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
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.
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- 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP-2003-146829 (“JP’829”) in view of JP 6971072 B2 (“JP’072”).
Claim 1: JP’829 teaches water-repellent cellulose formed by surface treating cellulose beads with hydrogenated lecithin (abstract) in a concentration of 1 to 30 parts by mass (JP’829, translation copy, page 5, 2nd-3rd paragraphs) which overlaps the claimed range of 0.1 to 5 parts by mass. JP’829 does not teach the content of phosphatidylcholine in the hydrogenated lecithin; however, JP’072 teaches that a content of at least 40% by mass of phosphatidylcholine in hydrogenated lecithin is optimally safe for cosmetic use (JP’072, claims). In light of JP’072 teaching, the POSITA would have found it obvious to utilize hydrogenated lecithin with at least 40% of phosphatidylcholine for skin safe reason.
Claim 2: The hydrogenated lecithin of JP’072 inherently possess an acid value of 5 to 25 mgKOH/g and an iodine value of 0.1 to 2 I₂g/100 g.
Claim 3: JP’829 teaches the average size of the cellulose beads is 15 mm or less and an aspect ratio of 2 or less (JP’829, translation copy, page 3, 5th paragraph), which average particle size overlaps the claimed range of 3-15 mm and an aspect ratio of 2 or less means a sphericity of 0.5 up to 1 and thus the aspect ratio overlaps the claimed sphericity of 0.6 to 1.
Claims 4-5: JP’829 teaches a method for producing water-repellent cellulose beads comprising mixing cellulose beads, hydrogenated lecithin, and water to obtain a mixed liquid, heating the mixed liquid to 70oC (JP’829, para. 0020) which is within the claimed range of 50 to 90°C; and subjecting the mixed liquid to filtration (para. 0020), wherein the lecithin is added in a concentration of 1 to 30 parts by mass (JP’829, translation copy, page 5, 2nd-3rd paragraphs). JP’829 does not teach the content of phosphatidylcholine in the hydrogenated lecithin; however, JP’072 teaches that a content of at least 40% by mass of phosphatidylcholine in hydrogenated lecithin is optimally safe for cosmetic use (JP’072, claims). In light of JP’072 teaching, the POSITA would have found it obvious to utilize hydrogenated lecithin with at least 40% of phosphatidylcholine for skin safe reason.
Claim 6: JP’829 teaches adjusting the mixed liquid to between 3-60oC (JP’929, translation copy, page 6, 3rd paragraph) in filtration, which overlaps the claimed range of 0 to 40°C.
Claim 7: The water-repellent beads are used in cosmetic composItion (JP’829, para. 0038).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP’829 and JP’072 as applied to claims 1-2 and 4-7 above, and further in view of KOBAYSHI (US-2022/0142900).
JP’829 AND JP’072 teach the water-repellent cellulose beads of the claimed invention as discussed above. Similarly to JP’829, Kobayashi teaches surface-treating cellulose beads with hydrogenated lecithin among other surfactants (Kobayashi, para. 0128). Therefore, it would have been obvious to the POSITA that the cellulose of Kobayashi is suitable for surface treating in JP’829. The particle size of the cellulose beads is 5-2 to 7.1 mm and their sphericity is from 0.95 to 0.98, (Kobayashi, page 14, Table 1, Examples 1-3) thus fall within the claimed range of 2-15 mm and 0.6 to 1.0, respectively.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HOA (Holly) LE whose telephone number is (571)272-1511. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday, 10:00 am to 7:00 pm.
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HOA (Holly) LE
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1788
/HOA (Holly) LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1788
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