Detailed Office Action
The communication dated 8/13/2026 has been entered and fully considered.
Claims 1 and 10 have been amended. Claims 1-11 are pending.
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 .
Terminal Disclaimer
The terminal disclaimer filed on 8/13/2026 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of 18/950,534 has been reviewed and is accepted. The terminal disclaimer has been recorded.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-9 are allowed.
Response to Arguments
In light of filing a TD the ODP rejection has been withdrawn.
In light of amendment the Examiner withdraws the 112(a) rejection to claim 1. The applicant amended the claim to state “that are not attached to, and that are not derived from, the bast or core portions of a nonwood dicotyledonous plant stem”. The claim further states “that “the unwashed fibers are derived from the Stachys genus”. Trichome fibers present in the Stachys genus meet the limitation “that are not attached to, and that are derived from, the bast or core portions of a nonwood dicotyledonous plant stem”.
The Examiner maintains the 112(a) rejection towards claim 10. Claims 10 does not state that the non-wood fibers are from Stachys. The applicant does not have support for the L* and b* value for anything but trichomes.
The inventors discovered that processes that include a step of disassociating separated trichome fibers from leaves and stems also produce a cleaner mass of collected fibers (including speck-free trichome fiber masses). As a result trichome fiber collections via outlet 122 and/or 124 can have L* color values of greater than or equal to about 70% and/or b* color values of less than or equal to about 15%.
As written the applicant’s claim 10 can comprise other fibers which do not have support from the specification like monocotyledonous plant derived fiber and seed fibers.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
In claim 10 the applicant claims unwashed nonwood fibers that are not attached to, and that are not derived from, the bast or core portions of a nonwood dicotyledonous plant stem.
The applicant does not have support for this broad of a limitation and only has support for trichome fibers.
In claim 10 the applicant claims 1-40% nonwood fibers that are not attached to, and that are not derived from, the bast or core portions of a nonwood dicotyledonous plant stem
The applicant only has support for the trichome fibers being in this range.
In claim 10 the applicant claims an L* and a b* color value for nonwood fibers that are not attached to, and that are not derived from, the bast or core portions of a nonwood dicotyledonous plant stem but the applicant only has support for the trichome fibers having these color values.
Claim 11 depends from claim 10 and is similarly rejected.
Conclusion
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANTHONY J CALANDRA whose telephone number is (571)270-5124. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:45 AM -4:15 PM.
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, Abbas Rashid can be reached at (571)270-7457. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
ANTHONY J. CALANDRA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1748
/Anthony Calandra/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1748
Prosecution Insights