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 .
Status of the Application
This Office Action is in response to applicant’s arguments filed on 7/15/26. Claims 1-21 have been cancelled. Claims 22-44 are pending and examined herein.
Applicant’s arguments have been fully considered but found not persuasive. The rejection of the last Office Action is maintained for reasons of record and repeated below for Applicant’s convenience.
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 22-44 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hu et al. (U.S. Patent Application 2011/0144141, of record).
Hu et al. teach a hair regrowth composition comprising minoxidil in combination with a fatty acid mixture for mammals and particularly for humans (title and abstract). In one embodiment, the fatty acid mixture comprises 36.0-36.5% oleic acid, 2.8-8.5% myristic acid, 23.2-24.6% palmitic acid, 7-9% arachidonic acid, 0.9-5.5% lauric acid, 2.2-3.5% capric acid, 20-20.6% linoleic acid, 3-4% behenic acid, and 0.1% caproic acid (paragraph 0091). The composition may be in the form of a solution, spray, gel, or aerosol comprising a suitable carrier, such as petrolatum, which is a known mineral oil, in about 50-99.99% by weight (paragraph 0118). The compositions can also comprise alcoholic solubilizers in an amount of 1-60% or 20-50% (paragraph 0075).
It is noted that the limitations regarding “reducing mortality or morbidity in a mammal in need thereof” and “reducing the incidence of retained placenta” and “reducing the incidence of lameness” and “reducing the incidence of infection” are inherent since this will necessarily occur in the subject being administered the claimed composition.
Response to Arguments
Applicant argues that Hu does not teach administering the formulation to a mammal with the intentional purpose of reducing mortality or morbidity since no where in the reference does it mention reducing mortality or morbidity.
This is not persuasive because the limitation regarding “reducing mortality or morbidity” will necessarily occur in the subject since the same claimed formulation is administered to the same claimed patient population. Since all elemental steps of the method have been taught by Hu, both mortality and morbidity will inherently be reduced. Should Applicant continue to disagree, a side-by-side comparison is requested to show that reduction of mortality and morbidity in the instant invention and no reduction in Hu.
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 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 mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Yong S. Chong whose telephone number is (571)-272-8513. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday: 9 AM to 5 PM EST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Adam Milligan, can be reached at (571)-270-7674. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571)-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at (866)-217-9197 (toll-free).
/Yong S. Chong/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1623