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 1-9 are pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 3/12/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claim(s) 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Satchivi et al. (WO2020/096926; published May 14, 2020) in view of Boudreaux et al. (Application Timing of Harvest Aid herbicides affects soybean harvest and yield, Weed Technology, 2011, 25:38-43).
Applicant claims a method for desiccation and/or defoliation of soybean plants, comprising treating soybean plants or parts thereof or the locus thereof with an effective amount of florpyrauxifen-benzyl.
With respect to claims 1-9, Satchivi teach methods of controlling undesirable vegetation comprising applying to vegetation or an area adjacent the vegetation or soil to control the emergence or growth of vegetation with a pyridine carboxylate herbicide and a synthetic auxin herbicide or auxin transport inhibitor (abstract). The synthetic auxin herbicide is selected from an aryl picolinate herbicide, preferably florpyrauxifen-benzyl is applied at rates of 150 g/ha [0008, 0014, 0044-45, 0077-80; limitation of claims 2 and 3]. The undesirable vegetation is controlled in a row crop of maize, wheat, barley, triticale, rye, teff, oats, maize, cotton, soy, sorghum, rice, millet, sugarcane and pasture grasses [0161; limitation of claim 1]. The undesirable vegetation can be controlled in crops that are ACCase-tolerant or ALS-tolerant [0162; limitation of claims 8 and 9]. The vegetation includes immature vegetation and established vegetation [0020]. The undesired vegetation is treated post-emergence and applied directly to the plant or the locus of the plant at any stage of growth [0160]. Treating wheat and barley with florpyrauxifen-benzyl on weed and grain crops rates of 20 g/ha shown in example 26 [0221-222].
Satchivi does not specify method of desiccation and/or defoliation. With respect to claims 4 and 5, Satchivi do not specify florpyrauxifen is applied 7-15 days preharvest, preferably 10-15 days. With respect to claims 6 and 7, Satchivi does not specify florpyrauxifen is applied when the soybean growth stage is from R6 to about R8, preferably from R6.4 to R7.6. It is for this reason that Boudreaux et al. is joined.
Boudreaux et al. teach harvest aid herbicides which when applied 8 to 9 days are 10 to 14 days before harvest do not affect soybean yield (abstract). Traditionally harvest aids are applied to desiccate weeds, but treatments have shifted toward earlier maturing soybean cultivars to expedite harvest (page 39, paragraphs 2-3). If applied too early before physiological maturity significant yield losses occur but treatments at R7 and R8 did not demonstrate reduced yield (page 39, paragraph 2-3). Application of the herbicides at the R6.5 to R7 stages 7 to 15 days preharvest expedited harvesting (page 42, paragraphs 3-4).
Both Satchivi and Boudreaux teach methods of treating soybeans with herbicides. Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill to combine the teachings of Satchivi and Boudreaux to include methods of desiccating soybean plants with florpyrauxifen-benzyl with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine the teachings of Satchivi and Boudreaux to include methods of desiccation because Boudreaux et al. teach applying herbicides to soybean herbicides at the R6.5 to R7 stages, 7 to 15 days preharvest to expedite harvesting.
Conclusion
No claims allowed.
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DANIELLE D. JOHNSON
Examiner
Art Unit 1617
/KYLE A PURDY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1611
