DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Preliminary Amendment
2. The preliminary amendment filed on September 13, 2024 has been entered in the above-identified application. Claims 1-15 are amended. Claims 1-15 are now pending and under consideration.
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.
3. Claims 1-6, 9, 10, 11, and 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mazoyer et al. (US 2021/0000896 A1) in view of
Mazoyer et al. disclose seaweed-based powder composition comprising the seaweed-based powder and can be used in industrial applications. Most preferred brown seaweeds are those chosen from the families Acsophyllum, Durvillaea, Ecklonia, Hyperborea, Laminaria, Lessonia, Macrocystis, Fucus and Sargassum (equivalent to the crushed dead algae or aquatic plants of the claimed invention and meeting the limitations of claim 3). The seaweed-based powder has an average particle size of at least 20 μm (meeting the limitations of claim 4). By “aqueous dispersion” containing the seaweed powder is herein understood a composition wherein said powder is dispersed in the aqueous medium (meeting the aqueous solution limitations of claim 1) and the powder may be dispersed inside the aqueous medium. Depending on the type of seaweed used to manufacture the inventive powder, said powder may naturally contain (i.e. without addition) beneficial nutrients other than proteins and dietary fibers, e.g. coloring substances like carotene, vitamins, free fatty acids, amino acids, minerals, antioxidants like polyphenols, phytosterols etc. The composition may comprise an additional compound, said compound being in a powdery or non-powdery form. The additional compound can be chosen from the group consisting of additives; preservatives; vitamins; sterols like phytosterols; antioxidants like polyphenols; beneficial minerals for human nutrition; whole vegetable extracts; hydrocolloids or gums like glucomannans, galactomannans, cellulose (microfibrillated cellulose, cellulose gel), alginate, carrageenan, laminarin and other 1,3 beta-glucans; and starch (equivalent to the binder of vegetable origin as recited in the claimed invention and meeting the limitations of claim 5). Mazoyer et al. further teaches a method of producing the seaweed-based powder, comprising the steps of: a) providing a biomass containing seaweed and water, b) subjecting the biomass to an exudation process to exude the water present inside the seaweed and obtaining an exudated biomass containing an exudated seaweed; c) Optionally drying the exudated biomass to a moisture level of at most 40 wt % to obtain a dried, exudated biomass; d) cooking the exudated biomass to obtain a cooked biomass; e) washing and/or drying the cooked biomass; and f) transforming the cooked biomass of step d) or e) into a seaweed-based powder (meeting the limitations of claims 10 and 11). The disclosed powder or any of the disclosed compositions may also be used in the manufacturing of industrial products, e.g. sealants, adhesives, paper, and other building materials.
(See Abstract and paragraph 0001, 0029, 0031, 0033, 0042, 0055, 0067, 0069, 0073. And 0120).
Mazoyer et al. do not teach the addition of an acid in the aqueous solution.
However, Hasebe discloses the use of hydrogen peroxide to strip the outer skin of seaweed and an acid such as sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, acetic acid or acetic anhydride may be added along with the hydrogen peroxide or hydrogen peroxide compound. In the low pH region caused by addition of such an acid, loss of algin by dissolution is advantageously lessened although the rate of decomposition of hydrogen peroxide and hence the rate of the stripping of the outside skin from the seaweed are retarded. (See Abstract and Column 4, lines 3-40).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to add an organic acid to the aqueous solution taught by Mazoyer et al. given that Hasebe teaches that such an acid can be used to strip the outer skin of seaweed and the loss of algin by dissolution is advantageously lessened at the lower pH. With regards to the limitation that the material has a mechanical resistance to compression greater than 10 MPa and a resistance to bending greater than 3 MPa, the Examiner would like to point out that workable physical properties are deemed to be obvious routine optimizations to one of ordinary skill in the art, motivated by the desire to obtain the required properties.
Allowable Subject Matter
4. Claims 7, 8, and 12 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
5. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHEEBA AHMED whose telephone number is (571)272-1504. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 7am-6pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, CALLIE SHOSHO can be reached at 571-272-1123. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SHEEBA AHMED/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1787
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