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 Objections
Claim 6 is objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as being a substantial duplicate of claim 5. When two claims in an application are duplicates or else are so close in content that they both cover the same thing, despite a slight difference in wording, it is proper after allowing one claim to object to the other as being a substantial duplicate of the allowed claim. See MPEP § 608.01(m).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
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, 3 and 8-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102((a)(1)) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Caserta et al, US 2023/0389546.
Caserta et al, US 2023/0389546, discloses an antimicrobial composition comprising an amide modified amino acid antimicrobial active, wherein the composition has a pH of less than 9 (see abstract). It is further taught by Caserta et al that the amide modified amino acid antimicrobial active is present in the composition in an amount of 0.0025-10%, wherein this amount is effective to result in a log 4 reduction of gram negative bacteria in 5 minutes (see paragraphs 21-22), that the antimicrobial composition further contains 0.01-10% by weight of a surfactant, such as ethoxylated alcohols, alkyl polyglycosides, amine oxides and zwitterionic surfactants (see paragraphs 23-58), 0.1-10% by weight of a solvent, such as a glycol ether and an alkyl ester (see paragraphs 66-75), and water (see paragraphs 8 and 111), wherein suitable amide modified amino acid antimicrobial actives have the structure:
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88
364
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, which meets the proteinogenic amino acid of formula (I) in the instant claims when M is NR3BR3C, R3B is hydrogen, R3C is a C12 alkyl group, R2A and R2B are both hydrogen, and R1 is an unsubstituted side chain at the alpha-carbon (see structure number 7 in Table 11), per the requirements of the instant invention. Also, note Synthesis Example 7 in paragraph 134, Tables 1-10, and especially Table 2B in paragraph 141, which shows that structure number 7 has a positive charge. Therefore, instant claims 1, 3 and 8-21 are anticipated by Caserta et al, US 2023/0389546
In the alternative that the above disclosure is insufficient to anticipate the above listed claims, it would have nonetheless been obvious to the skilled artisan to produce the claimed composition, as the reference teaches each of the claimed ingredients within the claimed proportions for the same utility.
Claims 1, 2, 7 and 9-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102((a)(1)) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Caserta et al, US 2023/0389545.
Caserta et al, US 2023/0389545, discloses an antimicrobial composition comprising 0.01-10% by weight of a nonionic surfactant, 0.01-10% by weight of a non-aqueous solvent, and an antimicrobial agent having a modified amino acid according to formula I, wherein the composition contains at least 50% by weight of water and has a pH of less than 9 (see abstract). It is further taught by Caserta et al that the amide modified amino acid antimicrobial active is present in the composition in an amount of 0.0010-10%, wherein this amount is effective to result in a log 4 reduction of gram negative bacteria in 5 minutes (see paragraphs 21-22), that the antimicrobial composition further contains 0.01-10% by weight of a surfactant, such as ethoxylated alcohols, alkyl polyglycosides, amine oxides and zwitterionic surfactants (see paragraphs 23-54), 0.1-10% by weight of a solvent, such as a glycol ether and an alkyl ester (see paragraphs 62-69), and water (see paragraphs 8 and 109), wherein suitable amide modified amino acid antimicrobial actives have the structure:
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102
214
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, which meets the proteinogenic amino acid of formula (I) in the instant claims when M is OR3A, R3A is a C8 alkyl group, R2A and R2B are both hydrogen, and R1 is an unsubstituted side chain at the alpha-carbon (see structure number 5 in Table 11), per the requirements of the instant invention. Also, note Synthesis Example 5 in paragraph 130, Tables 1-10, and especially Table 2B in paragraph 140, which shows that structure number 5 has a positive charge. Therefore, instant claims 1, 2, 7 and 9-21 are anticipated by Caserta et al, US 2023/0389545.
In the alternative that the above disclosure is insufficient to anticipate the above listed claims, it would have nonetheless been obvious to the skilled artisan to produce the claimed composition, as the reference teaches each of the claimed ingredients within the claimed proportions for the same utility.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 and 5 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Specifically, the prior art of record does not teach or suggest in general a cleaning composition containing the specific structure of the alkylated amino acid of Formula (I) required by applicant in instant claims 4 and 5.
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 19, 2026
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