DETAILED ACTION 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 appl icant regards as his invention. Claim s 6 and 10 are 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 6 recites the limitation “the number of molar equivalents” in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claim 10 recites the limitation s: "the powder" in line 7 , p. 32, “ the indicated amount of water” in line 8, p. 32, “the sides of the bowl” in line 9, p. 32, “the mixture” in line 10, p. 32, “the center” in line 2, p. 33, “the surface” in line 3, p. 33, “the top of the cone” in line 3, p. 33, “the difference” in line 5, p. 33 . There is insufficient antecedent basis for th ese limitation s in the claim. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 1- 5 and 7-9 are allowed. Claims 6 and 10 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: prior art fails to teach all cumulative limitations of the independent claim 1. Yamakawa et al. (US 10435332 B2), hereinafter referred to as YAMAKAWA , Dominowski et al. (WO 2013074296 A1), hereinafter referred to as DOMINOWSKI , Bury et al. (US 20080156225 A1), hereinafter referred to as BURY , are considered the closes prior art. YAMAKAWA discloses a hydraulic composition is prepared by mixing an admixture aqueous solution containing a water-soluble salt which is a water-reducing agent or setting retarder, and a water-soluble cellulose ether with a fresh concrete composition containing a hydraulic substance, an aggregate (see YAMAKAWA at Abstract ). YAMAKAWA teaches s uitable water-soluble cellulose ethers being alkyl celluloses such as methyl cellulose and ethyl cellulose, hydroxyalkyl celluloses such as hydroxypropyl cellulose and hydroxyethyl cellulose, and hydroxyalkyl alkyl celluloses such as hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose and hydroxyethyl ethyl cellulose ; that examples of the alkyl cellulose include methyl celluloses preferably having a DS of 1.0 to 2.2 , and e xamples of the hydroxyalkyl cellulose include hydroxyethyl celluloses preferably having a MS of 0.1 to 3.0 (see YAMAKAWA at Col. 3, lines 63-67 – Col. 4, lines 1-16 ). YAMAKAWA discloses that a 2% or 1% by weight aqueous solution of the water-soluble cellulose ether should preferably have a viscosity at 20° C of 100 mP a· s (2% by weight) to 30,000 mPa · s (1% by weight) as measured by a BH type viscometer at 20 rpm (see YAMAKAWA at Col. 4, lines 32-40 ). YAMAKAWA also discloses that the hydraulic substance is cement, e.g., Portland cement, high-early-strength Portland cement, moderate-heat Portland cement, blast-furnace slag cement, silica cement, fly-ash cement, alumina cement, and ultra-high-early-strength Portland cement (see YAMAKAWA at Col. 6, lines 6-11 ); and that s uitable aggregates include coarse aggregates and sand percentages ; e xamples of the coarse aggregate include river gravel, pit gravel, land gravel, and crushed stone, and the particle size is preferably up to 40 mm, and e xamples of the fine sand percentages include river sand, pit sand, land sand, silica sand, and crushed sand, and the particle size is preferably up to 10 mm (see YAMAKAWA at Col. 6, lines 17-24 ). However, YAMAKAWA discloses mixing an admixture aqueous solution comprising cellulose ether to a fresh concrete composition comprising hydraulic substance, aggregate and water, while the present invention claims a dry mix composition comprising a powder of cellulose ether. Moreover, while YAMAKAWA discloses that a 2% or 1% by weight aqueous solution of the water-soluble cellulose ether should preferably have a viscosity at 20° C of 100 mP a· s (2% by weight) to 30,000 mPa · s (1% by weight) as measured by a BH type viscometer at 20 rpm (see YAMAKAWA at Col. 4, lines 32-40 ), YAMAKAWA fails to explicitly teach whether the viscosity was measured at a 2.55 s -1 shear rate, as set forth in claim 1. Similarly to the Applicant’s disclosure, DOMINOWSKI discloses dry mix compositions for use in a cement slurry comprising carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) alone or in a blend with hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC), one or more setting retardant, and hydraulic cement or lime wherein the viscosity of the carboxymethyl cellulose is measured as a 1.0 wt.% aqueous solution of the cellulose ether at 20°C, 2.55 s -1 shear rate (see DOMINOWSKI at Abstract ). However, DOMINOWSKI teaches viscosity ranging from 75 to 4400 mP a· s , which is outside the claimed range of 1000 0 to 100000 mP a· s . BURY discloses a cementitious composition including cement, water, and a rheology modifying additive (RMA) (see BURY at Abstract ), wherein additive may comprise at least one cellulose polymer, such as a cellulose ether (see BURY at paragraph [0026] ), examples of hydraulic cements include Portland cement, masonry cement, alumina cement, refractory cement, magnesia cements (see BURY at paragraph [0039] ), the cementitious composition can also include fine aggregates, coarse aggregates; the fine aggregates are materials that pass through a Number 4 sieve (ASTM C125 and ASTM C33), such as natural or manufactured sand; and the coarse aggregates are materials that are retained on a Number 4 sieve (ASTM C125 and ASTM C33), such as silica, quartz, crushed round marble, glass spheres, granite, limestone, calcite, feldspar, alluvial sands, or any other durable aggregate (see BURY at paragraphs [0191-192] ). However, BURY fails to teach an aqueous solution viscosity at 1 wt.% cellulose ether solids . Moreover, BURY does not provide or suggest any incentive to one of ordinary skill in the art to use the cellulose ether with a viscosity in the claimed range. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT ANASTASIA KUVAYSKAYA whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (703)756-5437 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT Monday-Thursday 7:00am-5:00pm . 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. 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If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /A.A.K./ Examiner, Art Unit 1731 /ANTHONY J GREEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1731