BIFIDOBACTERIA FOR USE IN PREPARATION OF FERMENTED PRODUCTS

Application No. 18/574,654

• Filed: Dec 27, 2023
• Priority: Jul 01, 2021 — EU 21305911.6
  • Jun 30, 2022 — nonprovisional of PCTEP2022068205
• Examiner: ZILBERING, ASSAF
• Art Unit: 1792
• Tech Center: 1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
• Assignee: Compagnie Gervais Danone
• OA Round: 1 (Non-Final)

Office 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 .

DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-20 are pending in the current application.
Claims 11-15, 18 and 20 are withdrawn from consideration (see discussion, below).
Claims 1-10, 16, 17 and 19 are examined in the current application.

Election/Restrictions
Claims 11-15, 18 and 20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected inventions, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the election requirement in the reply filed on December 30th 2025.
Applicant's election with traverse of claims 1-10, 16, 17 and 19 in the reply filed on December 30th 2025 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground that the technical feature of “a Bifidobacteria strain which is sucrose negative, stachyose positive and raffinose positive” is a special technical feature that links the claims, because O’Connell fails to disclose sucrose positive Bifidobacteria strain. This is found persuasive; However, Kim et al., (USPatPub. 2016/0127379 A1) discloses a Bifidobacteria strain (i.e., Bifidobacterium cholerium KK-1), which is sucrose negative and raffinose positive (see Kim table on pages 3-4). Given the fact α-galactosidase is the enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of both raffinose and stachyose in Bifidobacteria, the Bifidobacterium that is raffinose positive in Kim, is also stachyose positive. Therefore, “a Bifidobacteria strain which is sucrose negative, stachyose positive and raffinose positive” is not a special technical feature that links the claims within the meaning of PCT Rule 13.2, which renders the unity between the groups of claims broken.

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.

Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim et al., (USPatPub. 2016/0127379 A1). Evidenced by NPL BenchChem., “Stachyose Degradation in Microorganisms – A Technical Guide” (from https://pdf.benchchem.com/150/Stachyose_Degradation_in_Microorganisms_A_Technical_Guide.pdf) and NPL Ciao et al., “High-yield production and characterization of α-galactosidase from Bifidobacterium breve grown on raffinose” (from Biotechnology Letters 22: 747-751, 2000).
Regarding claim 1: Kim discloses a fermented composition comprising Bifidobacteria strain (i.e., Bifidobacterium cholerium KK-1), which is sucrose negative and raffinose positive (see Kim abstract; paragraphs [0026]-[0027] and table on pages 3-4). Given the fact α-galactosidase is the enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of both raffinose and stachyose in Bifidobacteria (see BenchChem page 2 and Ciao whole document), the Bifidobacterium that is raffinose positive in Kim, is also stachyose positive.

Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-10, 16, 17 and 19 are allowable over the prior art on record, as neither Kim, nor any other prior art reference disclose the sucrose negative, stachyose and raffinose positive Bifigobacteria strains recited in claims 2-6.

Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ASSAF ZILBERING whose telephone number is [phone]. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30-5:00.
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, Erik Kashnikow can be reached on [phone]. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.

/ASSAF ZILBERING/Examiner, Art Unit 1792

Prosecution Timeline

• Dec 27, 2023: Application Filed
• Apr 22, 2026: Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)