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 .
Summary
Claims 1-38 are pending in this office action. Claims 2-38 have been amended. All pending claims are under examination in this application.
Priority
The current application filed on January 3, 2026, is a 371 of PCT/EP2023/068487 filed July 5, 2023, which in turn claims priority to French patent application 2206856 filed on July 5, 2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
Receipt of the Information Disclosure Statements filed on July 17, 2025 and May 28, 2026 is acknowledged. A signed copy of the forms PTO/SB/08 are attached to this office action.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: On at least page 14 some terms are in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS which is unnecessary.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claim 13 is objected to because of the following informalities: Having the items listed in all capitals is unnecessary. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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, 4, 5, 11-25, 32, and 34-38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mintel Fillercara Mascara.
Fillercara data sheet shows a mascara product comprising, in a physiologically acceptable medium: a- at least one volatile oil (isododecane); b- at least one volatile alcohol (ethanol), other alcohols including butylene glycol and C14-22 alcohols; c- at least one natural resin (Candelilla Wax Extract); and d- at least one alkylated polysaccharide (hydroxyethylcellulose).
These teachings anticipate the above claims.
Claims 1, 3, 4, 5, 11-25, 27, 28, 32, and 34-38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by abstract Mintel Mascara Volume Type.
Mascara Volume Type teaches a mascara product comprising, in a physiologically acceptable medium: a- at least one volatile oil (isododecane); b- at least one alcohol, assumed to be ethanol; c- at least one natural resin (Euphorbia Cerifera Cera Extract); and d- at least one alkylated polysaccharide (Dextrin Myristate).
These teachings anticipate the above claims.
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 1-38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fillercara and Volume Type in view of Nagai et al. Nagai et al., JP 2019099468 A, published 2019-06-24.
The teachings of Fillercara and Volume Type are outlined above.
Nagai et al. teach water in oil emulsified cosmetic compositions comprising 5-30% pigment, 10-60% volatile oils, 0.1-60% water, 0.1-10% silicone resins.
Regarding claim 5, the original source of hydrocarbons, including volatile oils, is plants, thus meeting this claim limitation.
The amounts and, therefore, ratios of the ingredients of the mascara taught by Nagai et al. overlap those recited in instant claims 2, 6, 8-10, 26, 29-31 and 33 and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the instant effective filing date, to utilize similar proportions when formulating cosmetics, specifically, mascara, with the expectation of achieving beneficial results.
Conclusion
No claim is allowed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Robert A. Wax whose telephone number is (571)272-0623. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 AM -4:00 PM Monday - Friday.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jennifer Michener can be reached at (571) 272-1424. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Robert A Wax/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1615
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