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 .
This action is responsive to applicants’ amendment and response received May 6, 2026. Claims 1-20 are currently pending.
All rejections set forth in the previous action are withdrawn in view of applicants’ amendment and response.
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 Smets et al, US 2015/0099680.
Smets et al teach a liquid laundry detergent comprising AE1.8S, LAS, NaOH, AE9, HEDP chelant, alkyl dimethylamine oxide, and fluorescent brightener (¶457, example 9A). These compositions may further contain lysine as a formaldehyde scavenger (¶278), and may have a typical pH as high as 11.5 (¶286). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to formulate a liquid laundry detergent according to example 9A with a lysine formaldehyde scavenger as such components are known in the art and taught as suitable by the reference.
With respect to claim 18, AE7 is a preferred nonionic surfactant of the invention (examples 9E and 9F)
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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Surfactants are ubiquitous in detergent compositions, obviously, and amino acids and optical brighteners are common additives.
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.
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.
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/CHARLES I BOYER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1761
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