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 .
Response to Amendment
Applicant's amendment and argument filed 03/20/2026 in response to the non-final rejection, are acknowledged and have been fully considered. Any previous rejection or objection not mentioned herein is withdrawn.
Claims 1-13 are pending of which claims 1-6 and 10-13 remain withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 10/28/2025.
Claims 7-9 are being examined on the merits.
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 –
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Michele Molino and Joseph MacDougall, (US7956218B2) hereinafter Molino.
Molino discloses A salt of β-alanine and an organic acid, having the general formula:
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(see claim 1), and discloses administering the salt of β-alanine (see claims 6-7). Molino does not teach the preamble of the instant claim which is “A method for inhibiting wrinkle promoting type I collagen component (COL1A1), inhibiting type I collagenase, promoting elastin synthesis, promoting microfibrillar associated protein (MFAP4), inhibiting elastase, promoting hyaluronic acid synthase, or inhibiting hyaluronidase”; however Molino describes the active steps which is administering the β-alanine or a salt thereof to a subject (mammal) and therefore the claim is anticipated and would inherently have the same activities as being instantly claimed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ssang-goo Cho et. al. (WO2021025533A1) and Yao-ming Huang et. al. (WO2016070152A1).
Cho teaches “the present invention relates to a composition comprising extracellular vesicles isolated from skeletal muscle-derived stem cells as an active ingredient which exhibits effects of skin aging delay, wound healing, scar reduction, and skin whitening, thereby comprehensively improving skin conditions.
The composition of the present invention promotes the release of collagen, scavenges reactive oxygen species, and promotes re-epithelialization at wound sites as well as remarkably inhibiting melanocyte proliferation, tyrosinase activity, and melanogenesis. Accordingly, the composition can facilitate effective recovery from dermal tissue injuries attributed to oxidative stress, physical wound, spontaneous senescence at cell or tissue levels (see abstract). Specifically, type 1 collagen (Col1A1) (see page 15, Comparison of bioactive factors related to skin regeneration and wrinkles and scar improvement, also bottom of page 17). It was confirmed that more collagen was synthesized in the group treated with extracellular vesicles (OOM-SC-EV) derived from circumferential muscle stem cells (see page 17, bottom).
Huang’s general disclosure is to cell culture mediums to control for viability, growth and waste product accumulation (see abstract).
Huang teaches cell culture mediums with beta-alanine as an additive or supplement (see abstract and 0066) which leads to increased cell growth (see 0086).
Huang teaches that “a media formulation of the present invention that has been shown to have beneficial effects on metabolic balance, cell growth, and/or viability or on expression of polypeptide or protein comprise hypotaurine, Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA), and/or beta-alanine or the combination of choline with hypotaurine, GABA, and/or beta-alanine. One of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the media formulations of the present invention encompass both defined and non-defined media” (see 0165).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to persons having skill in the art before the effective filing date to use beta-alanine or the cell culture medium taught by Huang in the invention taught by Cho, because as Huan teaches this can have beneficial effects on metabolic balance, cell growth and viability.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 7-9 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference (besides the secondary reference Huang) applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Currently no claims are allowed.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACOB ANDREW BOECKELMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-0043. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anand Desai can be reached at 571-270-0947. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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JACOB A BOECKELMANExaminer, Art Unit 1655
/ANAND U DESAI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1655
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