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 .
Applicant is noted that in order to proceed to allowance after final, Applicant needs to cancel all rejected or withdrawn claims, any claim amendment in the rejected or withdrawn claims will not be entered unless RCE is filed.
DETAILED ACTION
Applicant’s amendment in the reply filed on 12/11/25 is acknowledged, with the cancellation of Claims 43-45, and 59; and the additional newly added Claims 62-66.
Newly submitted claim 66 is directed to an invention that is independent or distinct from the invention originally claimed for the following reasons: The originally presented claims and newly submitted claim 66 and related to distinct product. The related inventions are distinct if: (1) the inventions as claimed are either not capable of use together or can have a materially different design, mode of operation, function, or effect; (2) the inventions do not overlap in scope, i.e., are mutually exclusive; and (3) the inventions as claimed are not obvious variants. See MPEP § 806.05(j). In the instant case, in claim 66 wherein the cocoa butter, kokum better and shea olein are not deodorized, and the product is not a skin cream either. Furthermore, the inventions as claimed do not encompass overlapping subject matter and there is nothing of record to show them to be obvious variants.
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 Accordingly, claims 33-35 withdrawn from consideration as being directed to a non-elected invention. See 37 CFR 1.142(b) and MPEP § 821.03.
Claims 42, 46-58, and 60-66 are pending. Claim 66 is withdrawn. Claims 42, 46-58, and 60-65 are examined on the merits.
Any rejection that is not reiterated is hereby withdrawn.
Claim Rejections –35 USC § 112, 2nd
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.
Claims 51-57, 60, and 65 are newly rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which applicant regards as the invention.
This is a new rejection necessitated by the Applicant’s amendment filed on 12/11/2025.
Claim 51 recites “The personal care product of claim 42, comprising: about 1 wt.% to about 7 wt.% cocoa butter; about 0.1 wt.% to about 5 wt.% kokum butter; about 6wt.% to about 15% shea olein…”. However, the newly amended claim 42 recites “2 wt. % to about 5 wt.% cocoa butter; about 0.5 wt.% to about 3 wt.% kokum butter; about 7 wt.% to about 11 wt.% shea olein, etc. Therefore, the ranges in claim 51 fall outside of the claimed ranges in claim 42. Thus, the recitation of claim 51 is very confusing.
Regarding claim 65, the phrase "such as" (at line 2) renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Therefore, the metes and bounds of claims are rendered vague and indefinite. The lack of clarity renders the claims very confusing and ambiguous since the resulting claims do not clearly set forth the metes and bounds of the patent protection desired.
All other cited claims depend directly or indirectly from rejected claims and are, therefore, also, rejected under U.S.C. 112, second paragraph for the reasons set forth above.
Claim Rejections –35 USC § 112, 4th Rejection
The following is a quotation of the fourth paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112:
Subject to the following paragraph, a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claims 51-57, and 60 is/are newly rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the a previous claim. Applicant is required to cancel the claim(s), or amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, or rewrite the claim(s) in independent form.
This is a new rejection necessitated by the Applicant’s amendment filed on 12/11/2025.
Claim 51 recites “The personal care product of claim 42, comprising: about 1 wt.% to about 7 wt.% cocoa butter; about 0.1 wt.% to about 5 wt.% kokum butter; about 6wt.% to about 15% shea olein…”. However, the newly amended claim 42 recites “2 wt. % to about 5 wt.% cocoa butter; about 0.5 wt.% to about 3 wt.% kokum butter; about 7 wt.% to about 11 wt.% shea olein, etc. Therefore, the ranges in claim 51 fall outside of the claimed ranges in claim 42. Thus, claim 51 does not further limit claim 42.
All other cited claims depend directly or indirectly from rejected claims and are, therefore, also, rejected under U.S.C. 112, second paragraph for the reasons set forth above.
Conclusion
Claims 42, 46-50, 58 and 61-64 are allowed.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to QIUWEN MI whose telephone number is (571)272-5984. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8:30 am to 5:00 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Terry McKelvey can be reached on 571-272-0775. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Qiuwen Mi/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1655