DETAILED ACTION
Background
The amendment dated July 06, 2026 (amendment) amending claims 1-10 has been entered. Claims 9-10 as filed with the amendment have been examined. Claims 1-8 have been withdrawn from consideration. In view of the amendment, all outstanding objections of the claims have been withdrawn.
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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 9 is objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 9, at line 3 after “derived from” put -- Aspergillus niger-- in italics. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claims 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN104255853 A to Mu et al (Mu).
All references to Mu refer to its Clarivate machine translation, a copy of which is provided with this Office action.
Regarding instant claims 9-10, Mu discloses at Abstract on page 2 making a fermented dough by treating gluten free dough with a hemicellulase (“an enzymatic action step for allowing hemicellulase to act on a portion or all of a plant-based raw material” or just “enzyme treating a plant-based raw material”) followed by fermenting the gluten free dough (“a fermentation step for performing fermentation”) to form (at [0003]) various breads and cakes. Further, at [0029] Mu discloses mixing plant-based raw materials as cassava starch and soybean protein with hemicellulase from Aspergillus niger to prepare a dough modifying agent wherein (at [0024] and [0030]) the modifying agent is included in a dough which is then fermented.
Further regarding instant claims 9-10, the Office considers the dough of Mu to have the recited stringiness and considers the method as claimed and disclosed in Mu to comprise substantially the same method as the recited method comprising treating a plant-based raw material with a hemicellulase and then fermenting the plant-based raw material. Accordingly, absent a clear showing as to how the method of Mu at Abstract, [0003] and [0024] differs from that as claimed, the Office considers the method disclosed in Mu to be a method promoting fermentation of a fermented plant-based drink or food as in claim 9 and to be a method to improve the stringiness of a fermented plant-based drink or food as in claim 10. See MPEP 2112.01.I.
Response to Arguments
In view of the amendment dated July 06, 2026, the following rejections have been withdrawn as moot:
The rejections of claims 9-10 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by RU2070921 C1 to Rimareva et al.; and,
The rejections of claims 9-10 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN105851753 A to Chen.
The positions taken in the Remarks accompanying the amendment dated July 06, 2026 (Reply) have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on the Rimareva or Chen references as applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
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 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 ANDREW E MERRIAM whose telephone number is (571)272-0082. The examiner can normally be reached M-H 8:00A-5:30P and alternate Fridays 8:30A-5P.
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, Nikki H Dees can be reached at (571) 270-3435. 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.
/ANDREW E MERRIAM/Examiner, Art Unit 1791
