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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
Receipt is acknowledged of the Information Disclosure Statement filed on 07/23/2026. The Examiner has considered the reference cited therein to the extent that each is a proper citation. Please see attached USPTO form.
Response to Amendment
This action is responsive to the amendment filed on 07/14/2026.
Claims 1-2, 5-6, 8, 10, 12-14, 18, 21-22, 24-25, 27, 29-31, and 38-39 are pending. Claims 12-14, 18, 21-22, 24-25, 27, 29-31, and 38-39 are withdrawn, and claim 1 is currently amended.
The rejection of claims 1-2, 5-6, 8, and 10 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Roach (US5552079A) are withdrawn because of Applicant’s amendment.
Upon further consideration, new grounds of rejection not relying on the prior art of record are made below.
NEW GROUNDS OF REJECTION
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.
Claims 1-2, 5-6, 8, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Meinke et. al (US20040157762A1) hereinafter Meinke.
Meinke teaches a solid cleaning composition including effective amounts of solvent for removing soil, such as greasy or oily soil (see Abstract). The cleaning composition in the form of a solid such as a powder, a flake, a granule, a pellet, a tablet, a lozenge, a puck, a briquette, a brick, a solid block, a unit dose, or another known solid form of a cleaning composition (see [0009]).With regards to claims 1-3, an exemplary solid cleaning composition for hard surfaces comprising 2.2 wt% sodium hydroxide beads, 28 wt% polyethylene glycol (an organic molecule with a hydroxyl group), 2.8 wt% sodium metasilicate anhydrous, and 0.8 wt% water, among others (see Table 4). With regards to claims 1 and 6, the weight ratio between the alkali metal hydroxide and the water in the composition is 72.4:27.6 (2.2:0.8).
With regards to claim 8, the exemplary composition also comprises of 2 wt% sodium sulfate (salt), 8.3 wt% benzene sulfonic acid (acidity source and pH modifier), 1.1 wt% tetrasodium EDTA powder (chelant), and 0.006 wt% Pylaklor Pink LX-10613 (a dye), among others (see Table 4). Meinke also generally teaches the use of suitable additives such as detersive polymer, rinse aid composition, softener, pH modifier, source of acidity, anti-corrosion agent, solubility modifier, detergent filler, anti-redeposition agent, antimicrobial, rinse aid composition, threshold agent or system, aesthetic enhancing agent (i.e., dye, odorant, perfume), optical brightener, lubricant composition, bleaching agent, enzyme, effervescent agent, other such additives or functional ingredients, and the like, and mixtures thereof in the composition (see [0087]).
With regards to claim 10, the exemplary composition above comprises 2.2 wt% sodium hydroxide beads (see Table 4).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
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/SP/Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1761
/ANGELA C BROWN-PETTIGREW/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1761
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