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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 18 is objected to because of the following informalities: the claim fails to end in a period. Appropriate correction is required.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because figure 1 is not legible. The structures of the compounds set forth in figure 1 are not legible. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Information Disclosure Statement
The listing of references in the specification is not a proper information disclosure statement. 37 CFR 1.98(b) requires a list of all patents, publications, or other information submitted for consideration by the Office, and MPEP § 609.04(a) states, "the list may not be incorporated into the specification but must be submitted in a separate paper." Therefore, unless the references have been cited by the examiner on form PTO-892, they have not been considered.
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) 56 and 58 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US2021/0002318.
‘318 discloses the compound:
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in figure 1n and synthesis methods in figure 4j and 5n which would anticipate the compound named R7-5 herein having the structure:
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. ‘318 also provides the compound 1n can be used in various compositions as a sweetening compound, such as in vodka, wine, beer liquor, etc. – thus meeting the limitations of claim 58 (see [0672 for example).
Claim(s) 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 2014/0357588.
‘588 discloses a method of making reb M2 comprising contacting reb D2 with an enzyme capable of transforming D2 to M2, UDP-glucose, and optionally UDP-glucose recycling enzymes to produce reb M2 (see [0209]). The enzyme capable of transforming reb D2 to reb M2 is taught to be a UDP-glucosyltransferase (see [0217]). It is noted that the reb D2 of ‘588 has the structure:
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(see [0176]) which is the same as R5-1 herein:
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. Likewise, reb M2 has the structure:
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(see [0201] and is the same as R6-5 herein having the structure:
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. As such, ‘588 teaches methods of making reb R6-5 comprising preparing a reaction mixture of reb R5-1, UDP-glucose, and a UDP-glucosyltransferase and incubating the mixture to produce reb R6-5, anticipating present claim 18.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-17 are allowed. The closest prior art is seen to be US 2014/0357588 who discloses methods of synthesizing various rebaudiosides with sugar substrates and UDP-glycosyltransferase enzymes but fails to disclose the present methods of making compounds having formula R6-6 where sugar VI is attached to the 3’-position of sugar I.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TRAVISS C MCINTOSH III whose telephone number is (571)272-0657. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9AM-5:30PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Scarlett Goon can be reached at 571-270-5241. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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TRAVISS C. MCINTOSH III
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1693
/TRAVISS C MCINTOSH III/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1693