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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 7-23 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected inventions, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 05/20/2026.
Applicant's election with traverse of claims 1-6 and 24 in the reply filed on 05/20/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that it would not be an undue burden for Examiner to search groups II-VII. This is not found persuasive because all the inventions of Groups I-VII are independent or distinct for the reasons given in the Election/Restriction requirement mailed 03/24/2026 and there would be a serious search and/or examination burden if restriction were not required because one or more of the following reasons apply:
The inventions have acquired a separate status in the art in view of their different classification.
The inventions have acquired a separate status in the art due to their recognized divergent subject matter.
The inventions require a different field of search (for example, searching different classes/subclasses or electronic resources, or employing different search queries).
The prior art applicable to one invention would not likely be applicable to another invention.
The inventions are likely to raise different non-prior art issues under 35 U.S.C. 101 and/or 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph.
Applicant’s election of myoglobin of mammoth and SEQ ID NO:3 species is acknowledged.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
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) 1-6 and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fraser et al (WO 2015/038796 A2).
In regard to claim 1-4 and 24, Fraser et al discloses meat substitute comprising a recombinantly expressed polypeptide such as myoglobin where sequence IDs Nos 18-21 identical or very similar to Seq ID No 3 as claimed (amino acid sequence of steppe mammoth myoglobin) ([0045], [0176], [0181], [0186], [0252]).
In regard to claim 5-6, Fraser et al discloses:
[0181] The disclosure provides for methods for the use of a polypeptide of the disclosure in a meat consumable. The consumables can compete with, supplement or replace animal based foods. For instance the consumables can be meat replicas made entirely from plant sources. The consumables can be made to mimic the cut or appearance of meat as it is currently sold. For instance a consumable may be visually similar to or indistinguishable from ground beef or a particular cut of beef. Alternatively, the consumables can be made with a unique look or appearance. For instance the consumable could contain patterns or lettering that is based upon the structure of the consumable. In some instances the consumables can look like traditional meat products after they are prepared. For example a consumable may be produced which is larger than a traditional cut of beef but which, after the consumable is sliced and cooked appears the same as a traditional cooked meat. In some embodiments the consumable may resemble a traditional meat shape in two dimensions, but not in a third. For example the consumable may resemble a cut of meat in two dimensions (for example when viewed from the top), but may be much longer (or thicker) than the traditional cut. A meat consumable (e.g., substitute) can have similar physical characteristics as traditional meat (taste, texture, force, nutrients). In some embodiments, a meat consumable can comprise a similar cook loss characteristic as meat. In some embodiments a meat consumable can comprise a similar fat and protein content as ground beef has the same reduction in size when cooked as real ground beef. Methods of producing a meat consumable are described in PCT/US2012/046560, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Conclusion
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/VERA STULII/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1791
