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 .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claim(s) 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 20080145577 A1 to Bayer et al., hereinafter “Bayer” and evidenced by the NPL’s “Is Plearotus Ostreatus a mycelium forming eukaryote?, Google search 5/29/26 and “What is the thickness of a piece of paper?, Google search 5/29/26.
Bayer is directed to a method for producing grown (composite) materials and the products made by the method [0002]. In one embodiment, the method of making a composite material comprises the steps of forming an inoculum including a preselected fungus; forming a mixture of a substrate of discrete particles and a nutrient material that is capable of being digested by the fungi; adding the inoculum to the mixture; and allowing the fungus to digest the nutrient material in the mixture over a period of time sufficient to grow hyphae and to allow the hyphae to form a network of inter-connected mycelia cells through and around the discrete particles thereby bonding the discrete particles together to form a self-supporting composite material.
Regarding claim 18, Bayer teaches a composite material at Example 6 comprising rice hulls, dried distillers grains, ground cellulose (paper), birch sawdust, all solid lignocellulose materials, and an inoculum further comprising Plearotus Ostreatus and water. Plearotus Ostreatus, commonly called the pearl oyster mushroom is a mycelium-forming eukaryote. (See NPL titled “Is Plearotus Ostreatus a mycelium forming eukaryote?). The materials are mixed, put in molds, incubated for 14 days at 100% RH, removed from the incubator, dried and then cured [0166 – 0181].
The cellulose paper was ground to 1mm x 1mm. A standard sheet of ordinary printer paper is approximately 0.1mm thick. See “What is the thickness of a piece of paper?, Google search 5/29/26. Therefore, 1 mm / 0.1mm = 10, which is greater than 2.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1 – 17 are allowed.
Prior Art of Record
US 1869517 teaches the manufacture of mushroom spawn.
US 2044861 teaches the growth of mushroom spawn on cellulosic substrates.
US 20150101509 A1 teaches compressing biocomposite material disclosed of discrete particles and a network of interconnected glucan containing mycelia cells.
NPL titled Engineered mycelium composite construction materials form fungal biorefineries: A critical review, Jones et al., Materials and Design, 187 (2020), 108397
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PETER A. SALAMON whose telephone number is 571-270-3018. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9AM - 6PM.
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PAS 5/29/26
/PETER A SALAMON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1759
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