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 .
This action is responsive to applicants’ amendment and response received February 3, 2026. Claims 1-7 are currently pending.
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 6 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shultz, US 2002/0100893.
Shultz teaches a scent blocking formulation comprising a nonionic surfactant, particulate activated carbon, and the balance water (¶99, example 1). Suitable odor absorbents include a 30% bentonite/70% activated carbon mixture, which appears to be commercially available (¶92), and suitable surfactants include amine oxides (¶59), alkylbenzene sulfonates (¶70), alkyl sulfates (¶76), and alkyl ether sulfates (¶81). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to use a 30% bentonite/70% activated carbon mixture and a mixture of surfactants in example 1 as all of these components are taught as suitable by the reference.
Applicants have traversed this rejection on the grounds the composition of the reference has a different intended use than the composition claimed, and this is true. A composition is claimed. If applicants were to receive a patent for their composition, they could use it for any intended use, be it scent-blocking or removing chemical residue. As the reference contemplates the same three ingredients claimed, it is obvious to use them in combination, whatever the intended use.
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: Applicants have claimed a method according to present claim 1. Though activated carbon is known for use an absorbent for pesticides (see US 4,585,753), the prior art does not teach the claimed method using a bentonite/activated carbon/surfactant mixture to treat a rinsate in a tank that once housed a pesticide, and so the method claims are allowable.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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 CHARLES I BOYER whose telephone number is (571)272-1311. The examiner can normally be reached M-S 10-430.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Angela Brown-Pettigrew can be reached at 5712722817. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHARLES I BOYER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1761