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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jiang et al., (CN 111053226 B with full machine translation), hereinafter Jiang ‘226, in view of Hou Yujun et al. (CN109077256A with full machine translation), hereinafter Yujun, Yang et al., (CN110024975 A with full machine translation), hereinafter Yang, and Wang et al. (CN104430942A with full machine translation) , hereinafter Wang.
Note: (Machine translations of Jiang’226, Yujun, Yang and Wang are and being relied upon for this rejection and citation are based on the translation paragraphs)
Claims 1-9 are directed to an easy-to-swallow composite gel based on fish meat and he method of its production and claim 10 is directed method of using the easy-to-swallow composite gel for 3-D printing.
Prior art to Jiang ‘226 teaches a preparation method of cod protein-based gel food, with cooking the fish, shearing with water and preparing it for 3Dprinting and preparing 3D printed fish based gel as addressed in this office action.
Regarding claims 1 and 5, Jiang ‘226 teaches a method for preparing an easy-to-swallow composite gel based on high-pressure shear induction [(Jiang’ 226 Machine translation, abstract lines 11-12, and para 29) where a fish based gel that has a flowability after entering the mouth and is not prone to choking and (Jiang’ 226 Machine translation, para 6, last 2 lines) where “easy swallowing for people with swallowing difficulties ” and “gelled cod food that can be used to improve the problem of eating difficulties in patients with dysphagia” (Jiang’ 226 Machine translation, para 32, last line), which meets the limitation of easy-to-swallow composite gel], comprising the following steps:
Jiang ‘226 teaches S1: cooking: cooking fish meat from raw fishes by heating to obtain cooked fish meat (Machine translation, abstract, lines 3-4 and para 08 and para 13, para 21).
Regarding the relative proportion of fish meat to water (Machine translation, para 11 and 50 where water to fish meat ratio is 5:1 to 1:5 and para 22 where the proportion is 1:1), which falls in the claimed range for claim 1, S3.
Regarding shearing of S5 Jiang’226 also teaches “high-pressure shearing process” (Machine translation, Para 12, 23).
Regarding the cooking temperature at step S1, Jiang ‘226 teaches, the method according to claim 1 and claim 5, wherein the raw fishes in step S1 are cods or sturgeons Jiang’226 teaches cod fish (abstract and para 08 of machine translation), and cooking is performed by heating at 60-100° C. for 5-30 minutes (Jiang ‘ 226, abstract and para 13), which is identical to the cooking time and temperature limitations of claims 1 and 5.
Regarding claim 1 and claims 2-4, Jiang ‘226 teaches processing the fish paste/ surimi where cooked fish is subjected to further treatment but does not mention the steps of adding ingredients like salt and fiber and oils that are recited in steps S2-S5, and dependent claims 2-4 and 6-8, however, such method steps were typical in making fish pastes in general and also for creating 3-D printable fish pastes/ gels and are known in the art before the effective filing date of the invention as taught by prior art cited below.
Regarding the addition of salt to fish followed by washing salt and removal of water as recited in S2 and dependent claims 2-4 is well known in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention as taught by Yujun (Machine translation of abstract and para6, 17 and 19). Yujun is pertinent as this reference teaches surimi product and method where Yujun enhances 3-D surimi printing performance by adjusting the surimi formula. Yujun para 19 teaches mixing fish meat obtained in previous step (Machine translation where para 16-18 designated as S1 and S2 for Yujun) with a salt solution (Machine translation para 19), and rinsing/ washing the fish meat to obtain prefabricated fish meat as recited in claim 1.
Regarding the amount of salt, concentration, number of washings with salt solution as recited in claims 2-4, Yujun teaches rinsing 2-4 times the weight of fish mince which and a sodium chloride solution with a mass fraction of 0.3 -0.6% for 1-3 times each time for 9-12 minutes with water temperature controlled at 4°C. Yujun also teaches removing salt water from fish by centrifuge to achieve a desired water content of fish to be about 78-80% (para 20, Machine translation Yujun).
Regarding the salt concentration of salt solution and rinse duration and temperatures differ from the claimed range of “a solid-liquid ratio of the cooked fish meat to the salt solution in step S2 is 1:10 to 1:1,000 g/mL” (claim 2), wherein the “salt solution is a 0.01%-0.2% NaCl solution” (claim 3) and “at 40-70° C. 3-10 times for 1-5 minutes each” (claim 4). However, optimizing the process parameters like the salt content in the rinse and the number of rinses, temperature of rinse and duration of each rinse are all process conditions would have been a matter of routine determination for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, at least based on the intended product, type of fish, i.e., whether the fish was marine fish or freshwater fish, initial temperature of minced fish before salt solution rinsing as taught in the process of Jiang’226.
For example, the salt content of Yujun is 0.3% to 0.6% which is higher than the claimed 0.01%-0.2% NaCl solution, however, at the time of the effective filing date of the invention that preparations like surimi are rinsed with salt containing water at least to remove unwanted components, improve texture, and extend shelf life of surimi product. Thus, adjusting the salt content of the rinsing solution would have been a matter of routine determination for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, at least based on the intended product, type of fish used, i.e., whether the fish was marine fish or freshwater fish; number of times the salt water rinse is added to fish product; other process steps where salt is added in making of the finished product to name a few. Thus, optimizing the salt content in the rinse solution for making fish paste/ surimi type products would have been obvious, at least based on the desired texture, saltiness, shelf life desired in the finished product.
For example, Yujun teaches rinsing or washing with salt solution is performed at 4° C. as the minced fish product of Yujun is at a temperature of 0-10° C (Machine translation, see at least para 18 and 19), i.e., rinsing solution temperature being kept close to the minced fish temperature to avoid sudden temperature shock to the protein making it hard. Based on the teaching of Yujun it would have been a matter of routine determination for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to tailor the temperature of process steps to avoid giving temperature shock to the minced fish product of Jiang’ 226. Since the fish as instantly claimed and as also taught by Jiang’226 is cooked by heating at 60-100° C. for 5-30 minutes (Jiang ‘ 226, abstract and para 13 where the cooking time and temperature of Jiang ‘226 is identical to claimed range) , it would have been a matter of routine determination for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the temperature of washing/ rinsing of fish to be performed at a higher temperature, such as at the claimed temperature of 40-70° C to avoid giving temperature shock to the minced fish product of Jiang’ 226.
Similarly, the purpose of rinsing with salt solution being the same, it would have been a matter of routine determination for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the 1-3 rinses each for 9-12 minutes as taught by Yujun to a greater number of rinses, each rinse for a shorter duration of time “3-10 times for 1-5 minutes each” as recited in claim 4 based at least on factors like water usage and total time devoted to the process. Modifying the salt water rinsing process of Yujun, by reducing the duration of each rinse and increasing the number of rinses to achieve a desirable water content of fish product, as taught by Yujun (Machine translation para 20 and 34)
Jiang ‘226 teaches processing the fish paste/ surimi where cooked fish is subjected to further treatment, adding water and high-pressure shearing process to obtain a composite gel (Machine translation, abstract, lines 9-10 and para 11 and 14). Regarding the relative proportion of fish meat to water (Machine translation, para 11 and 50 where water to fish meat ratio is 5:1 to 1:5 and para 22 where the proportion is 1:1), which falls in the claimed range for claim 1, S3.
Regarding shearing of S5 Jiang’226 also teaches “high-pressure shearing process” (Machine translation, Para 12, 23) and pressure of shearing 30-100 MPa and 30Mpa for 15 minutes (machine translation, para 14, and para 23) which falls in the claimed range.
Jiang’226 teaches the overall process but is silent regarding the ingredients/ additives including inulin and soybean dietary fiber, liquid functional oil with oil-soluble nutrients. Jiang’226 also is silent regarding the relative proportion of each of the above mentioned ingredients as recited in claim1.
Regarding the addition of fiber along with functional oil to fish following salt water washing s as recited in S3-S5 and dependent claims 6-8 is well known in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention as taught by Yujun (Machine translation of abstract and para 8, and 24). Yujun is pertinent as this reference teaches surimi product and method where Yujun enhances 3-D surimi printing performance by adjusting the surimi formula. Yujun para 8 teaches incorporation of starch and with it vitamins and dietary fiber. Starch according to Yujun translation not only increase gel strength and elasticity of fish paste gel and reduces viscosity which is beneficial for smooth material output for 3-D printing process (Machine translation para 8 of Yujun). Further (Machine translation para 24, Yujun adds ingredients starch which contains fiber and sesame oil along with ginger, pepper, etc., which makes the oil functional), and mixing and grinding / pounding, as recited in claim 1.
Jiang’ 226 and Yujun meet the limitation of claim 1, where Jiang’ 226 teaches water content in the claimed range (See above where Machine translation para 11 of Jiang’226 is cited) “a mass ratio of the prefabricated fish meat to the water to the inulin to the soybean dietary fiber is 1 kg: (1-3) kg: (0-200) g: (0-150) g” as the range of inulin and soybean dietary fiber includes 0 g, i.e., the inulin an soy based fiber is an optional ingredient.
However, in the interest of advancing prosecution, it is noted that although, Yujun does not specify that the fiber being inulin or soybean dietary fiber, such specific types of fibers, like inulin and /or soybean dietary fiber was also well known in the art before the filing date of the invention for making fish paste or gel based products as taught by Yang. Yang teaches inulin and soy dietary fiber among the sources of fiber including pumpkin and carrots that contain fiber and beta-carotene to add healthful ingredients to the fish/ animal meat based paste product but also to enhance the texture of said products where the amount of fiber is 3-4% (abstract, Para 6 and 10 and 118 of machine translation), where inulin and soybean fiber fall in the claimed range for claim 1. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include to enhance the nutritive quality of fish paste and provide a balance of ingredients including fiber sources like inulin and soybean fiber and adjusting a surimi formula create a fish paste or meat paste for enhancing the 3-D printing performance of surimi material as taught by Yujun, para 6of machine translation. One of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the invention would have been motivated to include starch, vitamins, sources of fiber etc., to enhance the gel strength, viscosity and rheological properties that meet the requirements for 3-D printing (as taught by Yujun, para 8 of machine translation).
Regarding the addition of oil, and oil soluble ingredients as recited in claim 1 and as also recited in claim 6-8, Jiang’ 226 is silent, however, inclusion of common ingredients like oils or fats in surimi or fish/ meat paste type products is known before the effective filing date of the invention, as taught by Yujun. Yujun teaches of surimi paste for 3-D printing comprising an oil (Machine translation para 24), where addition of 1-2 parts of sesame oil along with 1-3 parts of spices including ginger, pepper, etc., where sesame oil and corn, pepper and potatoes are sources of vitamins and carotenoids i.e., functional oil.
Regarding the limitation of claim 7-8, Yujun does not teach the specific type of oil, such as functionalized oil comprising flaxseed oil as instantly claimed. However inclusion of healthier plant-based oils, including soybean, rapeseed, pomegranate and flaxseed oils that contain mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids in foods is well-known before the effective filing date of the invention as taught by Wang. Wang also recognizes that pomegranate oil is rich in antioxidants (Machine translation para 6 of Wang). Wang teaches a blended oil to add to foods where the oil blend includes flaxseed oil, soybean oil, rapeseed oil, pomegranate oil, sunflower oil (Machine translation, para 9 and 11), where the nutrient blended oil containing fatty acid balance of saturated to monounsaturated to polyunsaturated oils and containing conjugated linolenic acid in a desired proportion (Machine translation of Wang, abstract and para 9, 11, 14), such that the oil blend meets the recommended fatty acid profile best suited for dietary intake.
Thus, based on the teaching of Yujun and Wang, inclusion of claimed oil based ingredients in a 3D printable fish paste gel product is known in the art and use of functional ingredients like oils comprising flaxseed oil is also known (as taught by Wang Machine translation para 11) before the effective filing date of the invention. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Jiang’226 and adjusting a surimi formula before the effective filing date of the invention to include an edible oil to enhance the nutritive quality of fish paste or surimi and provide a balance of ingredients including polyunsaturated oil containing oil sources including flaxseed oil, at least for enhancing dietary fatty acid balance of saturated to monounsaturated to polyunsaturated oils and containing conjugated linolenic acid in a desired proportion (Machine translation of Wang, abstract and para 9, 11, 14). The ordinary artisan would have been motivated to modify Jiang’226 in view of Yujun and Wang and include functional oils in the range as desired to enhance the gel strength, viscosity and rheological properties that meet the requirements for 3-D printing (as taught by Yujun, para 8 of machine translation).
Regarding claim 6, which recites that functional oil should contain at least one of Vitamin E or carotenoids, which are both known antioxidants. Rapid oxidation of unsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids when exposed to atmosphere requires the inclusion of antioxidizing agents/ antioxidants. Ingredients including sesame oil as taught by Yujun, soybean oil and rapeseed oil and pomegranate oil as taught by Wang are good sources of vitamin E and sesame, rapeseed, pomegranate, and flaxseed oils as taught by Wang contain carotenoids, i.e., the oil as taught by Yujun and oil blend taught by Wang are functional oils as instantly claimed (Machine translation of Yujun para24 and Wang, abstract and para 9, 11, 14). Further, Para 6 of machine translation of Wang, clearly points to the antioxidant function of pomegranate oil. Thus, inclusion of oil based sources of vitamin E and carotenoids in food compositions is known before the effective filing date of the invention. Since, rapid oxidation of unsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids when exposed to atmosphere requires the inclusion of antioxidizing agents/ antioxidants and 3D printing of food exposes the foods in general and the oils contained in food to oxidation, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Jiang’226 and adjusting a surimi formula before the effective filing date of the invention to include a functional edible oil comprising antioxidants of vitamin E or carotenoid, in a desired level to extend shelf life of food. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to include vitamin E or carotenoids at least to enhance the antioxidant capacity of fish paste or surimi a good organoleptic properties while providing gel strength, viscosity and rheological properties that meet the requirements for 3-D printing (as taught by Yujun, para 8 of machine translation)
Regarding claim 9, Jiang’ 226 as applied to claim 1 above, teaches a fish based gel that has a flowability after entering the mouth and is not prone to choking (Jiang’ 226 Machine translation, abstract 11-12, and para 29) and “easy swallowing for people with swallowing difficulties ” (Jiang’ 226 Machine translation, para 6, last 2 lines) and “gelled cod food that can be used to improve the problem of eating difficulties in patients with dysphagia” (Jiang’ 226 Machine translation, para 32, last line), which meets the limitation of easy-to-swallow composite gel.
Regarding claim 10, Jiang ‘226 teaches of the easy-to-swallow composite gel according to claim 9 in the field of 3D printing (Machine translation, para 16), comprising the following steps:
Regarding claim 10, step (1) Jiang ‘226 teaches printing by performing 3D printing using the easy-to-swallow composite as a 3D printing material (Jiang’ 226 Machine translation, para 17-18, para 24), where Jiang Jiang’226 teaches fish protein based gel food in a three dimensional shape. Regarding the limitation of “a printed solid gel” the Jiang’226 clearly teaches that the fish based food gel can be solidified and formed at a temperature lower than 20° C (machine translation, abstract line 11 and translation para 29, last sentence). Thus, Jiang’ 226 teaches a fish gel that after 3D printing process forms a three dimensional shape that solidifies below 20 ° C to form a solidified gel product as instantly claimed.
Regarding step (2) which is “setting: setting the printed solid gel obtained in step (1) at 0-25° C. for 10-30 minutes to increase the elasticity and water retention of the easy-to-swallow composite gel” Jiang’226 (Machine translation, para 19) where setting conditions are 0-10° C. for 10-30 minutes, which falls in the claimed range.
Conclusion
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/JYOTI CHAWLA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1791
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