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 § 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 1-13, and 15-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bach, US 2019/0284647.
Bach teaches an enzyme granule for use in laundry or dishwashing detergents (¶58) comprising bacillus endospores and PEG 4000 sprayed on a carrier granule comprising cellulose, dextrin, calcium carbonate and sodium sulfate wherein the carrier is 90% of the granule (¶194 and 195). The endospores may be present in an amount of from 102 to 1012 CFU/g (¶54) and common ingredients for use in laundry detergents, such as dyes (¶134), perfumes, builders, such as carbonates (¶130), and polymers may be added (¶158).
With respect to the particle weight, the particle size of these granules is from 300-1180µ (¶194). The examiner notes that particle size, rather than particle weight, is how detergent granules are identified in the art. That said, the examiner maintains that very small granules will have a very small weight, and 5 mg to 200 mg is an obvious weight for detergent granules for persons of ordinary skill in the art, and such a limitation does not add patentable weight to the claims.
Similarly, with respect to claim 18, a sieve of 22.6 mm is nearly an inch wide opening and 0.841 mm is only 0.03 inches wide. 1180µ equates to over 0.03 inches and so typical detergent granules will fall within the range claimed.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bach, US 2019/0284647 alone or in view of Joshi et al, US 4,549.977.
Bach is relied upon as set forth above. Bach teaches a detergent in unit-dose form, not dispensed with a dosing cap as claimed. First, the examiner maintains that persons of skill in the art and consumers alike understand that any detergent may be dispensed form a convenient means, including a unit-dose detergent or a dosing cap. That said, Joshi et al teach that a particulate detergent composition may be dispensed from a convenient measuring cap (col. 11, lines 1-5). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to use a dosing cap, well-known in the art to dispense a detergent composition as taught by Joshi et al, with confidence of successfully dispensing a particulate detergent.
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
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