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 .
Receipt and entry of the responses dated 4/22/2026 and 7/16/2026 is acknowledged.
Newly amended claims 25-29 are directed to an invention that is independent or distinct from the invention originally claimed for the following reasons:
Election/Restrictions
REQUIREMENT FOR UNITY OF INVENTION
As provided in 37 CFR 1.475(a), a national stage application shall relate to one invention only or to a group of inventions so linked as to form a single general inventive concept (“requirement of unity of invention”). Where a group of inventions is claimed in a national stage application, the requirement of unity of invention shall be fulfilled only when there is a technical relationship among those inventions involving one or more of the same or corresponding special technical features. The expression “special technical features” shall mean those technical features that define a contribution which each of the claimed inventions, considered as a whole, makes over the prior art.
The determination whether a group of inventions is so linked as to form a single general inventive concept shall be made without regard to whether the inventions are claimed in separate claims or as alternatives within a single claim. See 37 CFR 1.475(e).
When Claims Are Directed to Multiple Categories of Inventions:
As provided in 37 CFR 1.475 (b), a national stage application containing claims to different categories of invention will be considered to have unity of invention if the claims are drawn only to one of the following combinations of categories:
(1) A product and a process specially adapted for the manufacture of said product; or
(2) A product and a process of use of said product; or
(3) A product, a process specially adapted for the manufacture of the said product, and a use of the said product; or
(4) A process and an apparatus or means specifically designed for carrying out the said process; or
(5) A product, a process specially adapted for the manufacture of the said product, and an apparatus or means specifically designed for carrying out the said process.
Otherwise, unity of invention might not be present. See 37 CFR 1.475 (c).
Restriction is required under 35 U.S.C. 121 and 372.
This application contains the following inventions or groups of inventions which are not so linked as to form a single general inventive concept under PCT Rule 13.1.
In accordance with 37 CFR 1.499, applicant is required, in reply to this action, to elect a single invention to which the claims must be restricted.
Group I, claim(s) 20-22, 24, drawn to methods of making beads from seaweed by treating with NaCl/ozone, cutting, treating with anionic detergent, separating cortical and medullary layers, crosslinking the medullary layer in solution to form beads, and beads so produced.
Group II, claim(s) 25-29, drawn to methods of producing cultured meat from muscle stem cells by inoculating the cells onto beads, proliferating, inoculating onto a scaffold, then differentiating into myocytes.
The groups of inventions listed above do not relate to a single general inventive concept under PCT Rule 13.1 because, under PCT Rule 13.2, they lack the same or corresponding special technical features for the following reasons:
Groups I and II lack unity of invention because the groups do not share the same or corresponding technical feature.
The technical feature of Group I is considered to be methods of making beads from seaweed by treating with NaCl/ozone, cutting, treating with anionic detergent, separating cortical and medullary layers, crosslinking the medullary layer in solution to form beads, a feature not found in Group II.
The technical feature of Group II is considered to be methods of producing cultured meat from muscle stem cells by inoculating the cells onto beads, proliferating, inoculating onto a scaffold, then differentiating into myocytes, a feature not found in Group I.
Since applicant has received an action on the merits for the originally presented invention, this invention has been constructively elected by original presentation for prosecution on the merits. Accordingly, claims 25-29 are withdrawn from consideration as being directed to a non-elected invention. See 37 CFR 1.142(b) and MPEP § 821.03.
To preserve a right to petition, the reply to this action must distinctly and specifically point out supposed errors in the restriction requirement. Otherwise, the election shall be treated as a final election without traverse. Traversal must be timely. Failure to timely traverse the requirement will result in the loss of right to petition under 37 CFR 1.144. If claims are subsequently added, applicant must indicate which of the subsequently added claims are readable upon the elected invention.
Should applicant traverse on the ground that the inventions are not patentably distinct, applicant should submit evidence or identify such evidence now of record showing the inventions to be obvious variants or clearly admit on the record that this is the case. In either instance, if the examiner finds one of the inventions unpatentable over the prior art, the evidence or admission may be used in a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) of the other invention.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The rejection of certain claims as anticipated by Lee et al is withdrawn in light of amendment of the claims. Lee et al do not teach, and the relevant prior art does not suggest, steps f) and g) of claim 20 as amended.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 24 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 24 recites beads prepared by a method of treating seaweed with various chemical and physical extraction steps. However, the claim does not recite any actual structural elements that the claimed beads must comprise. It cannot be determined what, even at a minimum, structural components are in the claimed beads by merely reciting method steps. Although one of skill in the art could guess that certain major components of seaweed might be extracted into the beads, it is equally a guess as to what seaweed components are not extracted. This rejection is maintained (in a modified form due to amendment of claim 24) for reasons made of record in the Office Action dated 1/22/2026 and for reasons set forth below.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 7/16/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicants essentially assert that the claims have been amended to recite a specific pore size. Such is not convincing. This rejection is not based on an inability to determine a pore size or bead diameter, but rather on the fact that it cannot be determined what chemical components are found within the beads, and which are not. What are the beads comprised of? This most basic question of a claimed product scope cannot be determined, hence the claim remains indefinite.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 20, 21, 22 are allowed.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 Michael Burkhart whose telephone number is (571)272-2915. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5.
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, Tracy Vivlemore can be reached at 571 272-2914. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL D BURKHART/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1638
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