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 Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jinsong et al., GB2483886 in view of Kleen et al., DE 19945487m as evidenced by Introducing Amino Acids, Jim Clark 2004.
Regarding claims 1-10, Jinsong discloses the treatment of wool [animal hair] [page 1, paragraph 0001 and 0004]. Paragraph 0001 of page 4 discloses wool fiber treated with reducing agent sodium sulphite [sulphite salt] in a buffer solution that is adjusted to pH 8 [weakly alkaline] at 80-85 ºC for 10 minutes. Paragraph 0004 of page 3 of Jinsong discloses that the wool can be further treated with protein crosslinking enzymes such as tranglutaminase.
Jinsong is silent to the enzymatic treatment including a protein and a transglutaminase [enzymatic treatment]. Jinsong does disclose that the wool can be further treated with protein crosslinking enzymes such as tranglutaminase. Kleen discloses in paragraph 0005 reduction of damage to keratinous fibers caused by a wide variety of influences. Wool is a keratinous fiber. Kleen discloses in paragraphs 0071-0074 wool first treated with a reducing solution and then treated with casein [protein] and transglutaminase for 60 minutes at 50 ºC. Kleen also discloses that amino acids can be added with the transglutaminase [0066]. Introduction to Amino Acids, Jim Clark provides evidence that amino acids are water soluble. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. Jinsong and Kleen are analogous art in that both references are directed to the treatment of wool [animal hair] with a reducing treatment and an enzymatic treatment. One of ordinary skill in the art would utilize the enzymatic treatment of Kleen including treating the wool with casein and transglutaminase after the reduction treatment as the enzymatic treatment of Jinsong for the benefit of enhanced reduction of damage to the wool due to a variety of influences.
Conclusion
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/CAMIE S THOMPSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1786