DETAILED ACTION
This Office action is in response to Applicant’s amendment filed March 26, 2026. Applicant has amended claims 1, 12, 14 and 19. Claim 8 has been cancelled. Currently, claims 1-7, 9-21 and 23-25 remain pending in the application.
The text of those sections of Title 35 U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in the prior Office action, Paper No. 20260114.
The objection of claims 19-21 is withdrawn in view of applicant’s amendments and remarks.
The rejection of claims 12, 14 and 19-21 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, is withdrawn in view of applicant’s amendments and remarks.
The rejection of claims 1-9 and 25 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Saito et al, US 2009/0030092, is withdrawn in view of applicant’s amendments and remarks.
The rejection of claims 1-7, 9-21 and 23-25 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Anna et al, WO 2019/232128, is maintained for the reasons of record.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed March 26, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that a molar ratio of amidoamine to N-acylamino acid salt of 0.7:1 to 1:0.2, as required in newly amended claim 1, shown in Table 1 of the instant specification provides unexpected thickening results that is not taught or suggested by Anna et al, WO 2019/232128. However, the examiner respectfully disagrees. Specifically, the examiner asserts that applicant’s results in Table 1 of the instant specification are not commensurate in scope with the instant claims, as required in MPEP 716.02(d). Specifically, instant claim 1 requires any amidoamine of formula (I) and any N-acylamino acid salt of formula (II), whereas the Examples in Table 1 of the instant specification only contain stearamidopropyl dimethylamine (i.e., Dehyquart S18) as the amidoamine and potassium cocoyl glycinate (i.e., Plantapon Amino KG-L) as the N-acylamino acid salt. Accordingly, the examiner asserts that applicant has not shown that the unexpected results occur over the entire claim range. Furthermore, the examiner asserts that the Examples in Table 1 of the specification require additional surfactant components that are not required in independent claim 1. It is noted by the examiner that Example 4 of Table 1 containing a molar ratio of amidoamine to N-acylamino acid salt of 0.7:1 and additional surfactants has a viscosity of 3060 and that Example 11 of Table 1 containing the exact same molar ratio of amidoamine to N-acylamino acid salt of 0.7:1 and different additional surfactants has a viscosity of 2400. Therefore, the examiner maintains that the teaching of a cleaning composition containing 5% by weight of acyl amino acid anionic surfactants (see page 13, line 30-page 14, line 23) and 0.1-5% by weight of an acyl glycinates of formula (X), such as sodium lauroyl glycinate (see page 15, line 16-page 16, line 10) in Anna et al, WO 2019/232128, meets the molar ratio requirement of independent claim 1.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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.
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/BRIAN P MRUK/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1761
Brian P Mruk
May 26, 2026
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