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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-9, 12-16, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Bouzid et al (EP 4032590).
With regards to claims 1 and 16, Bouzid teaches a fire extinguishing formulation (0001) that includes mixtures of surfactants, solvents, and other additives (0002). Bouzid teaches the formulation to include a heat stabilizer that includes sucrose (reading on a disaccharide sugar) (0067), surfactants that include amphoteric surfactants (cited as the same as zwitterionic surfactant) (0027) and anionic surfactants (0028) (0031), an organic solvent (0041), and from 50 to 95% water (0049). Bouzid does not teach the addition of monosaccharides and/or eutectic solvents (0084 example 1).
With regards to claim 2, Bouzid teaches the amount of heat stabilizer (sucrose 0067) to be from 0.5 to 10%, the amount of anionic surfactant to be 0.5 to 2%, the amount of amphoteric surfactants (zwitterionic surfactant 0027) to be 0.25 to 1.5%, the amount of organic solvent to be 2.5 to 10%, and the amount of water to be 50 to 95% (0049).
With regards to claim 3, Bouzid teaches the heat stabilizer to be sucrose (0067).
With regards to claims 4 and 5, Bouzid teaches the anionic surfactant to include sulfates and sulfonates (0028) that includes triethanol ammonium alkyl sulfate (0084).
With regards to claim 6, Bouzid teaches the amphoteric surfactant to include dimethyl carboxymethyl betaine (0084).
With regards to claims 7 and 8, Bouzid teaches the organic solvent to include ethylene glycol or propylene glycol (0084).
With regards to claim 9, Bouzid teaches the surfactant to include non-ionic surfactants (0030).
With regards to claims 12-14, Bouzid teaches the addition of polysaccharide gums (0006).
With regards to claim 15, Bouzid teaches the composition to be free of fluorinated compounds (0023).
With regards to claim 19, Bouzid teaches the composition to be used for a fire-fighting composition (0001).
With regards to claim 20, Bouzid teaches the composition to extinguish a fire (0025).
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 9-11 and 17-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bouzid et al (EP 4032590) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Thach et al (WO 92/04942).
The disclosure of Bouzid is adequately set forth in paragraph 3 above and is herein incorporated by reference.
With regards to claims 9-11, Bouzid does not teach the addition of the claimed non-ionic surfactants.
Thach teaches a composition for fire-fighting foams (page 2) that includes nonionic surfactants (page 5) at a concentration of 0.5 to 6% (page 7) and includes alkyl polyglycosides (page 12). Thach teaches the motivation for adding non-ionic surfactants to be because it maximizes the electrical attraction between the mixed micelles and the polymer without causing the precipitation of a surfactant/polymer complex, thus, improving the stability of the foam (page 8) and the particular nonionic surfactant has high water solubility, has a very low air/water surface tension and product a large amount of foam (pages 9-10). Bouzid and Thach are analogous in the art of foam fire extinguishing compositions. In light of the benefit above, it would be obvious to one skilled in the art prior to the effective filing date of the present invention to add the nonionic surfactant of Thach in the composition of Bouzid, thereby obtaining the present invention.
With regards to claims 17-18, Bouzid does not teach the source/type of water used in the composition.
Thach teaches a composition for fire-fighting foams (page 2) that includes water that includes fresh water, brackish water, or sea water (page 1). Thach teaches the motivation for the selection of the water to be based on availability and the amount of salts in the water (pages 7-8). Bouzid and Thach are analogous in the art of foam fire extinguishing compositions. In light of the benefit above, it would be obvious to one skilled in the art prior to the effective filing date of the present invention to select the water based on the conditions taught by Thach for the water of Bouzid, thereby obtaining the present invention.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JESSICA WHITELEY whose telephone number is (571)272-5203. The examiner can normally be reached 8 - 5:00.
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/JESSICA WHITELEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1763
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