Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/420,673

METHODS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR MICROENCAPSULATED COMPOUNDS

Non-Final OA §102§112
Filed
Jan 23, 2024
Priority
Jul 23, 2021 — provisional 63/224,887 +1 more
Examiner
MI, QIUWEN
Art Unit
1655
Tech Center
1600 — Biotechnology & Organic Chemistry
Assignee
Ojai Energetics Pbc
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
68%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 68% — above average
68%
Career Allowance Rate
1082 granted / 1585 resolved
+8.3% vs TC avg
Strong +50% interview lift
Without
With
+49.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 6m
Avg Prosecution
41 currently pending
Career history
1618
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.9%
-36.1% vs TC avg
§103
72.7%
+32.7% vs TC avg
§102
15.4%
-24.6% vs TC avg
§112
7.3%
-32.7% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1585 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §112
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 . DETAILED ACTION Election/Restrictions Claims 1-6, 8-14, 18, 20, 22, and 24-26 are pending. Applicant’s election without traverse of Group III, claims 24-26, in the reply filed on 4/13/26 is acknowledged. Claims 1-6, 8-14, 18, 20, and 22 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 4/13/26. Claims 24-26 are examined on the merits. Claim Rejections –35 USC § 112, 2nd 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 24-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which applicant regards as the invention. Claim 24 recites parenthetical expression "(TT1)" at line 3; and “(TT2)” at line 5. The metes and bounds of Claim 24 are rendered vague and indefinite by the parenthetical recitation because it is unclear as to whether the limitation is part of the instantly claimed subject matter. In addition, it is not clear what TT1 and TT2 stand for, Applicant is suggested to spell out the full the name of the component first time it appears in the claim. Therefore, the metes and bounds of claims are rendered vague and indefinite. The lack of clarity renders the claims very confusing and ambiguous since the resulting claims do not clearly set forth the metes and bounds of the patent protection desired. All other cited claims depend directly or indirectly from rejected claims and are, therefore, also, rejected under U.S.C. 112, second paragraph for the reasons set forth above. 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. (a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claims 24-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Howland et al (CN 11969452 A). Howland et al teach a pharmaceutical composition, comprising a hemp extract and a carrier, wherein the hemp extract comprises: cannabidiol (thus further comprises a cannabinoid compound, thus claim 26 is met) and cannabidiol acid; wherein the ratio of cannabidiol to cannabidiol acid is about 0.6: 1 to about 1: 0.6.(see claim 1). Howland et al teach the pharmaceutical composition according to claim 15, wherein the cannabis extract comprises: about 0.02 % camphene (the first terpene compound); about 0.02 % to 0.03 % of beta-romene; about 0.02 %-0.05 % of eucalyptol (thus the second terpene compound, thus weight ratio is no more than 10%); about 0.02 % isopulegol; and/or about 0.02 %-0.04 % of nerolidol 1 (see claim 16) (thus substantially free of at least one type of terpen found in cannabis strain, for example, fenchone). Howland et al many suitable formulations can be found in the prescription known to all pharmacists: Remington's Pharmaceutical Sciences [Ramington Pharmaceutical Sciences]; MackPublishing Company [Mak Publishing Company]; Iston, Pennsylvania. These preparations include, for example, powders, pastes, ointments, gels, waxes, oils, lipids, vesicles-containing lipids (cationic or anionic) (e.g., LIPOFECTINTM), DNA conjugates, anhydrous absorbent pastes, oil-in-water (thus the oil phase or the “dispersed phase,” forms droplets in the other liquid, the water phase, or the “continuous phase.”, thus claim 25 is met) and water-in-oil emulsions (thus the claimed emulsion, thus claim 24 is met), etc. (page 126, [n1076]) Therefore, the reference is deemed to anticipate the instant claim above. Conclusion No claim is allowed. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to QIUWEN MI whose telephone number is (571)272-5984. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anand Desai can be reached on 571-272-0947. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /Qiuwen Mi/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1655
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jan 23, 2024
Application Filed
May 07, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

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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
68%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+49.7%)
2y 6m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1585 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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