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 .
Acknowledgement is made to Applicant’s response filed 06/30/2026.
Claims 1-14 and 16-21 are pending.
Claims 1, 2, 4-6, 8-14, 16, 17, and 19-21 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected groups and species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 06/30/2026.
Claims 3, 7, and 18 are currently under consideration to the extent that they read upon Applicant’s elected species.
NOTE: Applicant elected a pastille with an adhesion agent present at 2-32%, polyethylene glycol in an amount of 60-80%, and fragrance in an amount of at least 10%.
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.
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.
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.
Claim(s) 3, 7, and 18 (all claims currently under consideration) is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dykstra et al (US 10301579) and Keningley et al (WO 2021/170759) (both IDS references).
Dykstra teaches a laundry pastille comprising PEG 8000 in an amount of 95.5% and a microencapsulated perfume in an amount of 1.62% (see entire document, for instance, Table 3, composition F5).
Dykstra, while teaching the presence of PEG-8000 and microencapsulated perfume, does not expressly teach the presence of an adhesion component in an amount of 2-32%.
Keningley teaches a laundry pastille composition comprising 30-95% PEG 4000-12000, 0.1-30% perfume, and 0.1-60% secondary carrier (see entire document, for instance, claims 1 and 8). The secondary carrier is taught as being selected from the group including fatty acid and fatty alcohol (see entire document, for instance, page 4, last paragraph). Keningley teaches that beneficial agents can include fish and vegetable oils and waxes (see entire document, for instance, page 10, lines 1-5).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the instantly claimed invention to utilize the 2-32% secondary carrier of the pastilles of Keningley in the pastilles of Dykstra. One would have been motivated to do so since Keningley teaches that utilizing a secondary carrier for a laundry pastille comprising PEG has various benefits, including stability (see Keningley, entire document, for instance, paragraph bridging pages 3 and 4). There would be a reasonable expectation in utilizing vegetable oil or fish oil as the carrier since Keningley teaches that said components are useful for the composition of Keningley, wherein the secondary carrier can be fatty acids and fatty alcohols.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TREVOR M LOVE whose telephone number is (571)270-5259. The examiner can normally be reached M-F typically 6:30-3.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Bethany Barham can be reached at 5712726175. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TREVOR LOVE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1611
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