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
The claim set filed 09/19/2023 is acknowledged. The response to election / restriction filed 12/17/2025 is acknowledged. The applicant elected Group 1, claims 1-7 and 10-20, drawn to a nitrifying bacteria formulation comprising ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and nitrate-oxidizing bacteria.
Claims 8-9 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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 12/17/2025.
The Applicant has also elected the species of a liquid culture. Claim 6-7 and 15-20 are withdrawn due to being drawn to a nonelected species.
Claims 1-5 and 10-14 will be examined on the merits herein.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. However, support for the claimed invention cannot be determined because the foreign priority documents provided are not in English. Applicant cannot rely upon the certified copy of the foreign priority application to overcome any prior art rejection because a translation of said application has not been made of record in accordance with 37 CFR 1.55. When an English language translation of a non-English language foreign application is required, the translation must be that of the certified copy (of the foreign application as filed) submitted together with a statement that the translation of the certified copy is accurate. See MPEP §§ 215 and 216. Failure to provide a certified translation may result in no benefit being accorded for the non-English application. Accordingly, the filing date of the PCT application of 03/29/2022 will be used for the purpose of applying prior art.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-5 and 10-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a natural product without significantly more. The claims recite ammonia oxidizing bacteria of the genus Nitrosococcus and nitrite oxidizing bacteria (Nitrococcus in various dependent claims). This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because these bacteria naturally oxidize ammonia and nitrite and occur in nature in the same saline environments together as evidenced by Das et al. (Comparative metagenomic analysis from Sundarbans ecosystems advances our understanding of microbial communities and their functional roles) p.11. The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because bacteria of the genus Nitrosococcus are known to show ammonia nitrifying activity, under high salt concentrations, and nitrate concentrations, instant specification par. 12. The inventors do not claim any elements or limitations that would change the structure or behavior of the bacteria in the formulation in any surprising way, nor do they demonstrate evidence of such. Das provides evidence of both bacterial genera in a mangrove soil which is a high ionic liquid containing ammonia oxidizing bacteria of the genus Nitrosococcus and nitrite oxidizing bacteria of the genus Nitrococcus p.11. The notable limitations of the instant claims are drawn to specific percentages of bacteria; however, the instant application provides no evidence that those percentages would result in a surprising result over what occurs in nature.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-5 and 10-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Xiaoxi et al. (Foreign patent CN 106045016 (A) published 2016-10-26 from IDS filed 9/19/2023).
Xiaoxi teaches treatment of high ammonia wastewater by converting ammonia using denitrifying bacteria par.7 and 36-37. These strains are enumerated in a liquid culture par.16,17, and comprise Nitrosococcus (5-7%) and Nitrococcus (10-15%) par.43. This composition anticipates all the limitations of claims 1-5 and 10-14.
Conclusion
No claims are allowed.
Inquiry Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RUDOLPH E. SLOUP Jr. IV Ph.D. whose telephone number is (571)272-7899. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Daniel E. Kolker can be reached at (571) 272-3181. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RUDOLPH E. SLOUP Jr. IV Ph.D./
Examiner, Art Unit 1645
/DANIEL E KOLKER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1645
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