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
1. Preliminary amendment filed 9/29/23 is acknowledged. Claims 1-11 are present and under consideration in this Office Action.
2. Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of papers (foreign priority filed 3/29/21) submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
3. Drawings filed 9/29/23 is acknowledged.
4. IDS(s) filed 9/29/23 & 5/21/25 are considered. Signed copies of the IDS(s) are provided with this Office Action.
5. Specification
The specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant's cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
6. 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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-3, 9 & 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN 107988286 A 04 May 2018 (04.05.2018), Zhang Lei, Biomineralization Inspired Fabrication of Multienzyme System Construction), (Chinese Doctoral Dissertations FullText Database (Basic Sciences)),
26 April 2017 (26.04.2017), and HAN PINGPING ET AL: "Efficient Multi-Enzymes Immobilized on Porous Microspheres for Producing Inositol From Starch", FRONTIERS IN BIOENGINEERING AND BIOTECHNOLOGY, vol. 8, 380, 5 May 2020 (2020-05-05), pages 1-9.
CN 107988286 A 04 May 2018 (04.05.2018), see description, paragraphs 8-9 and 46, discloses a method for preparing tagatose from starch and derivatives thereof by using whole-cell catalysis, comprising the following steps: (1) transferring a plasmid containing an α-glucan phosphorylase gene, a glucose phosphate mutase gene, a glucose phosphate isomerase gene, a 6-phosphate tagatose epimerase gene and a 6-phosphotagatose phosphatase gene into Escherichia coli engineering bacteria to obtain a corresponding transformed strain; (2) after inducing the transformed strain to produce an enzyme, performing permeability treatment on thalli; and (3) after the permeabilized thalli are mixed together, establishing a whole-cell catalytic reaction system
together with an inorganic phosphate radical and a starch or starch derivatives, and performing a whole-cell catalytic reaction to obtain a finished
product.
The reference does not teach the immobilization of multienzymes
on porous dopamine microspheres and limitation of claims 1 & 3.
Zhang Lei, Biomineralization Inspired Fabrication of Multienzyme System Construction), (Chinese Doctoral Dissertations Full-Text Database (Basic Sciences)), 26 April 2017 (26.04.2017), see full text, pages 39-40 discloses the advantages of a multi-enzyme co-immobilization system, and further discloses a method for preparing an immobilized enzyme carrier, comprising: respectively preparing 0.33 M equal-volume Na₂CO₃ and CaCl₂ solution; adding 15 mg PSS powder to a 5 mL CaCl 2 solution, completely dissolving same, rapidly adding 5 mL Na₂CO₃ solution under magnetic stirring (1,500 rpm), continuously stirring
for 30 S, and standing for 20 min to obtain CaCO3 (PSS) particles; collecting the obtained particles at 3,000 r/min by using a centrifuge,
and washing and centrifuging the obtained particles for three times with deionized water; washing 100 mg CaCO3 (PSS) template by using 0.1 M Tris- HCI buffer solution having a pH of 8.5
for three times, dispersing the obtained CaCO3 (PSS) particles in 20 mL 0.1 M Tris-HCl buffer solution having a pH of 8.5, and dissolving dopamine in the Tris-HCI buffer solution containing
the CaCO3 particles, such that the final concentration of dopamine is 2-10 g/L; stirring the mixed solution for a certain time (3-24 h) at room temperature and under normal pressure, centrifuging the reacted mixed solution (3,000 r/min, 3 min), removing a supernatant, removing the dark supernatant by cleaning by using 0.1 M Tris-HCI buffer solution having a pH of 8.5, centrifuging and washing for three times or more until the supernatant is colorless, and then completely drying the supernatant by using a freeze dryer; and cleaning with 15mM EDTA solution for three times, and thoroughly removing the CaCO3 (PSS) template to obtain a polydopamine microcapsule.
The reference does not teach the immobilization of multienzymes
on porous dopamine microspheres and limitation of claims 1 & 3.
HAN PINGPING ET AL: discloses (for relevant passages, see the suppl. ESR) immobilization of multienzymes on porous dopamine microspheres
based on a CaCO₃ core (removed with EDTA), methods for preparing,
and use thereof in producing inositol from starch, wherein the enzymes
include α-glucan phosphorylase aGP and phosphoglucose mutase PGM.
Effects of co-immobilization on e.g. activity and retaining activity upon recycling are disclosed. The reference does not teach the immobilization of specific multienzymes on porous dopamine microspheres or the limitations of claims 1-3.
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for one of ordinary skill in the art of enzymology or biotechnology based on the combined
knowledge of the of CN 107988286 A, Zhang and Han develop a method for preparing an immobilized multi-enzyme system or An immobilized multi-enzyme system prepared by the method of claim 1, characterized in that the immobilized multi-enzyme system is prepared by uniformly mixing a porous dopamine microsphere with a multi-enzyme mixture which is used for producing tagatose; the multi-enzyme mixture comprises glucan phosphorylase, phosphoglucomutase, phosphoglucose isomerase, tagatose 6-phosphate 4-epimerase and tagatose 6-phosphate phosphatase; the porous dopamine microsphere is prepared by a method comprising the following steps: (1) pouring a sodium carbonate aqueous solution into a calcium chloride aqueous solution, stirring, carrying out solid-liquid separation, and collecting a solid product, which is a porous calcium carbonate microsphere; (2) mixing the porous calcium carbonate microsphere with a dopamine solution, carrying out solid-liquid separation, and collecting a solid product, which is a dopamine-calcium carbonate microsphere; and (3) mixing the dopamine-calcium carbonate microsphere with ethylenediamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA) to conduct reaction, carrying out solid-liquid separation, and collecting a solid product, which is the porous dopamine microsphere, and do so with a reasonable expectation of success. One skilled in the art would have been motivated in view of the importance of the multienzyme system for the conversion of starch to tagatose which is used as a sweetener facilitated by uniformly mixing a porous dopamine microsphere. Thus, the claimed invention was within the ordinary skill in the art to make and use at the time was made and was as a whole, prima facie obvious.
7. Claims 4-8 are objected to being dependent on rejected base claim(s).
8. No claim is allowed.
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TEKCHAND SAIDHA whose telephone number is (571)272-0940. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8.00-5.30. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Robert B Mondesi can be reached on 408 918 7584. 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.
/TEKCHAND SAIDHA/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1652
Recombinant Enzymes, Hoteling
Telephone: (571) 272-0940
Fax: (571) 273-0940