Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/283,424

SPIRULINA-BASED COMPOSITION AND USES THEREOF FOR REINFORCING IMMUNITY

Non-Final OA §102§103§112
Filed
Sep 21, 2023
Examiner
AFREMOVA, VERA
Art Unit
1653
Tech Center
1600 — Biotechnology & Organic Chemistry
Assignee
Axeen Pharma
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
51%
Grant Probability
Moderate
1-2
OA Rounds
3y 8m
To Grant
80%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 51% of resolved cases
51%
Career Allow Rate
438 granted / 862 resolved
-9.2% vs TC avg
Strong +29% interview lift
Without
With
+29.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 8m
Avg Prosecution
65 currently pending
Career history
927
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
8.9%
-31.1% vs TC avg
§103
37.3%
-2.7% vs TC avg
§102
23.5%
-16.5% vs TC avg
§112
23.6%
-16.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 862 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103 §112
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. Status of claims Claims 1-13 as amended on 2/02/2024 (preliminary amendment) are pending and under examination in the instant office action. Claim Objections Claims 2 and 9 are objected to because of the following informalities: In the claims 2 and 9 all Latin names of plants should be italicized . Appropriate correction is required. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 Indefinite Claims 1-13 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. Claim 1 is rendered indefinite by the phrase “further” or “characterized in that it further comprises ...” because what is follows after “further “ extends the scope of the first dependent claim to another composition. Thus, there is uncertainty in the claim about whether the claimed composition requires 1 component (spirulina) or 2 components (spirulina and pollen extract). Claim 7 is rendered indefinite by the phrase “excluding encapsulation or coating means” because it is unclear whether encapsulation or coating means are required or encompassed to be used outside considerations related amounts of active ingredients. 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 1, 3, 4 and 8-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by CN 104187611 (Hu). The cited document CN 104187611 (Hu) discloses an oral composition for treating gastrointestinal comprising spirulina, pine pollen, vitamins D, E and B6 and selenium (see English abstract and description). Thus, the cited disclosure anticipates claims 1 and 9 as drawn to alternative incorporation of pollen extract from one plant Pinus by virtue of language “and/or”. Composition comprises encapsulation means within the meaning of the claims including claim 7. Claims 8-12 recite intended use but not additional structural elements or components that might be different from components of the cited composition. With regard to claim 13 the cited document discloses a method of making compositions by soaking plant materials in water, thereby, aqueous extraction; followed by spray-drying and mixing components within the meaning of the claim. Thus, the cited disclosure anticipates the claimed composition and method of making composition. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action: A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made. Claims 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2019/0216877 ( Morra) , WO 2020/178720 (Barratt) , Gaia Garden (published o n line Sep 14, 2020; https://www.gaiagarden.com/products/pine-pollen-powder-pinus-massoniana-dried-herb ; page 1, retrieved on 2/23/2026) and CN 104187611 (Hu) discloses an oral composition for treating gastrointestinal comprising spirulina, pine pollen, vitamins D, E and B6 and selenium (see English abstract and description). The cited document US 2019/0216877 ( Morra) discloses an oral composition for immune boost and treating infections (abstract and par. 0005 , 0176 ), wherein the composition comprises : aqueous extract s of pollen cytoplasm from Secale cereale , Zea mays Pinus sylvestris and Dactylis glomerata , an aqueous extract of pistil cytoplasm from Zea mays (par. 097-0101) in the same amounts as recited in the pending claims (par. 0074-0080). The composition further comprises generic vitamins (par. 0144) and coating agent (par. 0185 ). The cited document US 2019/0216877 (Morra) also discloses a method of making compositions by aqueous extraction of plant pollen and pistil, by spray-drying and by mixing components (par. 0107-0111; par. 0131-0136). The cited US 20190/0216877 is silent about incorporation of spirulina and particular vitamins D3, B6 and E and selenium in to an oral composition for boo s ting immune system. However, WO 2020/178720 (Barratt) discloses an oral composition for boosting immune system comprising spirulina and micronutrients (abstract), wherein micronutrients are vitamins D3, B6 , E and selenium (page 3, lines 26-31; page 19, lines 18-30) . The composition also comprises components of rye Secale cereale and ma ize Zea mays (page 19, line 23 ) . The cited document discloses effective amounts of active ingredients that fall within the claimed ranges such up to 50% of spirulina and 0.02-0.05 % of micronutrients (page 12, lines 11-14). The cited WO 2020/178720 (Barratt) also recognized antiviral HIV effects of spirulina ( p age 2 , lines 7-8). Further, t he reference Gaia Garden suggest s a comb ination of composition with pine pollen and spirulina as intended for improving immune system. The reference Gaia Garden recognizes that pine pollen is rich in vitamins D3, B6, E and selenium . Moreover, CN 104187611 (Hu) discloses an oral composition for treating gastrointestinal comprising spirulina, pine pollen, vitamins D, E and B6 and selenium (see English abstract and description). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the claimed invention was made to combine plant pollen extracts-containing composition of US 2019/0216877 ( Morra) with spirulina and micronutrients-containing composition of WO 2020/178720 (Barratt) with a reasonable expectation of success in providing a combined composition for boosting immune system as suggested by Gaia Garden because both compositions including plant pollen extracts-containing composition and spirulina and micronutrients-containing composition have been knonw in the prier art as suitable for oral administration for boosting immune system and because a comb ination of both active ingredients spirulina and pine plant pollen have been suggested (Gaia Garden) and knonw (CN 1 04187611 ) as effective for improving nutrition and immune system. Thus, the claimed invention as a whole was clearly prima facie obvious, especially in the absence of evidence to the contrary. The claimed subject matter fails to patentably distinguish over the state art as represented be the cited references. Therefore, the claims are properly rejected under 35 USC § 103. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT VERA AFREMOVA whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)272-0914 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT Monday-Friday: 8.30am-5pm EST . 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, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT Sharmila Landau can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT (571) 272-0614 . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. 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. Vera Afremova February 24, 2026 /VERA AFREMOVA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1653
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Sep 21, 2023
Application Filed
Feb 24, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §103, §112 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
51%
Grant Probability
80%
With Interview (+29.4%)
3y 8m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 862 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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