CTNF 18/703,032 CTNF 77687 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. The examiner acknowledges receipt of preliminary amendment filed 04/19/2024 and IDS filed 09/25/2025, 06/30/2025, 05/02/2025 and 06/05/2024. Claims 3-6 are amended. New claims 7-20 are added. Claims 1-20 are pending. Priority This application is a 371 of PCT/JP2022/039466 filed 10/24/2022 and which claims benefit of Japanese applications 2022-119770 filed 07/27/2020 and 2021-174051 filed10/25/2021. Information Disclosure Statement IDS filed 09/25/2025, 06/30/2025, 05/02/2025 and 06/05/2024 have been considered by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-20-02-aia AIA This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention. 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HORIE et al. (US 20170007526 A1) , HORIE discloses cosmetic hair composition comprising cationic polymer having a charge density of 5.0 to 7.0 meq/g and anionic polymer (abstract; paragraphs [0020], [0021]). Component A, a cationic polymer in one embodiment is dimethyl diallyl ammonium chloride (paragraphs [0007], claim 2) and the content of component A is 0.01% or more but less than 20% (paragraph [0043], claim 4); the cationic component A has cationic group because it is a cationic polymer and since the anionic polymer B and the amphoteric polymers are present at 0.01% to less than 20% through 0.1%, 0.75%, less than 10%, less than 5%, less than 3% (paragraphs [0043], [0052]), the requirement for claim 8 is met. Component B, is polyacrylic acid (Jurymer Series)/polyacrylate, an anionic polymer and is present at 0.01% but less than 20% (paragraph [0050]-[0052], claim 6). In an embodiment, the hair composition also contains rice germ oil (paragraph [0167]), a natural triglyceride and polyglycerin (paragraph [0067]) meeting component C of claims 1 and 7; stearyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (paragraph [0169]), cationic surfactant, meeting component D of claims 1 and 7 and claim 15 ; the composition also contains higher alcohols such as myristyl alcohol, cetyl alcohol, stearyl alcohol, behenyl alcohol, cetostearyl alcohol (paragraph [0065], claim 12) meeting component E of claims 1 and 7; when the composition further comprises benzyl alcohol or benzyloxy alcohol (paragraphs [0088], [0167]), the requirement for aromatic alcohol in claim 4 as component F is met; polyols such as propylene glycol, diethylene glycol, ethylene glycol glycerin and polyglycerin in the composition (paragraph [0067]) meets the non-aromatic polyol of claim 5 as component G and the content of the polyol, in this case polyglycerin is at 0.1% through 0.5%, 1% to less than 20% (paragraphs [0067], [0068]); the hair composition is emulsion (paragraph [0093]) meeting claim 6 . For claims 1, 2 and 7 , components A and B are each present at 0.01% to less than 20% through 0.1%, 0.75%, less than 10%, less than 5%, less than 3% (paragraphs [0043], [0052]. Therefore, before the effective date of the invention, the artisan would reasonably expect to have hair cosmetic composition in which components A and B would have amounts less than 1% taking into account the various amounts of A and B that when included with the other components for the hair care composition would predictably remain on the hair for desired good feel and color retention. For claim 3 , polyglycerin meeting component C is present at 0.1% through 0.5%, 1% to less than 20% (paragraphs [0067], [0068]), the requirement of claim 3 is met in that 0.1%, 0.5% and 1% are specific points within the claimed range. Amphoteric acrylic polymer is listed as hair setting polymer (paragraph [0085]) and the setting polymer is present in at 0.1% to less than 3% (paragraph [0086]). This range encompasses the claimed amount of 1% in claim 9 . The amphoteric nature of the polymer dictates that the polymer has positive and negative charges and the artisan would expect the pH of the amphoteric acrylic polymer to vary based on the concentration of the polymer and the overall charge on the polymer. Specifically, HORIE teaches the pH of the composition to vary between 2 to 12 at 25 o C based what the composition is used for (paragraphs [0089]-[0092]). For claim 10 , the charge density of component A ranges from 5.0-7.0 meq/g (abstract; paragraph [0020], [0025], claim 1) and this range is a species of the claims range. For claim 11 , the molecular weight of component A ranges from 10,000 or 100,00 or less than 1,000,000 (paragraph [0036]). For claim 12 , the anionic component B has anionic group because it is anionic polymer and since the cationic polymer A and the amphoteric polymers are present at 0.01% to less than 20% through 0.1%, 0.75%, less than 10%, less than 5%, less than 3% (paragraphs [0043], [0052]), the requirement for claim 12 is met. For claim 13 , HORIE does not teach the anionic charge of the anionic polymer. However, it would be reasonable to expect that anionic polymer would also have charge density since the anionic polymer would predictably have overall negative charge. For claim 14 , the weight average molecular weight of component B is 7,000 to 18000 (claim 9) and this range is a species of the claimed range. For claim 16 , stearyl alcohol is a C18 aliphatic monohydric alcohol. For claim 17 , component A is present at 0.01% to less than 20% (claim 4) and the disclosed range overlaps the claimed range in such a way that the disclosed range allows for the claimed range of 0.01% to 0.50%. For claim 18 , component B is present at 0.01% to less than 20% (claim 6) and the disclosed range overlaps the claimed range in such a way that the disclosed range allows for the claimed range of 0.01% to 0.50%. For claim 19 , ratio of (A + B)/C is (0.01x2) +(20x)/0.5 (using 0.5 in paragraph [0068]) = 0.04-80 which is a range within the clamed range. For claim 20 , stearyl trimethyl ammonium chloride meeting component D, has been used in hair compositions at 0.25% (paragraphs [0169] and [0172]) and this range lies within the claimed range. Therefore, the teachings of HORIE renders claims 1-20 prima facie obvious. No claim is allowed. Prior art of interest : HATA KOICHI et al. (JP 2009242259 A1 cited in an IDS, machine translation is used) discloses hair conditioning composition comprising cetostearyl alcohol and behenyl alcohol, which are higher alcohol meeting component E of claims 1 and 14; acrylic polymer having t-butyl group, an anionic polymer meeting component B of claims 1 and 7; triglyceride which is a derivative of glycerol/glycerin meeting component C of claims 1 and 7; propylene glycol or glycerin or di-glycerin or ethylene glycol or diethylene glycol or tri-ethylene glycol or di-propylene glycol, non-aromatic polyols meet component G of claim 5; stearyl ammonium chloride, a cationic surfactant meeting component D of claims 1 and 7; dimethyldiallylammonium chloride polymer, a cationic polymer, meeting component A of claims 1 and 7; paragraph [0037] of the translation teaches the presence of phenoxyethanol, an aromatic alcohol meeting claim 4 ; the composition is in the form of emulsion or cream or gel meeting claim 6. See the whole translation with emphasis on paragraphs [0017], [0020], [0026], [0027], [0030], [0035], [0054]. See also the Table on page 14 of the original document. The specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BLESSING M FUBARA whose telephone number is (571)272-0594. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30 am-6 pm (M-T). 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, Brian Yong Kwon can be reached at 5712720581. 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. /BLESSING M FUBARA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1613 Application/Control Number: 18/703,032 Page 2 Art Unit: 1613 Application/Control Number: 18/703,032 Page 3 Art Unit: 1613 Application/Control Number: 18/703,032 Page 4 Art Unit: 1613 Application/Control Number: 18/703,032 Page 5 Art Unit: 1613 Application/Control Number: 18/703,032 Page 6 Art Unit: 1613 Application/Control Number: 18/703,032 Page 7 Art Unit: 1613 Application/Control Number: 18/703,032 Page 8 Art Unit: 1613
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