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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of invention group I, claims 1-4, in the reply filed on 03/15/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that there is unity of invention from technical feature of polyhydroxyalkanoate. This is not found persuasive because the concept of polyhydroxyalkanoate is known in the art and can not be as special technical feature to link invention groups together. Thus, the restriction requirement is proper.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claims 5-19 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 03/15/2026.
Applicants further elected poly-3-hydroxy-butyrate as specific bioenergetic-active material with traverse based on the same arguments as above, and for the same rational, the election of species requirement is proper. Claims 1-4 read on the elected species (as admitted by applicants) and are under examination.
Claims 1-19 are pending, claims 1-4 are under examination.
Priority
Acknowledge is made that this application is a 371 application of the International PCT application serial no. PCT/CN2022/109458, filed on August 01, 2022, which claims the priority benefits of China Application No. 202110875054.2, filed on July 30, 2021.
Should applicant desire to obtain the benefit of foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) prior to declaration of an interference, a certified English translation of the foreign application must be submitted in reply to this action. 37 CFR 41.154(b) and 41.202(e).
Failure to provide a certified translation may result in no benefit being accorded for the non-English application.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/27/2023 is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) & (a)(2) as being anticipated by Liu et al. (US20040266813) disclosing poly(3-hydroxy butyrate) (claims 1 and 3).
Claim(s) 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) & (a)(2) as being anticipated by Hunter et al. (US20120063997) disclosing poly(3-hydroxy butyrate) (claim 5, item (t)).
Claim(s) 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) & (a)(2) as being anticipated by Minami (US20200354539) disclosing poly(3-hydroxy butyrate ([0003]).
Conclusion
No claim is allowed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JIANFENG SONG. Ph.D. whose telephone number is (571)270-1978. 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, Brian-Yong Kwon can be reached at (571)272-0581. 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.
/JIANFENG SONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1613
Prosecution Insights