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 . Claims included in the prosecution are claims 1-4.
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) 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Budnik et al. (US 4,855,379, Aug. 8, 1989) (hereinafter Budnik) (IDS reference) in view of Hüttinger et al. (US 4,698,178, Oct. 6, 1987) (hereinafter Hüttinger) (IDS reference).
Budnik discloses a silicone surfactant having the formula: MDaDobD”cM, wherein M represents Me3SiO1/2, D represents Me2SiO, Do represents MeSi(O)CH2CH2Si(Me)O-(Me2SiO)x, where x = 2 to 4, and D” represents MeSi(O)CH2CH2CH2-O-Polyether, in which a has a value of from 0 to 200, b has a value of from 1 to 200, and c has a value of from 1 to 200 (claim 4). The silicone surfactant contains cyclic siloxane pendants (col. 4, lines 1-3).
Budnik’s M corresponds to the claimed
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90
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and
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, Da corresponds to the claimed
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98
80
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, Dob corresponds to the claimed
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112
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, and D”c corresponds to claimed
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98
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, wherein claimed c = 0.
Budnik differs from the instant claims insofar as not disclosing wherein Dob and D”c are reversed in order, wherein the polyether in D” is (C2H4O)e-(C3H6O)f-R5, and wherein the silicone surfactant is used in cosmetics.
However, Hüttinger discloses the use of copolymers of the formula
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478
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as emulsifiers for the preparation of W/O emulsions. In the formula R is an alkyl radical with 1 to 4 carbon atoms or a hydrogen radical and the molecular weight of the (C2H4O-)x(C3H6O-)yR radical is 250 to 2,000 with x and y being selected so that the weight ratio of oxyethylene to oxypropylene is 100:0 to 20:80 (abstract). The preferred area of application of the W/O emulsion is in cosmetics (col. 2, lines 46-48).
As shown by Hüttinger, Budnik’s D” may be bonded next to Me2SiO with another polysiloxane polymer bonded on the other side. Accordingly, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have reversed the order of Dob and D”c of Budnik since reversing the order has no effect on surfactant formation and this is another known effective surfactant as taught by Hüttinger.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have used (C2H4O-)x(C3H6O-)yR, wherein R is an alkyl radical with 1 to 4 carbon atoms or a hydrogen radical as the polyether of Budnik since Budnik does not disclose what the polyether is and this is a known and effective polyether for surfactants as taught by Hüttinger. In regards to the claimed e and f values, it would have taken no more than the relative skills of one of ordinary skill in the art to have arrived at the claimed e and f values depending on the particular molecular weight of the polyether desired as taught by Hüttinger.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have used the surfactant of Budnik in a W/O emulsion for cosmetics since similar surfactants comprising polysiloxane polymers with similar structure as the surfactant of Budnik are effective surfactants for a W/O emulsion for cosmetics as taught by Hüttinger.
Conclusion
Claims 1-4 are rejected.
No claims are allowed.
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/TRACY LIU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1614
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