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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 02/19/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
In response to the amendment received on 02/19/2026:
claims 1-4 and 6-20 are currently pending
claims 6-20 are withdrawn from consideration
claim 1 is amended
previously presented 112b rejection is withdrawn in light of the amendment to the claim
prior art grounds of rejection reapplying Hawkins, Yuan and Staples are presented herein
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The text of those sections of Title 35 U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office Action.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hawkins et al. (US 20180066216 A1), hereinafter referred to as HAWKINS, in view of Yuan et al. (US 20120292256 A1), hereinafter referred to as YUAN, and Staples et al. (US 6090875 A), hereinafter referred to as STAPLES.
Regarding claim 1, HAWKINS teaches a method for formulation a liquid loading and coating composition (see HAWKINS at Abstract: a method for formulating a cleaning composition contains the step of coating a granular absorbent material), comprising the steps of:
coating a granular absorbent material with a coating agent to produce a coated absorbent material (see HAWKINS at paragraph [0004]: coating a granular absorbent material with a coating agent to produce a coated absorbent material),
wherein the coating agent is cleared silane or siloxane water repellant (see HAWKINS at paragraph [0033]: the coating agent contains one or more agents selected from the group consisting of silanes);
wherein the coating agent forms a surface bonded film on the granular absorbent material (see HAWKINS at paragraph [0034]: the coating agent forms a surface bonded film on the granular absorbent material), and
wherein the granular absorbent material is selected from the group consisting of perlite, or a combination of perlite with one or more absorbent materials selected from the group consisting of ceramic materials, zeolite, activated carbon, fumed silica, processed clays, cellulosic absorbents, and fibrous absorbents (see HAWKINS at paragraph [0017]: the granular absorbent material contains activated carbon, fumed silica, fine perlite, zeolites, processed clays or combinations thereof), and
heating and continued mixing of the granular absorbent material with the coating agent to form a coated absorbent material (see HAWKINS at paragraph [0034]: the vapor deposition is performed by thermal heating the coating agent and the granular absorbent);
mixing the coated absorbent material with a de-dusting agent (see HAWKINS at paragraph [0059]: the modifying agent is added to the coated granular absorbent or the absorbed-and-coated granular absorbent in an amount to achieve desired physical characteristics (e.g., non-dusty)).
While HAWKINS teaches that the coating agent is applied to the granular absorbent material by vapor deposition, and that the vapor deposition is performed by thermal heating the coating agent and the granular absorbent (see HAWKINS at paragraph [0034]), HAWKINS is silent with respect to the perlite being superheated at about 400 to about 500 F, and superheating the granular material with the coating agent.
However, YUAN discloses a method for making a hydrophobic material includes providing a natural mineral, providing a silicone-based material, heating the silicone-based material to release vaporous molecules of the silicone-based material, and depositing the vaporous molecules of the silicone-based material to form a layer of the silicone-based material on surfaces of the natural mineral (see YUAN at paragraph [0009]). YUAN also discloses the use of recycled silicon materials as the starting materials, which can reduce the material cost in manufacturing (see YUAN at paragraph [0020]); and that the coating method can change the surface attribute from hydrophilic to hydrophobic (see YUAN at paragraph [0015]). YUAN teaches porous natural minerals such as pumice, diatomite, bentonite, zeolite, expanded perlite and vermiculite, etc. (see YUAN at paragraph [0014]). YUAN also teaches that the cured silicone rubber and the porous natural mineral are put in an enclosed heating chamber, such as a covered glass or aluminum container, and heated at various temperatures between 100° and 400°C (see YUAN at paragraph [0020]). Additionally, YUAN teaches that the silicone vapor deposition coating process can be integrated with an expanding process of perlite and vermiculite, so that the energy cost of the vapor deposition coating can be reduced or eliminated (see YUAN at paragraph [0022]).
Both HAWKINS and YUAN disclose method of coating perlite with siloxane coating by vapor deposition. Thus, one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized the potential benefit of improving the method of HAWKINS by utilizing heating coating material and the porous natural mineral at temperatures between 100° and 400°C, and integrating the silicone vapor deposition coating process with an expanding process of perlite since YUAN explicitly teaches that by integrating the vapor coating process with an expanding process of perlite reduces or eliminates the energy cost of the vapor deposition coating (see YUAN at paragraph [0022]). Moreover, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to use the recycled silicone materials as the starting materials, thus reducing the material cost in manufacturing (see YUAN at paragraph [0020]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the method of HAWKINS by integrating the silicone vapor deposition coating process with an expanding process of perlite as disclosed by YUAN in order to reduce or eliminate the energy cost of the vapor deposition coating. Thus, HAWKINS as modified by YUAN teaches wherein the perlite has been superheated at about 400 to about 500 F (see YUAN at paragraph [0020]: the cured silicone rubber and the porous natural mineral are heated at various temperatures between 100°C and 400°C/212 and 752 F). In the case where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" a prima facie case of obviousness exists. In re Wertheim. See MPEP §2144.05(I)).
While HAWKINS teaches adding the modifying agent to the coated granular absorbent or the absorbed-and-coated granular absorbent in an amount to achieve desired physical characteristics (e.g., non-dusty) (see HAWKINS at paragraph [0059]), HAWKINS fails to explicitly teach wherein the coated absorbent material absorbs the de-dusting agent to form the composition, and wherein the de-dusting agent is a liquid.
However, STAPLES discloses polymer compositions having reduced dusting tendencies (see STAPLES at Abstract). STAPLES also discloses that for ease of contacting the hydrophobic dedusting agent with the polymer, it is preferred that the dedusting agent be liquid (see STAPLES at Col. 7, lines 43-45), and that exemplary hydrophobic dedusting agents may include aliphatic hydrocarbon oils; natural oils such as castor, corn, cottonseed, olive, rapeseed, soybean are also useful (see STAPLES at Col. 7, lines 58-64).
One of ordinary skill in the art would have anticipated success when modifying the coated material of HAWKINS by including hydrophobic dedusting agents such as liquid rapeseed oil as disclosed by STAPLES, based on teachings of HAWKINS describing adding the modifying agent to the coated granular absorbent or the absorbed-and-coated granular absorbent in an amount to achieve desired physical characteristics (e.g., non-dusty) (see HAWKINS at paragraph [0059]). The rationale for such modification would have been combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. See MPEP §2143(I) (Exemplary rationale (A)).
While HAWKINS is silent with respect to the coating composition for anti-slipping, HAWKINS as modified by YUAN and STAPLES teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and discloses utilizing the same materials and the same method. Accordingly, the method for forming a liquid loading and coating composition disclosed by HAWKINS as modified by YUAN and STAPLES necessarily comprises the claimed functions such as anti-slipping. See MPEP §2112.01(I): “where the claimed and prior art products are identical or substantially identical in structure or composition, or are produced by identical or substantially identical processes, a prima facie case of either anticipation or obviousness has been established. In re Best”.
Regrading claim 2, HAWKINS as modified by YUAN and STAPLES teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the de-dusting agent is rapeseed oil (see rejection of claim 1 above and STAPLES at Col. 7, lines 58-64: exemplary hydrophobic dedusting agents may include natural oils such as castor, corn, cottonseed, olive, rapeseed, soybean).
Regarding claim 3, HAWKINS as modified by YUAN and STAPLES teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the composition is hydrophobic (see rejection of claim 1 above and YUAN at paragraph [0015]: the coating method can change the surface attribute from hydrophilic to hydrophobic; and STAPLES at Col. 7, lines 58-64: hydrophobic dedusting agents).
Regarding claim 4, HAWKINS as modified by YUAN and STAPLES teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the granular absorbent material is perlite (see HAWKINS at paragraph [0017]: the granular absorbent material contains fine perlite).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 02/19/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that HAWKINS, YUAN and STAPLES fail to teach or suggest “wherein the perlite has been superheated at about 400 to about 500F”, and that YUAN teaches that prior to mixing, “raw perlite is heated to 760°C. to 980°C” (see Remarks received on 02/19/2026 spanning paragraphs on pages 9-11).
However, the examiner respectfully disagrees for the following reasons. As set forth, amended claim 1 recites “wherein the perlite has been superheated at about 400 to about 500 F”. As was discussed in the rejection of claim 1 above, YUAN discloses that the cured silicone rubber and the porous natural mineral are heated at various temperatures between 100°C and 400°C/212 and 752 F (see YUAN at paragraph [0020]). While YUAN mentions heating perlite up to 980°C, YUAN refers to the raw perlite ore being heated for expansion (see YUAN at paragraph [0020]). It is noted, that as set forth, claim 1 fails to indicate whether perlite is superheated prior or during mixing with coating agent, thus, the examiner treats the disclosure of YUAN describing the cured silicone rubber and the porous natural mineral being heated at various temperatures between 100°C and 400°C, as reading on the limitation of the present claim.
Furthermore, according to MPEP § 2111, the proper claim interpretation includes giving claims their broadest reasonable interpretation in light of the specification. Therefore, for the purpose of the claim interpretation, the Examiner treats the limitation “wherein the perlite has been superheated at about 400 to about 500 F” according to the specification, paragraph [0099] describing the method for creating an anti-slipping agent including the following steps:
loading 500 pounds Perlite into stainless vat or auger,
while mixing (tumbling) perlite, mist applying 1 - 8% by weight Food Grade FDA cleared silane or siloxane water repellant, mixing for 5 -10 minutes;
heating: turning vat heat on to reach 400 to 500 F and continue mixing for 5 - 10 minutes.
Thus, based on the Applicant’s disclosure and similarly to the method disclosed by YUAN, perlite appears to be superheated after being mixed with the coating agent.
Therefore, the rejection of claim 1 as being unpatentable over HAWKINS, YUAN and STAPLES is maintained.
Conclusion
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/A.A.K./Examiner, Art Unit 1731
/ANTHONY J GREEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1731