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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rau et al. (US Patent 6,074,997).
Rau et al. disclose a cleansing bar of superior lathering, feel and aesthetic characteristics is prepared with a quaternary ammonium surfactant, an anionic surfactant, a waxy binder, a filler and water (ABSTRACT). Rau et al. disclose bar comprises up to 50% by weight surfactant; wherein the surfactants includes component (a)-cocamidopropyl betaine (column 4, line 5 and 6), (b)-behentrimonium chloride at a concentration of 0.1-5% (column 3, lines 6 and 7), and (d)-sorbitan ester, i.e. oleate or isostearate that have an HLB of 2 to 6 (column 3, lines 62 and 63). Rau et al. disclose the bar comprises 0-20% waxy binder including a combination of lauric acid and ethylene glycol distearate, which meets the limitation of component (c) (column 4, lines 33-39). Rau et al. disclose the waxy materials have a melting points between 40°C-70°C (column 4, lines 41-42). Rau et al. disclose the bars having stability at 50°C, which would appear to meet the limitation of solid through the range of 0°C to 40°C (TABLE 2, Performance). Rau et al. disclose the bar comprises water at a concentration of about 5-20% (reference claim 1). Rau et al. disclose mixing the components of the bar to form a flowable melt (column 5).
Where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation. See MPEP 2144.05. Therefore, it would be obvious to have varied the amount of each surfactant within the composition motivated by the desire to achieve the desired effect.
Claim(s) 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rau et al. (US Patent 6,074,997) in view of Story (WO 2020/03567).
Rau et al. is discussed above and differs from the instant claims insofar as the method does not specifically disclose and emulsion
Story disclose a method of forming soap bars comprising forming an emulsion by adding all the components with an excess of water and allowing the emulsion to cool, which reduces the water concentration and forms solid bar (reference claims).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have used the process of Story to form the bar of Rau since it a known process for forming cleaning bars.
Conclusion
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/NANNETTE HOLLOMAN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1612
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