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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Status of the application
2. Claims 1-3 are pending in this office action.
Claims 1-3 have been rejected.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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 non-obviousness.
6. Claim(s) 1, 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ge et al. CN 1054034 C in view of Ishigaki et al. WO 2021/172546 A1.
7. Regarding claim 1, Ge et al. discloses that hemp seed protein beverage comprising hemp protein slurry and thickening agent can be used in food composition wherein the food composition can include drink beverage(s) having high nutritive value and good mouthfeel (at least in Abstract). It is to be noted that claim 1 claims “Chia seed protein and/or hemp protein”. Therefore, Ge et al. meets hemp seed protein.
Ge et al. is silent about the composition contains “a protein deamidase” as claimed in claim 1.
Ishigaki et al. discloses that ‘protein digestive enzyme’ includes protein de-amidase which can be considered as nutritional component in order to perform an enhanced digestibility of the proteins (at least in page 5 , paragraph 4, last four lines and in Abstract).
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to modify Ge et al. with the teaching of Ishigaki et al. who discloses that ‘protein digestive enzyme’ includes protein de-amidase which can be considered as nutritional component in order to perform an enhanced digestibility of the proteins (at least in page 5 , paragraph 4, last four lines and in Abstract).
8. Regarding claim 3, Ge et al. discloses a method of making hemp seed protein containing beverage with thickener having high nutritive value and good mouthfeel ( at least in Abstract). It is to be noted that claim 1 claims “Chia seed protein and/or hemp protein”. Therefore, Ge et al. meets hemp seed protein.
Ge et al. is silent about the composition contains “a protein de-amidase” as claimed in claim 1.
Ishigaki et al. discloses that ‘protein digestive enzyme’ includes protein de-amidase which can be considered as nutritional component in order to perform an enhanced digestibility of the proteins (at least in page 5 , paragraph 4, last four lines and in Abstract).
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to modify Ge et al. with the teaching of Ishigaki et al. who discloses that ‘protein digestive enzyme’ includes protein de-amidase which can be considered as nutritional component in order to perform an enhanced digestibility of the proteins (at least in page 5, paragraph 4, last four lines and in Abstract).
9. Claim(s) 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ge et al. CN 1054034 C in view of Ishigaki et al. WO 2021/172546 A1 as claimed in claim 1 and further in view of Huimin et al. CA 3123082 A1 and further in view of Dean et al. WO 2011/089525 A2.
10. Regarding claim 2, Ge et al. in view of Ishigaki et al. are silent about the combinations of chia seed and hemp seed proteins and their amounts in the beverage product.
Huimin et al. discloses a protein enriched beverage composition comprising 0.1 to 20.0 wt.% protein wherein the proteins can include seed proteins including hemp, chia and combinations thereof (page 9, page 22, within few lines, e.g. within ‘ten’ lines from bottom and , page 23, mid-section) which meets “4 weight % or more” as claimed in claim 2. It shows prima facie case of obviousness according to MPEP 2144.05. In the case where the claimed ranges “overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art” a prima facie case of obviousness exists. In re Wertheim, 541 F.2d 257, 191 USPQ 90 (CCPA 1976); In re Woodruff, 919 F.2d 1575, 16 USPQ2d 1934 (Fed. Cir. 1990). It is to be noted that claim 2 claims “total content” and disclosed protein content can include the protein or in combination from the disclosed proteins including Chia seed and hemp protein as discussed above. However, examiner has considered another secondary prior art by Dean et al. to consider further the motivation to select “chia seed protein” to modify Ge et al. in view of Ishigaki et al. with the disclosed Chia seed protein from the broadly disclosed protein lists of Huimin et al. containing both the hemp seed and chia seed proteins.
Dean et al. discloses that proteins naturally found in chia seeds are very valuable nutritional supplements which contains all eight essential amino acids and including lysine (at least in [0002], [0005], [0009]) and the protein content in chia seeds is also higher than the protein content from other plant protein sources (at least in [0002], [0005], [0009]).
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to modify Ge et al. in view of Ishigaki et al. and Sakai et al. with the addition of Chia seed protein within the disclosed range amount as disclosed by Huimin et al. and discussed above (page 9, page 22, within few lines, e.g. within ‘ten’ lines from bottom and , page 23, mid-section) because chia seed contains all eight essential amino acids including lysine (at least in [0002], [0005], [0009]) which makes it very valuable nutritional supplements and it contains higher protein content compared to other plant protein sources as disclosed by Dean et al. (at least in [0005] [0009]).
Conclusion
11. WO 2020/171106 A1 (Equivalent patent family is Fujioka H et al. (US 2022/0151255 A1)] from ISR reference (First and Second page, ISR filed 11/01/2024 ref.) teaches de-amidase enzyme containing protein beverage composition. However, this prior art (cited in ISR filed 11/01/2024) discloses nut milk beverage and also it does not teach a thickener that contains a protein deamidation enzyme and that is used for thickening plant-protein containing composition that include chia seed protein and/or hemp seed protein. This current office action has considered at least primary prior art by Ge et al. who discloses claimed hemp seed protein beverage comprising hemp protein slurry and thickening agent as claimed in claim 1 and method of preparation as claimed in claim 3.
12. Any inquiry concerning the communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Bhaskar Mukhopadhyay whose telephone number is (571)-270-1139.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, examiner's supervisor Erik Kashnikow, can be reached on 571-270-3475. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571 -273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status
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/BHASKAR MUKHOPADHYAY/
Examiner, Art Unit 1792
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