Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/617,214

NON-ENZYMATIC, HIGH PH DETERGENT COMPOSITION WITH AMINO ACID

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Mar 26, 2024
Examiner
BOYER, CHARLES I
Art Unit
1761
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
Henkel AG & Co. KGaA
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
71%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 5m
To Grant
81%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 71% — above average
71%
Career Allow Rate
773 granted / 1093 resolved
+5.7% vs TC avg
Moderate +10% lift
Without
With
+10.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 5m
Avg Prosecution
34 currently pending
Career history
1127
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.2%
-39.8% vs TC avg
§103
47.5%
+7.5% vs TC avg
§102
31.8%
-8.2% vs TC avg
§112
14.7%
-25.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1093 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
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 § 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, 5-14, 19, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Farvid et al, US 2020/0002647. Farvid et al teach a detergent composition comprising glycine, nonionic surfactant mixture, chlorhexidine, sodium hydroxide, and the balance water wherein the composition has a pH of 11 (¶105, example A4). As this reference meets all material limitations of the claims at hand, the reference is anticipatory. Claims 1, 2, 5-10, 12-14, 19, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Vesterager, US 10,836,982. Vesterager teaches a hard surface cleaner comprising aspartic acid, sodium hydroxide, and amine oxide which are dissolved in water and has a pH of 13 (col. 13, example 1 and claim 1). As this reference meets all material limitations of the claims at hand, the reference is anticipatory. Claims 1-5, 7-10, 12, 19, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Purdy et al, US 2022/0243145. Purdy et al teach a hard surface cleaner comprising lysine hydrochloride, anionic surfactant, sodium hydroxide, and water wherein the pH of the composition is 13 (¶64, example EA78). As this reference meets all material limitations of the claims at hand, the reference is anticipatory. 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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Levitt et al, US 2018/0127683. Levitt et al teach a hard surface cleaner comprising lysine, dodecylbenzene sulfonate, sodium hydroxide and water with a pH as high as 10.5 (¶126, example E). Another example comprises lysine hydrochloride, alcohol alkoxylate, sodium carbonate, and water with a pH as high as 10.5 (example B) and yet another example comprises arginine, alcohol alkoxylate, potassium hydroxide, and water with a pH as high as 12 (example D). Preferred alcohol ethoxylates of the invention have 7 moles of ethylene oxide (¶146, Tomadol 1-7) and an alkyl group of from 12 to 14 carbon atoms (¶68). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to formulate a composition comprising lysine, sodium carbonate, dodecylbenzene sulfonate and C12-14 (EO7) with a pH of 11, as all of these components are taught as preferred ingredients by the reference, and a pH of 11 is within the preferred range taught by the reference. With respect to claims 19 and 20, as the composition contemplated by the reference is the same as that claimed, it will have the same properties as the claimed composition. 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. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. 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. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /CHARLES I BOYER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1761
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Mar 26, 2024
Application Filed
Feb 09, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12600921
NO RINSE QUAT/ACID/ETHOXYLATED ALCOHOL DISINFECTANT COMPOSITION FOR FOOD CONTACT SURFACES
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12600926
TREATMENT COMPOSITIONS WITH MODIFIED AMINO ACID DIMERS FOR DELIVERING A BENEFIT AGENT
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12593839
FABRIC CARE COMPOSITION COMPRISING A MIXTURE OF CATIONIC BIOCIDE, FUNCTIONALIZED ALKYLPOYGLYCOSIDE, AND SULFOLAURATE SALT
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Patent 12595436
CHEMICAL PRODUCT COMPRISING AN ANIONIC SURFACTANT, CHELANT, AND ENZYME, AND PROCESS FOR CLEANING NANOFILTRATION AND REVERSE OSMOSIS MEMBRANES
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Patent 12590272
HYDROPHOBIC FINISH CAR WASH COMPOSITIONS COMPRISING AN AMINOSILICONE AND AMPHOTERIC/NONIONIC SURFACTANT MIXTURE
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 31, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

AI Strategy Recommendation

Get an AI-powered prosecution strategy using examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Powered by AI — typically takes 5-10 seconds

Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
71%
Grant Probability
81%
With Interview (+10.3%)
2y 5m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1093 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month