional manner. If these are requirements, then it is unclear what these requirements might be. Therefore, the limitation that the composition is a “Chinese herbal medicine” does not have clearly defined metes and bounds. It is unclear how the composition must be prepared in order to meet this requirement. Therefore, the metes and bounds of the claims are unclear.
5. No claims are allowed.
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 Susan Hoffman whose telephone number is (571)272-0963. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 8:30am - 5:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anand Desai can be reached at 571-272-0947. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SUSAN HOFFMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1655
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