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 allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). 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, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on September 17, 2026 has been entered.
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 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 and 3-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Courchay et al, US 2021/0189303.
The applied reference has a common assignee with the instant application. Based upon the earlier effectively filed date of the reference, it constitutes prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2).
Courchay et al, US 2021/0189303, discloses a water-soluble unit dose article containing a water-soluble film (see abstract). It is further taught by Courchay et al that the water-soluble film is a blend of a caseinate polymer and a polyvinyl alcohol homopolymer in a weight ratio of 25:75 to 60:40 (see paragraphs 9-13), that the polyvinyl alcohol homopolymer optionally contains vinyl acetate monomer units (i.e., anionic monomers; see paragraph 28), that the water-soluble polymer makes up 50-95% by weight of the film (see paragraph 14), that the water-soluble film contains 5-50% by weight of a non-aqueous plasticizer, such as glycerol (see paragraphs 15-16), that the caseinate polymer is an alkaline metal salt of caseinate (see paragraphs 23-24), that the polyvinyl alcohol homopolymer has a degree of hydrolysis of 75-100% by weight (see paragraph 30), that the polyvinyl alcohol homopolymer has an average viscosity of 1-30 mPas (see paragraph 31), that the water-soluble film has a moisture content of at least 4% (see paragraph 19), and that the water-soluble unit dose article contains a treatment composition that contains a non-soap anionic surfactant, less than 15% by weight of water, and 10-40% by weight of a non-aqueous solvent (see paragraphs 45-68).
Although Courchay et al generally discloses a water-soluble film that is a blend of a caseinate polymer and a polyvinyl alcohol homopolymer containing vinyl acetate monomers in a weight ratio of 25:75 to 60:40, the reference does not require such a water-soluble film containing a polyvinyl alcohol homopolymer containing vinyl acetate monomers with sufficient specificity to constitute anticipation.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to have formulated a water-soluble film, as taught by Courchay et al, which contained a polyvinyl alcohol homopolymer containing vinyl acetate monomers, because such water-soluble films fall within the scope of those taught by Courchay et al. Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success, because such a water-soluble film containing a polyvinyl alcohol homopolymer containing vinyl acetate monomers is expressly suggested by the Courchay et al disclosure and therefore is an obvious formulation.
This rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 might be overcome by: (1) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(a) that the subject matter disclosed in the reference was obtained directly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint inventor of this application and is thus not prior art in accordance with 35 U.S.C.102(b)(2)(A); (2) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(b) of a prior public disclosure under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(B); or (3) a statement pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) establishing that, not later than the effective filing date of the claimed invention, the subject matter disclosed and the claimed invention were either owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person or subject to a joint research agreement. See generally MPEP § 717.02.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRIAN P MRUK whose telephone number is (571)272-1321. The examiner can normally be reached on 7:00am-5:30pm Monday-Thursday.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Angela Brown-Pettigrew, can be reached on 571-272-2817. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/BRIAN P MRUK/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1761
Brian P Mruk
October 5, 2026
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