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
Status of Claims
Note: The amendment of June 17th 2026 has been considered.
Claim 1 has been amended.
Claims 2-5 are cancelled.
Claims 1 and 6-18 are pending in the current application.
Claims 6-18 are withdrawn from consideration.
Claim 1 is examined in the current application.
Any rejections not recited below have been withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35 of the U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
In light of the amendments filed on June 17th 2026, the obviousness rejections of claims 1-5 under USC §103 have been withdrawn; However, upon further consideration, a new ground of rejection is made under 35 USC §103 over in view of Matsuno et al., (WO 2022/114234 A1) in view of Witteveen et al., (USPatPub. 2021/0045409 A1) (see discussion, below).
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsuno et al., (WO 2022/1143234 A1) in view of Witteveen et al., (USPatPub. 2021/0045409 A1).
Regarding claim 1: Matsuno discloses a fat composition comprising encapsulated edible oil/fats to be injected/combined into meat substitutes to have the texture of, and appear as, marbleized meat (see Matsuno top of page 1 and page 31). Matsuno discloses the encapsulated edible fat may comprise stabilizers, excipients (i.e., granular material containing oil or fat) (see Matsuno bottom four paragraphs on page 5) and that the encapsulation is comprises alginate (i.e., an edible crosslinkable polymer) that is crossed linked with a divalent or a trivalent metal cations (see Matsuno bottom three paragraphs on page 6 to fifth paragraph on page 7), but fails to disclose the dimensions and recited in the claim; However, Witteveen discloses meat substitute compositions where granulated oils/fats (fats with gelled carbohydrates) are incorporated and injected into the meat substitute to mimic the appearance and texture of real marbleized meat (see Witteveen abstract and paragraphs [0004]-[0025]). Witteveen also discloses figures depicting the meat substitute products where the incorporated granulated oils/fat are lumps that appear to have the shape and/or the dimensional ratios recited in claim 1 (see Witteveen figures 1a, 1b and 2). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a skilled artisan at the time the application was filed to have modified Matsuno and to have incorporated the encapsulated oils/fats into the meat substitute with the claimed shape and dimensional ratios, in order to attain a substitute meat product that has the appearance and texture of real marbleized meat, and thus arrive at the claimed invention.
Response to Arguments
In light of the amendments filed on June 17th 2026, the obviousness rejections of claims 1-5 under USC §103 have been withdrawn; However, upon further consideration, a new ground of rejection is made under 35 USC §103 over in view of Matsuno et al., (WO/2022114234 A1) in view of Witteveen et al., (USPatPub. 2021/0045409 A1) (see discussion, above).
Conclusion
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 ASSAF ZILBERING whose telephone number is (571)270-3029. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30-5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Erik Kashnikow can be reached at (571) 270-3475. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ASSAF ZILBERING/Examiner, Art Unit 1792
/ERIK KASHNIKOW/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1792
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