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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 3 and 4 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. The recitation of “Brevundimonas is used…” renders the scope of the claims vague and indefinite, since it is not clear what step or steps would be involved in the “use”.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1, 2 and 5-9 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The article by Ziwen Zhou (“K-solubilizing bacteria (Bacillus) promotes theanine synthesis in tea roots (Camellia sinensis) by activating CsTSI activity”) discloses that the application of nitrogen to tea trees improves the level of theonine, and teaches that K-solubilizing bacteria (Bacillus) promotes theanine synthesis in tea roots. (See the entire document.) CN114703081A discloses a strain of Brevundimonasolei ST3CS3 which is an endophytic bacterium isolated from Lupus lupus, and listed in CGMCC No. 24140 of the General Microbiology Center of the China Microorganism Culture Collection Management Committee. It would have been obvious to substitute the strain of Brevundimonasolei disclosed by CN114703081A for the K-solubilizing bacteria (Bacillus) in the article by Ziwen Zhou. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so, since Ziwen Zhou discloses that the K-solubilizing bacteria (Bacillus) promotes theanine synthesis in tea roots, and CN114703081A discloses in Paragraph [0005] of the English translation that the Shortwave Monocloalella of the invention has nitrogen-fixing and high phosphorus-solubilizing abilities. However applicant’s claims recite a strain of Brevundimonas, wherein the Brevundimonas is Brevundimonas sp. AnNong-1 which is preserved in China Center for Type Culture Collection with a preservation number CCTCC M 20221537. There is no teaching, disclosure or suggestion in either the article by Ziwen Zhou or CN114703081A to provide a strain of Brevundimonas, wherein the Brevundimonas is Brevundimonas sp. AnNong-1 which is preserved in China Center for Type Culture Collection with a preservation number CCTCC M 20221537 as the bacteria in the process of Ziwen Zhou. Nor would there have been any motivation from the prior art to do so. Applicant’s specification discloses in the sentence bridging pages 3 and 4 of the specification] that after root irrigation is performed on a tea plant with the recited strain, the total content of L-theonine in tea leaves can be increased without increasing the content of tea polyphenols. Accordingly applicant’s claims are not rejected over Ziwen Zhou in view of CN114703081A.
The article by Jiuliang Xu (“Magnesium Supplementation Alters Leaf Metabolic Pathways for Higher Flavor Quality of Oolong Tea”) is made of record for disclosing the improvement of tea quality with Mg suplementation.
The article by Xuejiao Gong (“Targeted Metabolomics Reveals Impact of N Application on Accumulation of Amino Acids, Flavanoids and Phytohormones in Tea Shoots under Soil Nutrition Deficiency Stress”) is made of record for disclosing that the biosynthesis of amino acids and flavonoids in tea is significantly affected by carbon and nitrogen metabolism.
The article by Wei Li (“Gibberellin Increases the Bud Yield and Theanine Accumulation in Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze”) is made of record for disclosing the correlation between gibberellin and thiamine in tea plants.
CN110272841B is made of record for disclosing Brevundimonas flavum and its application in controlling the root rot of codonopsis pilosula.
CN113698240A is hade of record for disclosing a special fertilizer for tea.
CN115024144A is made of record for disclosing a tea tree cultivation method for improving theanine content of tea.
JP 2004168686 is made of record for disclosing a foliar spray agent for improving an amino acid composition in tea leaves.
Wood et al ‘314 (US 2020/0337314) is made of record for disclosing Brevundimonas diminuta Leifson and Hugh Segers et al ATCC 19146 in Paragraph [0111] .
Wood et al ‘959 (US 20230175959) is made of record for disclosing Brevundimonas as a bacteria in a culture medium in Paragraph [0371].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WAYNE A LANGEL whose telephone number is (571) 272-1353. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday from 8:15 am to 4:15 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anthony Zimmer can be reached at 571-270-3591. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WAYNE A LANGEL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1736
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