DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
The amendment dated 11/20/2025 has been considered and entered. The terminal disclaimer filed on 11/20/2025 has been approved. Therefore, the previous rejections based on obviousness double patenting are withdrawn. However, new rejections based on new matter are made below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 14, 15, 17 – 19, 21 – 24, 28, 32, 39 – 59 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 claim includes a negative proviso which requires the absence of fatty acids in the composition in order to overcome the rejections in view of Theyssen et al. (US 2010/0009879). While applicant’s specification recites long chain fatty acids as ingredient on page 9 of the disclosure as originally filed, the recitation is not inclusive of all fatty acids (i.e., excludes short chain fatty acids of 8 carbon atoms or less) and there is no positive recitation of fatty acid as an ingredient in general to support the negative proviso.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 14, 15, 17 – 19, 21 – 24, 28, 32, 39 – 59 are objected to pending the rejections under 35 USC 112.
The closest prior art by Seemeyer et al. (US 2008/0176778) and alternatively by Theyssen et al. (US 2010/0009879) each teach lubricant for conveyors having phosphate esters and emulsifiers, but Seemeyer fails to teach the specific phosphate of the claims, and Theyssen fails to teach a fatty acid free composition.
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Conclusion
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/TAIWO OLADAPO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1771