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
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 1-2, 5, 7, 9-11, 13, 14, and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Watson, US 2022/0154100 in view of White et al, US 2020/0087838.
Watson teaches a concentrated laundry detergent in unit-dose form comprising 56% C12-15 EO7 alcohol ethoxylate, 15% propylene glycol, 11% oleic acid, 13% fatty acid methyl ester sulfonate (anionic to nonionic ratio 0.46), monoethanolamine, and 1% water (¶68, example 2). While the reference teaches the concentrated detergent of claim 1, it does not discuss its actual use in a washing process.
White et al teach a method and apparatus for cleaning laundry wherein a unit-dose detergent is placed in a soaking chamber with water resulting in a laundry detergent for dispensing into the washing machine (claim 1). The washing machine has a number of programs that may be selected by the user (¶5).
First, persons of skill in the art and consumers alike understand how a washing machine works. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to use the unit dose detergent of Watson in the washing process of White et al as the apparatus of White et al is specifically designed for use with unit dose detergents.
Claims 1-3, and 5-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Miracle et al, US 2019/0194579 in view of White et al, US 2020/0087838.
Miracle et al teach a concentrated laundry detergent in unit-dose form comprising 27% LAS, 18% AE7, 16.4% C12-15 fatty acid, (anionic to nonionic ratio 2.4), 10% monoethanolamine, and negligible amounts of water (¶313, example 13). While the reference teaches the concentrated detergent of claim 1, it does not discuss its actual use in a washing process.
White et al teach a method and apparatus for cleaning laundry wherein a unit-dose detergent is placed in a soaking chamber with water resulting in a laundry detergent for dispensing into the washing machine (claim 1). The washing machine has a number of programs that may be selected by the user (¶5).
First, persons of skill in the art and consumers alike understand how a washing machine works. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to use the unit dose detergent of Miracle et al in the washing process of White et al as the apparatus of White et al is specifically designed for use with unit dose detergents.
Claims 1-3 and 5-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hayward et al, US 2016/0137956 in view of White et al, US 2020/0087838.
Hayward et al teach a concentrated laundry detergent in unit-dose form comprising 24.6% LAS, 20.1% C12-14 EO7, 16.4% C12-15 fatty acid, (anionic to nonionic ratio 2), 10% monoethanolamine, and negligible amounts of water (¶319, example 18). While the reference teaches the concentrated detergent of claim 1, it does not discuss its actual use in a washing process.
White et al teach a method and apparatus for cleaning laundry wherein a unit-dose detergent is placed in a soaking chamber with water resulting in a laundry detergent for dispensing into the washing machine (claim 1). The washing machine has a number of programs that may be selected by the user (¶5).
First, persons of skill in the art and consumers alike understand how a washing machine works. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to use the unit dose detergent of Hayward et al in the washing process of White et al as the apparatus of White et al is specifically designed for use with unit dose detergents.
Claims 1, 3, 4, 6, 8-10, and 13-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Somerville Roberts et al, US 2019/0055495 in view of White et al, US 2020/0087838.
Somerville Roberts et al teach a concentrated laundry detergent in unit-dose form comprising 23.6% LAS, 11.2% AES, 16.5% C12-14 EO7, (anionic to nonionic ratio 2.1), 8.8% monoethanolamine, 15% propylene glycol, and negligible amounts of water (¶71, example HDL2). While the reference teaches the concentrated detergent of claim 1, it does not discuss its actual use in a washing process.
White et al teach a method and apparatus for cleaning laundry wherein a unit-dose detergent is placed in a soaking chamber with water resulting in a laundry detergent for dispensing into the washing machine (claim 1). The washing machine has a number of programs that may be selected by the user (¶5).
First, persons of skill in the art and consumers alike understand how a washing machine works. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to use the unit dose detergent of Somerville Roberts et al in the washing process of White et al as the apparatus of White et al is specifically designed for use with unit dose detergents.
Claims 1-3, 5-6, 8-11, and 15-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Meier et al, US 2015/0031593 in view of White et al, US 2020/0087838.
Meier et al teach a concentrated laundry detergent in unit-dose form comprising 21% LAS, 22% C13-15 EO8 alcohol ethoxylate, 17.5% fatty acid, 13.5% propylene glycol, (anionic to nonionic ratio 1.75), monoethanolamine, and 1.74% water (¶60, example E1). While the reference teaches the concentrated detergent of claim 1, it does not discuss its actual use in a washing process.
White et al teach a method and apparatus for cleaning laundry wherein a unit-dose detergent is placed in a soaking chamber with water resulting in a laundry detergent for dispensing into the washing machine (claim 1). The washing machine has a number of programs that may be selected by the user (¶5).
First, persons of skill in the art and consumers alike understand how a washing machine works. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to use the unit dose detergent of Meier et al in the washing process of White et al as the apparatus of White et al is specifically designed for use with unit dose detergents.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHARLES I BOYER whose telephone number is (571)272-1311. The examiner can normally be reached M-S 10-430.
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/CHARLES I BOYER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1761
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