Question: James Salt developed an environmentally friendly technique for controlling deer overpopulation. Briefly, Salt discovered a non-hormonal substance XYZ ("Antiagra") that efficiently suppresses sexual function in male deer with minimal side effects. Salt determined that the use of a non-hormonal substance eliminated adverse long-term health effects that may be experienced with hormonal substances. He then dissolved an effective amount of Antiagra in salt water, poured the resulting solution into a plurality of twenty-gallon tubs, and heated the tubs to evaporate the water. The resulting blocks of salt, throughout which Antiagra was evenly disbursed, were distributed in overpopulated areas during deer mating season to serve as salt licks. Stags that used the salt lick show no interest in mating, thereby lowering the pregnancy rate among does and helping to control the deer population. Salt has retained you to conduct a prior art search and, if appropriate, prepare and file a patent application. The only relevant prior art located during the prior art search is a patent to Deere that discloses a salt lick on which a hormonal substance is sprayed. A doe that uses the salt lick ingests the hormonal substance which, in turn, suppresses ovulation and thereby reduces the pregnancy rate. You prepare and file a patent application that provides a fully enabling disclosure and includes four claims sets. Claims 1-5 are directed specifically to the non-hormonal substance (Antiagra), claims 6-9 are directed to a salt lick laced with a non-hormonal substance that, when ingested by a male deer, suppresses sexual function in the male deer, claims 9-14 are directed to the method of forming the salt lick, and claims 14-20 are directed to a method for controlling deer population by distributing salt licks that are treated with an effective amount of XYZ to reduce pregnancy rates. You also properly establish small entity status on behalf of Salt at the time the application is filed.  Claim 6 of the application reads: "A composition for reducing the pregnancy rate among wild deer population, said composition comprising salt and a non-hormonal substance that, when ingested by a male deer, is operable to suppress sexual function in the male deer." Claim 7 reads: "The composition of claim 6, wherein said non-hormonal substance is XYZ." Claim 8 reads, "The composition of claim 6, wherein said composition is formed in a block and wherein said non-hormonal substance is interspersed substantially evenly throughout said block." Each of these claims is fully supported by the specification. An Office action is mailed March 15, 2002. Claim 6 was rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over the Deere patent. Which of the following arguments, if presented in a timely reply to the March 15 Office action, is most likely to persuade the examiner to remove the § 103 rejection without presenting unpersuasive arguments?
A. The invention of claim 6 provides an advantageous feature in that the substance that helps reduce the pregnancy rate is interspersed throughout the salt lick. Thus, the present invention is effective to reduce the pregnancy rate in deer so long as any portion of the salt lick is available to deer. In contrast, the Deere patent utilizes a substance that is sprayed on the outer surface of the salt lick and, therefore, is effective only so long as the outer portion of the salt lick is available.
B. The invention of claim 6 provides an advantageous feature in that the substance that helps reduce the pregnancy rate is interspersed throughout the salt lick. Thus, the present invention is effective to reduce the pregnancy rate in deer so long as any portion of the salt lick is available to deer. In contrast, the Deere patent utilizes a substance that is sprayed on the outer surface of the salt lick and, therefore, is effective only so long as the outer portion of the salt lick is available.
C. In contrast to the present invention, the Deere patent calls for the use of a hormonal substance that suppresses ovulation in female deer. Deere neither discloses nor suggests the use of a non-hormonal substance that, when ingested by a male deer, is operable to suppress sexual function in the male deer, as set forth in claim 6.
D. The present invention relates to a technique for reducing deer overpopulation by causing male deer to ingest a novel substance (XYZ) that is operable to suppress sexual function in the male deer. The Deere patent neither discloses nor suggests such a technique and, therefore, claim 6 is neither anticipated nor rendered obvious by the Deere patent.
(category: patent, Chinese translation: 专利)