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 Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 1-15 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.
With regards to Claims 1 and 12, it is unclear to one ordinary skilled in the art how to “treat the milk or plant-based beverage with the value of said parameter…”
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-9 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because they are directed towards an abstract idea.
Claims 1 is reproduced below.
A method for treating milk or a plant-based beverage,
creating a database containing associations between combinations of values of content by weight of proteins and carbohydrates of the milk or plant-based beverage to be treated and corresponding values of at least one treatment parameter for the milk or plant-based beverage;
acquiring the content by weight of proteins and carbohydrates of the milk or plant-based beverage to be treated; and treating the milk or plant-based beverage with the value of said at least one treatment parameter corresponding in the database to the acquired values of the content by weight of proteins and carbohydrates.
Breaking down the claim into the method steps. All the processing of the data can practically be done mentally. All the other elements are “additional elements.” Creating a database and acquiring the data is simply a method for gathering data.
Therefore, the claimed subject matter is not eligible because it does not contain language of a practical application or anything significantly more than the abstract idea.
Claims 2-9 do not contain language of a practical application or anything significantly more.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C 101 with the same analysis as claim 1.
Conclusion
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/SUJOY K KUNDU/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2471
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