DETAILED ACTION
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 03/02/2026 has been entered.
Claim Objections
Claim 9 is objected to because of the following informalities: In line 4 of the claim, the second comma (,) should be deleted between “acid, , butyl”. Appropriate correction is required.
Response to Amendment
In response to the amendment received on 03/02/2026:
claims 1-6, 8-15 and 17-19 are currently pending
claims 1-2 are amended
previously presented prior art grounds of rejection are withdrawn in light of the amendment to the claims
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-6, 8-15 and 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the viscosity”" in line 5 and “the fabric” in line 9. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Please note, claims 3-6 and 8-10 are rendered indefinite as a result of their dependency on claim 1.
Claim 2 recites the limitation "the viscosity”" in line 4, p. 2 and “the fabric” in line 8, p. 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Please note, claims 11-15 and 17-19 are rendered indefinite as a result of their dependency on claim 2.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-6, 8-15 and 17-19 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the prior art fails to teach or render obvious all the cumulative limitations as set forth in the independent claims 1 and 2.
HARM (KR 20190066598 A), KOBAYASHI (US 9359718 B2) and CHOI (KR 100581192 B2) are considered the closest prior art.
HARM discloses an antimicrobial coating composition capable of coating a nonwoven fabric (see HARM at paragraph [1]). The composition of HARM comprises 1 to 5 parts by weight of a binder such as chitosan (see HARM at paragraphs [13] and [20]), 0.01 to 5 parts by weight of a plasticizer, e.g., organic acid (see HARM at paragraphs [26], [109] and [114]), 0.1 to 5 parts by weight of inorganic filler (see HARM at paragraph [105]) and 80 to 96 parts by weight of solvent (see HARM at paragraph [13]). Additionally, HARM discloses excellent antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 6538), and excellent antimicrobial activity against Klebsiella pneumoniae (ATCC 4352) (paragraph [59]), and a bacterium reduction rate in both Staphylococcus aureus and Pneumococcus of 99.9% (see HARM at paragraph [144]).
KOBAYASHI discloses composition containing chitosan and glyoxylic acid solution which can form a water-insolubilized chitosan coating (see KOBAYASHI at Col. 3, lines 12-15), the base material treated with the chitosan composition can be fibrous formed product (see KOBAYASHI at Col. 3, lines 34-37). KOBAYASHI also discloses that the content of glyoxylic acid in the composition may preferably be 0.1 to 3 times by weight that of the chitosan, and further, the composition may also contain an acidic component other than glyoxylic acid, an alkaline component, a salt or the like for pH adjustment, solution viscosity adjustment, or a like purpose; and that its use in an amount ranging from 0.01 to 20 times by weight the amount of glyoxylic acid is preferred from the standpoint of maintaining the stability of the composition (see KOBAYASHI at Col. 8, lines 3-14). Additionally, KOBAYASHI discloses that salts which can be added to the composition are salts soluble in solvents, for example, inorganic salts such as alkali metal salts, alkaline earth metal salts, typical examples of these salts include sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate, lithium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, sodium hydrogen carbonate, sodium chloride, potassium chloride, lithium chloride, magnesium chloride (see KOBAYASHI at Col. 8, lines 50-58).
CHOI discloses a strong antibacterial deodorant, deodorant and deodorant, and a method for producing a textile treatment agent that radiates far infrared rays and blocks ultraviolet rays to impart health and comfort to the human body from various harmful substances generated from the surroundings of the life (see CHOI at Abstract). CHOI also discloses that chitosan was used as a starting material to give antibacterial and deodorizing effect to the finished product. It was dissolved in deacetylated chitosan using oil and inorganic acids such as citric acid, lactic acid, dilute sulfuric acid or acetic acid, etc. (see CHOI at paragraph 5, p. 3). Additionally, CHOI discloses that the deacetylation degree of chitosan used is most effective within 60 to 95%, and that the molecular weight is 40,000 to 100,000 is the most antibacterial and does not cause yellowing when treated to the fiber (see CHOI at paragraph 2, p. 4).
However, HARM, KOBAYASHI and CHOI fail to disclose the composition comprising chitosan, organic acid and mineral powder and having a viscosity from 500 to 6000 cps as measured by a Brookfiled viscometer at 25°C, and wherein a fabric treated with the aforementioned composition having a far infrared emissivity of 0.850 or more at a wavelength of 5 to 20 µm. Furthermore, HARM in view of KOBAYASHI and CHOI does not teach or suggest any reasons or incentives for the one of ordinary skill in the art to have adjusted the viscosity of a fabric finishing agent composition to be withing the range set forth in claims 1 and 2. Therefore, it would be improper hindsight to further modify HARM in view of KOBAYASHI and CHOI so that the antimicrobial coating composition of HARM would be equivalent to the claimed textile finishing agent composition.
Conclusion
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/A.A.K./Examiner, Art Unit 1731
/ANTHONY J GREEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1731