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 .
Rejections
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 and 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Miller, C.A., “Spontaneous Emulsification: Recent Developments with Emphasis on Self-Emulsification”, Emulsions and Emulsion Stability, 2nd ed.; Sjoblom, J. Ed.; Surfactant Science, CRC Press, 2005, pp. 107-126.
Miller discloses a method for spontaneous emulsification in which an aqueous phase is mixed with an oil phase comprising a phase-transfer agent. The aqueous phase contains sodium salt of EDTA which contains a partitioning anion which determines the hydrophilicity of the partitioning agent and which falls within the scope of the instantly claimed partitioning agent.
The oil phase contains calcium salt of dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid which falls within the scope of the instantly claimed phase-transfer agent. This phase-transfer agent necessarily creates and promotes an interfacial flux of an anion and promotes formation of droplets at a liquid-liquid interface of the aqueous phase and oil phase. The emulsification is spontaneously formed upon mixing.
See Miller, page 118, first paragraph of section 2.8, noting “can lead to spontaneous emulsification of oil.” and page 119, the second full paragraph. This disclosure of Miller anticipates the instant claim 1.
The instant claim 7 further defines the electrolytes of claim 1 but does not require them to be used in the method of claim 1. Miller anticipates claim 7 for the same reason it anticipates claim 1 therefore.
The amount of calcium dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid is about 144 mM in Miller which falls within the scope of “about 100 mM” of the instant claim 8 within the definition of “about”.
The amount of sodium EDTA is about 13.4 mM in Miller which falls within the scope of “about 10 mM” of the instant claim 9 within the definition of “about”.
Objections
The instant claims 2-6 are objected to as depending from a rejected claim. The instant claims 2-6 are allowable over the prior art considered by the examiner because the prior art does not disclose these inventions and does not provide sufficient motivation to modify the closest prior art into these inventions.
Conclusion
4. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PATRICK D NILAND whose telephone number is (571)272-1121. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Friday from 10 to 5.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Robert S Jones, can be reached at telephone number 571-270-7733. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PATRICK D NILAND/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1762
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