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 § 102
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, 8-13, 15, 17-20, 22, and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Karpusiewicz et al, US 5,453,215.
Karpusiewicz et al teach a powdered laundry detergent prepared by spray-drying (see abstract) comprising 12% C12-15 EO7, sodium carbonate, 12.6% water, and 1% sodium xylene sulfonate (col. 15, last example). As this reference meets all material limitations of the claims at hand, the reference is anticipatory.
With respect to claims 10 and 11, the examiner maintains 12.6% satisfies the “less than about 12 wt% water” limitation claimed.
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 1-3, 5, and 8-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Karpusiewicz et al, US 5,453,215 in view of DiSalvo et al, US 3,849,327.
Karpusiewicz et al are relied upon as set forth above. With respect to claim 16, as the slurry has as little as 10% before spray-drying (see claim 8). After drying a free-flowing powder is obtained and so one of ordinary skill in the art would expect less than 5% water to be present. Though the reference teaches builder salts, sodium chloride is not taught by the reference.
DiSalvo et al teach a free-flowing detergent laundry powder formed by mixing a spray-dried powder and a nonionic surfactant in liquid form (see abstract). In addition to the builder salts, filler salts may be added including sodium chloride (col. 8, lines 30-35). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to add standard detergent ingredients to the free-flowing laundry detergent of Karpusiewicz et al as such ingredients are well known in the art for use in free-flowing laundry detergents as taught by DiSalvo et al.
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.
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 5712722817. 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.
/CHARLES I BOYER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1761
Prosecution Insights