Claims 1-12 are pending in this application.
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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
2 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 9 recites the terms “MOPS buffer”, “Tris-HCL buffer”, “CHES buffer”, “MES buffer” and “HEPES buffer”. It is unclear what the meaning of these terms?. The claimed specification does not provide any guidance. Clarification or correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2, 6, 9 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)1 as being anticipated by Li et al. (CN 114456251 A). English translation of the Patent No. CN 114456251 A is used in this Office action.
Li et al. (CN’ 251 A) teaches a preparation of blue anthocyanin, wherein the method comprises adding a solution of soybean ferritin (protein) to anthocyanin solution and stirring (mixing) to get dark blue anthocyanin-soybean ferritin as claimed in claims 1 and 12 (see pages, 24-25, Embodiments 1 and 4) and wherein the method does not comprise high hydrostatic pressure treatment as claimed in claim 2, wherein the pH of the mixed solution is 7.0 as claimed in claim 6 and wherein the buffer is a phosphate buffer as claimed in claim 9 (see page 22, Embodiment 1). Li et al. (CN’ 251 A) teaches all the limitations of the instant claims. Hence, Li et al. (CN’ 251 A) anticipates the claims.
5 Claims 1-2, 6 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)1 as being anticipated by Ana et al. (US 2014/0161938 A1).
Ana et al. (US’ 938 A1) teaches a process for producing a food-grade encapsulate a stable blue color , wherein the process comprises the steps of mixing a protein solution with a colorant anthocyanin to a stable blue color as claimed in claims 1 and 12 and wherein the process dose not comprises high hydrostatic pressure treatment as claimed in claim 2, and wherein the pH of the mixture is 5.8 to 8.0 as claimed in claim 6 (see claims 8-10). Ana et al. (US’ 938 A1) teaches all the limitations of the instant claims. Hence, Ana et al. (US’ 938 A1) anticipates the claims.
6 Claims 1-2, 6, 9 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)1 as being anticipated by He et al. (CN 108522957 A). English translation of the Patent No. CN 108522957 A is used in this Office action.
He et al. (CN’ 957 A) teaches a method for improving cyanidin ursolie-glucoside pigment by adding the whey protein at a pH 7.4 phosphate buffer solution as claimed in claims 1-2, 6, 9 and 12 (see claims 1-2). He et al. (CN’ 957 A) teaches all the limitations of the instant claims. Hence, He et al. (CN’ 957 A) anticipates the claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
7 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.
Claims 1, 3-4, 7 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over He et al. (CN 108522957 A) in view of Wang et al. (CN 110547393 A). English translations of the Patent No. CN 108522957 A and the Patent No. CN 11057393 A are used in this Office action.
He et al. (CN’ 957 A) teaches a method for improving cyanidin ursolie-glucoside (cyanidin-3-glycoside) pigment by adding the whey protein at a pH 7.4 phosphate buffer solution as claimed (see claims 1 and 2).
The instant claims differ from the teaching of He et al. (CN’ 957 A) by reciting a concentration of the anthocyanin in the mixed solution and selected protein in the claimed amounts.
Wang et al. (CN’ 393 A) in analogous anthocyanin preparation formulation, teaches a method for adding a protein blended with anthocyanin, wherein the protein is human serum protein in the concentration of 10-7 to 10-1 mol/L and the concentration of anthocyanin is 1 100 µ L (1 mg/ml anthocyanin cyanidin glucoside) as claimed in claims 1, 3-4, 7 and 11 (see claims 1-4 and page 11, Examples 1-4).
Therefore, in view of the teaching of Wang et al. (CN’ 393 A), it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to optimize the amount of anthocyanin and the amount of protein the mixture in order to get the maximum effective amounts of these ingredients in the mixture, and thus, the person of the ordinary skill in the art would expect such a mixture to have similar property to formulate a blue anthocyanin, and, would expect such a formulation to have similar results to those claimed, absent unexpected results.
8 Claims 5, 8 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over He et al. (CN 108522957 A) in view of Wang et al. (CN 110547393 A) and further, in view of Sigurdson et al. (CN 108026382 B). English translations of the Patent No. CN 108522957 A, Patent CN 110547393 A and the Patent CN 108026382 B are used in this Office action.
The disclosures of He et al. (CN’ 957 A) and Wang et al. (CN’ 393 A) as described above, do not teach or disclose the anthocyanin malvidin-3-glucoside as claimed in claims 5 and 8.
However, Wang et al. (CN’ 393 A) teaches an anthocyanin cyanidin glucoside (see claims 14 and page 11, Example 1-4).
Sigurdson et al. (CN’ 382 B) anthocyanin treatment with a metal ion at various pH of the protein at pH 7 (see 109, Fig 17B) and wherein the anthocyanin may be cyanidin-O glucoside *Cy-3-glucoside, cyanidin or malvidin and their glucoside (see page 114, paragraphs 4-5).
Therefore, in view of the teaching of Sigurdson et al. (CN’ 382 B), it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to be motivated to modify the anthocyanin taught in the methods of He et al. (CN’ 957 A) and Wang et al. (CN’ 393 A) by incorporating the anthocyanin malvidin-3-glucoside as taught by Sigurdson et al. (CN’ 382 B) to arrive at the claimed invention. Such a modification would be obvious based on the teaching of Sigurdson et al. (CN’ 382 B) that refers to the equivalence between cyanidin-3-glucoside and malvidin-3-glucoside, and, thus, the person of the ordinary skill in the art would expect such a method to have similar results to those claims
With regards to the limitations of claim 10, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to be motivated to modify the preparation method of blue anthocyanin at normal temperature in a limited time of mixing to arrive at the claimed limitations based on the teachings of He et al. (CN’ 957 A), Wang et al. (CN’ 393 A) and Sigurdson et al. (CN’ 382 B) that all teach the preparation of blue anthocyanin by mixing the anthocyanin with protein as described above, and thus, the person of the ordinary skill in the art would expect such a method to have similar property to those claimed, absent unexpected results.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EISA B ELHILO whose telephone number is (571)272-1315. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 7:00 AM to 3:30 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, Angela Brown-Pettigrew can be reached at (571)272-2817. 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.
/EISA B ELHILO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1761
Prosecution Insights