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 .
Claim status
Claims 1-5 filed 02/27/2025 are pending in the application and are hereby examined on the merits.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 USC 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a natural product without significantly more. The claims recite a composition comprising nicotinamide mononucleotide. However, nicotinamide mononucleotide is naturally occurring (see para. 0039 of US Patent Application Publication No. 2018/0177703 A1). This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the recitations of the intended use as a nutritional composition for racehorse or for reducing an elevation of blood lactic acid, or for coat improvement does not impart material characteristics to the composition because they are just intended use of nicotinamide mononucleotide for intended population. The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because no additional ingredient is recited.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wu JP2020504722 A (cited in the IDS submitted 02/27/2025, English translation relied upon for reference).
Regarding claims 1-5, Wu teaches feeding an animal such as a racehorse or mice a NAD+ precursor/agonist such as nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) to increase the athletic performance of the animal (0102; 0124; 0126-0127; 0166; 0169). Further, Wu teaches that NMN is able to reduce the blood lactic acid (e.g., lactate) of the mice (0356). NMN as disclosed by Wu reads on the nutritional composition comprising NMN.
The recitations about for coat improvement as in claim 3, for reducing an elevation of blood lactic acid concentrations in racehorses as in claim 4, and for coat improvement in racehorses as in claim 5 are not considered to further limit the composition. It is the examiner’s position that the intended use recited in the present claims do not result in a structural difference between the presently claimed composition and the prior art composition and further that the composition of the prior art is capable of performing the intended uses. Given that Wu teaches the same composition comprising NMN as that recited in the claims and that the composition of Wu can be fed to an animal such as a racehorse to increase the athletic performance of the animal., it is clear that the composition of Wu would be capable of performing the intended uses, i.e., for coat improvement in racehorses and for reducing an elevation of blood lactic acid concentrations in racehorses.
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wu US Patent Application Publication No. 2018/0125871 A1 (hereinafter referred to as ‘871)
Regarding claims 1-5, ‘871 teaches a method for increasing endurance and stamina of a subject, the method comprising administering to the subject an effective amount of an agent that increases the level of NAD+ in the subject (0019). ‘871 teaches that the subject is a mammal such as a racehorse (0089). ‘871 teaches that the agent is a NAD+ precursor such as NMN (0042). NMN as disclosed by ‘871 reads on the nutritional composition comprising NMN.
The recitations about for reducing an elevation of blood lactic acid concentrations (in racehorses) as recited in claims 2 and 4, and for coat improvement (in racehorses) as recited in claims 3 and 5 are not considered to further limit the composition. It is the examiner’s position that the intended use recited in the present claims do not result in a structural difference between the presently claimed composition and the prior art composition and further that the composition of the prior art is capable of performing the intended uses. Given that ‘871 teaches the same nutritional composition comprising NMN as that recited in the claims and that the nutritional composition of ‘871 can be fed to an animal such as a racehorse to increase endurance and stamina of the animal, it is clear that the composition of ‘871 would be capable of performing the intended uses, i.e., for coat improvement and for reducing an elevation of blood lactic acid concentrations in racehorses.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHANGQING LI whose telephone number is (571)272-2334. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00-5:00.
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/CHANGQING LI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1791
