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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Group I in the reply filed on 07/24/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that there are related technical features between the species and there would be no undue burden on the Examiner to examine all the species. The arguments are found persuasive and all species in Group I were considered.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claims 19-33 and 44-47 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 07/24/2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 4-18, 34-38 and 48 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kawada JP 0731603 A.
Kawada teaches a skin softening cosmetic composition comprising a complex of carboxylic acid and amino acid. See Constitution at page 2 and Claims 1-6.
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 1-18, 34-38 and 48 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kawada JP 0731603 A, in view of Kaneko et al. WO 2020166678 A1.
Kawada is relied upon for the reasons stated above. Kawada does not expressly teach claimed amino acid and carboxylic acid complex.
Kanedo teaches a novel cosmetic composition comprising an organic ammonium salt that has a hydrogen-bonding functional group in a cation and/or an anion. In a preferable embodiment, the cation is an ammonium cation and is represented by formula (I). (In the formula, each R1 independently represents a hydroxyalkyl group or the like that includes at least one hydroxyl group and a C1–10 straight-chain or branched alkyl moiety that may include an oxygen atom, each R2 independently represents a hydrogen atom or a C1–18 straight-chain or branched alkyl group, and n represents an integer from 0 to 4.) See Abstract. The cosmetic preparation of the present invention contains an organic ammonium salt having a hydrogen-bonding functional group in at least one of a cation and an anion. In the present invention, the organic ammonium salt contains an organic cation or NH4+ having a nitrogen atom as an ionic center, and an organic anion. 1-1. Cation The cation of the organic ammonium salt is not particularly limited, but may be a cation having a nitrogen atom as an ionic center, for example, an ammonium cation (organic ammonium cation substituted with an organic group NR4+ (R is at least one In addition to organic groups other than hydrogen atoms) and NH4+ ) and ammonium cations, cations of organic ammonium salts in which the nitrogen atom of the cation is replaced by an organic group include imidazolium cations, pyridinium cations, and pyrrolidinium cations. , Piperidinium cation, pyrrolinium cation, pyrazinium cation, triazolium cation, isoquinolinium cation, oxazolinium cation, thiazolinium cation, morpholinium cation, guanidinium cation, pyrimidinium cation , Piperazinium cations, triazinium cations, quinolinium cations, indolinium cations, quinoxalinium cations, isoxazolium cations, cationic amino acids and the like. Among these, an ammonium cation, an imidazolium cation, a pyridinium cation, a pyrrolidinium cation, a piperidinium cation, and a morpholinium cation are preferable, and an ammonium cation is more preferable. In addition, the cations exemplified here are shown as a general term including cations having a basic structure as described and those including a substituent such as a hydrogen-bonding functional group. The organic ammonium salt used in the present invention preferably has a cation having a hydrogen-bonding functional group. The hydrogen-bonding functional group is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include an oxygen-containing group, a nitrogen-containing group, a sulfur-containing group, a phosphorus-containing group, and a hydrogen atom directly bonded to nitrogen. The oxygen-containing group is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include a hydroxyl group, a carbonyl group, an ether group, an ester group, an aldehyde group, a carboxyl group, a carboxylate group, a urea group, a urethane group, an amide group, an oxazole group, a morpholine group, and carbamine. Examples thereof include acid groups and carbamate groups. The nitrogen-containing group is not particularly limited, but examples thereof include an amino group and a nitro group. The hydroxyalkyl group has one or more hydroxyl groups, and the alkyl moiety is preferably linear or branched having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, more preferably 1 to 6 carbon atoms, and further preferably 1 to 4 carbon atoms, Straight-chain is preferable, and the alkyl moiety may contain an oxygen atom. The carboxyalkyl group has one or more carboxy groups, and the alkyl moiety is preferably a straight chain or branched chain having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, more preferably 1 to 6 carbon atoms, and further preferably 1 to 5 carbon atoms. The straight chain is preferable, and the alkyl moiety may contain an oxygen atom. See translation document.
Thus, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to optimize the teaching in Kawada to include complex taught in the Kaneko reference with the expectation to obtain a cosmetic composition with unexpected results that are good for the skin. This is because the Kaneko reference teaches the use of a complex of amino acid and carboxylic acid is known and useful in cosmetic art.
Correspondence
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/SUSAN T TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1615
