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 .
Claims
Claims 1, 4-16, 18, and 19 are pending with claims 4-8 withdrawn and claims 18 and 19 new.
WITHDRAWN OBJECTIONS
All objections of record in the Office Action mailed 3/27/2025 have been withdrawn due to Applicant’s amendments in the Paper filed 1/21/2026.
WITHDRAWN REJECTIONS
All rejections of record in the Office Action mailed 3/27/2025 have been withdrawn due to Applicant’s amendments in the Paper filed 1/21/2026.
NEW OBJECTIONS
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Official Correspondence.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: please cancel the non-elected Species from the end to the claim. Appropriate correction is required.
NEW REJECTIONS
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 10-16, 19 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.
The phrase “wherein said produce is at least a portion of a plant, animal or fungus” in claim 10 is new matter. Applicant amended Claim 1 but did not make the corresponding amendments to the dependent claims.
Independent claim 1 has been amended to state “spraying … to said produce prior to harvesting”. The disclosure at filed (See para. [00201].) does not state animals and fungus are sprayed prior to harvesting. Animals are fed a shelf-life extender.
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The phrase “wherein said produce is selected from … chicken, camel, … rainbow trout … squash” in claim 11 is new matter. Applicant amended Claim 1 but did not make the corresponding amendments to the dependent claims.
The disclosure at filed (See para. [00201].) does not state chicken, rainbow trout and many of the other food items are sprayed prior to harvesting. Many of the listed items do not appear to be produce and it appears impossible to spray prior to harvesting. For example, it appears impossible to spray rainbow trout in a river prior to harvesting.
The phrase “wherein said produce is selected from the group consisting of leaves, fruit, stems, roots, tubers, seeds, flowers, legumes, edible fungi, edible nuts and seeds, dairy products, eggs, meat, cereals and sea food” in claim 12 is new matter. Applicant amended Claim 1 but did not make the corresponding amendments to the dependent claims.
The disclosure at filed (See para. [00201].) does not state many of the food items are sprayed prior to harvesting. Many of the listed items do not appear to be produce and it appears impossible to spray prior to harvesting. For example, it appears impossible to spray roots, meat and sea food prior to harvesting. Roots are in the ground, meat is not harvested and sea food is in water.
The phrase “root vegetables, tuber vegetables, stem vegetables, fungi foods, seafood, dairy products, fresh food, processed foods, yogurt, curd, peasant foods, cuisines, baked foods, yeast, fruit juices, canned foods, bottled foods and liquid foods” in claim 19 is new matter. Applicant amended Claim 1 but did not make the corresponding amendments to the dependent claims.
The disclosure at filed (See para. [00201].) does not state many of the food items are sprayed prior to harvesting. Many of the listed items do not appear to be produce and it appears impossible to spray prior to harvesting. For example, it appears impossible to spray roots, canned food and bottled foods prior to harvesting. Roots are in the ground and canned and bottle foods are not harvested.
Claims 10-16, 19 are 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.
Claims 10, 11, 12 and 19 are vague and indefinite as it is unclear how the various animal, fish, roots, fruit juices, baked goods, bottled foods and many other listed items can be sprayed prior to harvesting when they are not produce and impossible to spray.
Clarification and/or correction required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claim(s) 1, 9-16, 18 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lidster et al. (US 2016/0057998) in view of Li et al. (CN 106106710).
The claims are directed to a method of spraying produce and not a method of spraying items that are not produce. Many of the items listed in the claims are not produce and/or are impossible to be sprayed. Applicant did not amend many of the dependent claims to be consistent with amended independent claim 1.
Regarding claims 1 and 18, Lidster (‘998) teaches a process for extending the shelf-life of produce comprising: spraying a shelf-life extender to said food produce wherein said shelf-life extender is allyl isothiocyanate (See Abs., paras. 1-3, 42.), however, fails to expressly disclose the spraying being prior to harvesting of said food produce.
Li (‘710) teaches spraying isothiocyanate to produce, like kiwi fruit, before harvesting to keep kiwi fruit fresh longer (See Abs., p. 3, ll. 6-19.).
It would have been foreseeable and obvious prior to the earliest effective filing date with Lidster (‘998) and Li (‘710) before them to spay an isothiocyanate, like allyl isothiocyanate, to produce before harvesting to keep produce fresh longer.
Regarding claim 9, Lidster (‘998) teaches wherein said produce is a solid (See paras. 1-3 and 42.).
Regarding claim 10, Lidster (‘998) teaches wherein said produce is at least apportion of a plant (See paras. 1-3 and 42.).
Regarding claims 11-16, 19, Lidster (‘998) and Li (‘710) teach the process discussed above, however, fails to expressly disclose the various types of produce.
Applicant does not set forth any non-obvious unexpected results for spraying isothiocyanate on any particular type of produce.
It would have been foreseeable and obvious prior to the earliest effective filing date with Lidster (‘998) and Li (‘710) before them to spay an isothiocyanate on any of the listed types or produce to keep produce fresh longer. The selection of produce to be sprayed would have been within the skill set of a person having ordinary skill in the art.
ANSWERS TO APPLICANT’S ARGUMENTS
The limitations of the amended/new claims are discussed above.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRENT T O'HERN whose telephone number is (571)272-6385. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 5:00 am - 3:30 pm.
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/BRENT T O'HERN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1793
March 18, 2026