DETAILED ACTION
Status of Application
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
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 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.
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 of this title, 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claims 1-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shelton et al. (WO 2007/033252 A1) Shelton.
Regarding claims 1-17, Shelton is drawn to cellulose ester compounds and compositions that include such cellulose ester compounds dissolved in lipophilic solvents (abstract).
Shelton discloses compositions containing one or more cellulose ester compounds of the present invention along with one or more lipophilic solvent, and uses of such compositions in personal care and cosmetic applications (pg. 2).
Shelton discloses cellulose ester compounds have especially advantageous solubility in lipophilic solvents if the ester moieties on such compounds are branched and saturated, unbranched and saturated, or branched and unsaturated (pg. 13).
Shelton discloses the compositions are useful in oil-based cosmetic products or as part of the oil-phase in emulsions used in cosmetic or personal care products. As such, the compositions may contain any other suitable ingredients. Examples of
ingredients suitable in personal care products include, for example, cleansing
agents, emollients, moisturizers, pigments, including pearlescent pigments,
colorants, fragrances, biocides, preservatives, antioxidants, antiperspirant
agents, oral care agents, exfoliants, hormones, enzymes, medicinal compounds,
vitamins, ultraviolet light absorbers, dihydroxyacetone, skin bleaching agents,
antiacne agents, botanical extracts, silicone oils (pg. 16).
Shelton discloses cellulose as well as any compound based upon cellulose having substitution of one or more of the hydroxyl groups present on naturally
occurring cellulose with another moiety. The substitution can be with any moiety (e.g. an ester, an ether, thioester, thioether (sulfide), hydroxyl, phosphate, carbonate, amine, imine, amide, nitrate, nitrile, urethane (carbamate ester), urea, thiourea, silane, sulfate, sulfonic acid, azole, phenol, pyridine or pyrimidine moieties or linkages, or any combination of the foregoing) (pg. 3).
Shelton discloses the cellulose ester compound has an acetyl degree of substitution of less than 1.0 (pg. 15). Shelton discloses wherein the total degree of substitution for the first ester moiety on the at least one cellulose compound is at least 0.8 and wherein at least some of the at least one cellulose compound is dissolved in the at least one lipophilic solvent.
Shelton does not explicitly disclose each of the components of the composition in a single embodiment.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Shelton, to arrive at the instant invention.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so because Shelton discloses the required ingredients and is drawn to cellulose ester compounds and compositions (abstract). Further, one having ordinary still in the art would reasonably expect success in combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results, see MPEP 2141.
Conclusion
No claims are allowed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to QUANGLONG N TRUONG whose telephone number is (571)270-0719. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:00 am-5:00 pm.
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, Robert A Wax can be reached on 571-272-0623. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/QUANGLONG N TRUONG/Examiner, Art Unit 1615
Prosecution Insights