Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 04, 2026
Application No. 18/861,109

CLEANING AGENT COMPOSITION AND CLEANING METHOD

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Oct 28, 2024
Priority
May 13, 2022 — JP 2022-079183 +1 more
Examiner
ELHILO, EISA B
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Shikoku Chemicals Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
83%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 83% — above average
83%
Career Allowance Rate
1207 granted / 1455 resolved
+23.0% vs TC avg
Strong +16% interview lift
Without
With
+16.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
1y 9m
Avg Prosecution
48 currently pending
Career history
1481
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
2.6%
-37.4% vs TC avg
§103
40.2%
+0.2% vs TC avg
§102
18.8%
-21.2% vs TC avg
§112
24.0%
-16.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1455 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
Claims 1-16 are pending in this application. DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 1 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 § 102 2 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. 3 The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action: A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – (a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claims 1-3, 5, 7-10 and 12-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)1 as being anticipated by Ryuhei et al. (JP 2020012056 A). English translation of the Patent No. JP 2020012056 A is used in this Office action. Ryuhei et al. (JP’ 056 A) teaches a hard surface detergent composition for a washing machine, wherein the detergent composition is a solid composition and comprising (A) a chlorine agent having a coating layer and (B) an alkali agent (see abstract and page 36, paragraph 10), wherein the cleaning composition the pH of 0.1% by weight aqueous solution is 10.5 to 11.6 as claimed in claims 1, 8 and 15 (see page 33, paragraph, 4), and wherein chlorine content is from 0.1 to 10% by wt., which is covered the claimed percentage (see page 31, paragraph, 8), and wherein the water content is 0.1% by wt., as claimed in claims 1, 7 and 14 (see page 42, paragraph, 10), wherein the alkali agent is metal and metal metasilicate as claimed in claims 5 and 12 (see page 31, last paragraph), and wherein the alkali agent presents in the composition in the amount of from 10 to 50% by wt., as claimed in claims 2, 3 and 10 (see page 32, paragraph,2). Ryuhei et al. (JP’ 056 A) also teaches a method for cleaning hard surface by contacting the hard surface with the detergent composition as claimed in claims 9 and 16 (see claim 10). Ryuhei et al. (JP’ 056 A) teaches all the limitations of the instant claims. Hence, Ryuhei et al. (JP’ 056 A) anticipates the claims. 4 Claims 1-3, 5-10 and 12-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)1 as being anticipated by Ryuhei et al. (JP 2020105390 A). English translation of the Patent No. JP 2020105390 A is used in this Office action. Ryuhei et al. (JP’ 390 A) teaches a solid cleaning composition comprising (A) an alkali agent , (B) a chelating agent and (C) a chlorine agent (see claim 1), wherein the chlorine agent is a coated chlorine agent (see claim 3), wherein the effective chlorine concentration in the cleaning solution is 5 ppm or more and 100 ppm or less (see claim 1), wherein the water content of 5 to 20% as claimed in claims 1, 7 and 14 (see page 51, paragraph, 13), wherein the aqueous solution of cleaning composition has a pH in the range of 9 or more and less than 12 as claimed in claims 1, 8 and 15 (see page 42, paragraph, 1) wherein the alkaline agent include metasilicate and the content of the alkaline agent is 5 to 85 % with respect to the entire solid detergent composition as claimed in claims 2-3, 5-6, 10 and 12-13 (see page 38, paragraphs, 1 and 2). Ryuhei et al. (JP’ 390 A) also teaches a method for cleaning an object as claimed in claims 9 and 16 (see claims 10-16). Ryuhei et al. (JP’ 390 A) teaches all the limitations of the instant claims. Hence, Ryuhei et al. (JP’ 390 A) anticipates the claims. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 5 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 4 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ryuhei et al. (JP 2020105390 A). English translation of the Patent No. JP 2020105390 A is used in this Office action. Ryuhei et al. (JP’ 390 A) teaches a solid cleaning composition comprising (A) an alkali agent , (B) a chelating agent and (C) a chlorine agent (see claim 1), wherein the chlorine agent is a coated chlorine agent (see claim 3), wherein the effective chlorine concentration in the cleaning solution is 5 ppm or more and 100 ppm or less as claimed (see claim 1), wherein the water content of 5 to 20% as claimed (see page 51, paragraph, 13), wherein the aqueous solution of cleaning composition has a pH in the range of 9 or more and less than 12 as claimed (see page 42, paragraph, 1) wherein the alkaline agent include metasilicate and the content of the alkaline agent is 5 to 85 % with respect to the entire solid detergent composition as claimed (see page 38, paragraphs, 1 and 2). The instant claims differ from the teaching of Ryuhei et al. (JP’ 390 A) by reciting the claimed ratio of the chlorine to alkaline compound as claimed in claims 4 and 11. However, Ryuhei et al. (JP’ 390 A) as described above, teaches solid bleaching composition comprising chlorine compound and alkaline compounds in the amounts that overlapped with claimed amounts, and therefore, the person of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, would optimize the amounts of the chlorine compound and alkaline compound in the solid detergent composition so as to get the maximum effective amounts of these ingredients in the detergent composition. The person of ordinary skill in the art would expect such a solid detergent composition to have the similar properties to those claimed, absent unexpected results. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EISA B ELHILO whose telephone number is (571)272-1315. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 7:00 AM to 3:30 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, Angela Brown-Pettigrew can be reached at (571)272-2817. 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. /EISA B ELHILO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1761
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Oct 28, 2024
Application Filed
Aug 11, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
83%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+16.2%)
1y 9m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1455 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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