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 .
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Applicant’s response filed 05/18/2026 in reply to the office action of 02/23/2026 has been entered. Claims 1 and 16 are amended. Claims 1-18 are pending. The terminal disclaimers filed 05/18/2026 have been disapproved.
Withdrawn Objections and Rejections
The objection to the specification has been withdrawn in view of Applicant’s amendment to the specification. The 103 rejection has been withdrawn in view of Applicant’s amendment to the claims.
All previous objections and rejections not set forth below have been withdrawn in view of Applicant’s amendment and/or upon further consideration.
Double Patenting
Claims 1-18 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1 and 13 of U.S. Patent No. US 11,166,422 B2; over claims 1 and 5 of U.S. Patent No. US 11,166,421 B2; over claims 1 and 4 of U.S. Patent No. US 10, 398,099 B2 . Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims of both the instant application and each of the issued patents are drawn to a method of rice seed production by growing a designated rice female parent plant comprising both male and female components; intentionally pollinating said designated rice female parent plant on one or more occasions with said designated rice male pollen plant male components are not shedding pollen on said one or more days; growing the designated female parent plant to maturity; and harvesting the seed produced by said designated female parent plant. This rejection is repeated for the reasons of record as set forth in the last office action of 02/23/2026.
The terminal disclaimers filed on 05/18/2026 have been disapproved because no fee and/or deposit account information was provided for the TD forms. Therefore, the rejections stand.
Conclusion
No claim is allowed.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MEDINA AHMED IBRAHIM whose telephone number is (571)272-0797. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9:00 - 6:00.
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, BRATISLAV STANKOVIC can be reached at 571-270-0305. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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MEDINA AHMED. IBRAHIM
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1662
/MEDINA A IBRAHIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1662
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