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 § 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 1-3, 8, 12, 14, 15, and 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Nakagawa et al, US 2008/0261856.
Nakagawa et al teach a hard surface cleaner comprising 6% of a surfactant system comprising 2% alkyl ether sulfate, 2% ethoxylkated alcohol, and 2% alkylamidopropyl betaine, and 0.5% of a commercially available cationic polyvinyl alcohol (¶39, example 3). As this reference meets all material limitations of the claims at hand, the reference is anticipatory.
Claims 1-3, 9, and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Yoshida et al, US 2020/0397680.
Yoshida et al teach a hair cosmetic comprising 44.4% anionic surfactant and 0.3% of a commercially available cationic polyvinyl alcohol (table 2, examples 9 and 10). As this reference meets all material limitations of the claims at hand, the reference is anticipatory.
Claims 1-3, 9, 12, 14, 15, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Hague et al, US 5,543,074.
Hague et al teach a personal cleanser comprising 16% lauryl ether sulfate, 2% lauryl betaine, and 0.1% Quat-PVA formed by reacting PVA with glycidyl trimethylammonium chloride (col. 11, shampoo A). As this reference meets all material limitations of the claims at hand, the reference is anticipatory.
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 1-12 and 14-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakagawa et al, US 2008/0261856.
Nakagawa et al are relied upon as set forth above. Suitable anionic surfactants of the invention include C10-18 alkyl sulfates (¶16) and amphoteric surfactants include betaines and amine oxides (¶19). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to use an alkyl sulfate and amine oxide in example 3 with confidence of forming an effective hard surface cleaner as these surfactants are taught as suitable by the reference.
With respect to the claims 4-7 and the structure of the cationic polyvinyl alcohol, a commercially available cationic polyvinyl alcohol is used by Nakagawa where a quaternary ammonium salt is added on a side chain of the PVA backbone precisely as claimed. As the cationic polyvinyl alcohol is proprietary, the precise structure is unknown, but as it used in a detergent to clean hard surfaces the same as the present invention, the examiner maintains it overlaps the ranges claimed for applicants’ cationic polyvinyl alcohol.
With respect to claim 9, another example contains 50% anionic surfactant in the surfactant system (example 1) and so it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill to use more anionic surfactant in example 3 and satisfy this claim limitation.
With respect to claim 20, any hard surface cleaner, used on porcelain, glass, and metals, immediately calls to mind other products made from these materials, including dishware, and so one of ordinary skill in the art would expect any hard surface cleaner to be effective on dishware, and it is well known that hard surface cleaners may be diluted with water prior to use.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakagawa et al, US 2008/0261856 in view of Federle et al, US 2011/0171155.
Nakagawa et al are relied upon as set forth above. Nakagawa et al teach alkyl sulfates and alkyl ether sulfates but they do not appear to be branched.
Such branched anionic surfactants are common in the art, however, as taught by Federle et al which teaches hard surface cleaners (see abstract) comprising a mixture of branched C12-13 alkyl sulfate and branched C12-13 alkyl ether sulfate, amine oxide, and ethoxylated alcohol (¶366). The reference is relied upon to demonstrate that branched anionic surfactants are common in hard surface cleaners and so it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to use a branched anionic surfactant in the hard surface cleaner of Nakagawa et al with confidence of formulating an effective hard surface cleaner as branched anionic surfactants are taught as preferred in hard surface cleaners as taught by Federle et al.
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.
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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