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
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 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.
Claims 1-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barnabas (US 7012053 B1).
With regard to claims 1-15 and claims 17-19, Barnabas discloses aqueous or solid, preferably powder, fabric care compositions for treating fabric in the rinse step, comprising an effective amount of fabric care polysaccharide with globular structure, and optionally, adjunct fabric care oligosaccharide, fabric softening actives, perfume, and mixtures thereof (see Col 2 line 49-54). Barnabas further discloses water as a preferred carrier (see Col 93 line 22) and lysine as a chlorine scavenger (see Col 85 line 3). Barnabas further discloses the composition may display bacteriostatic effects by adjusting the composition pH to an acid pH, e.g., less than about pH 4, preferably less than about pH 3, or a basic pH, e.g., greater than about 10, preferably greater than about 11 (see Col 52 line 8-12). Barnabas further discloses a rinse-added fabric care composition having a pH of 6 (see Col 114 line 43-44, Example XV). Barnabas further discloses a fabric softening active (see Col 52 line 15-16), lactic acid as a builder (see Col 82 line 10), perfumes (see Col 41 line 55-59), and an optional surfactant (see Col 29 line 13-14). Barnabas further discloses potassium carbonate (see Col 40 line 65).
However, Barnabas fails to disclose a single embodiment in accordance with the instant claims.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date, to utilize the components of Barnabas to produce a rinse-added fabric care composition as Barnabas discloses fabric care compositions that provide important fabric care benefits, including at least one of the following: wrinkle removal and/or reduction, fabric strengthening, fabric wear resistance and/or reduction, fabric pilling prevention and/or reduction, fabric color maintenance and/or fading reduction, color restoration, fabric soiling reduction, fabric shape retention, and/or fabric shrinkage reduction (see Col 1 line 43-50).
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barnabas (US 7012053 B1) and further in view of Price (US 20020111285 A1).
With regard to claim 20, Barnabas discloses a rinse-added fabric care composition (see Col 114 line 43-44, Example XV). Barnabas further discloses water as a preferred carrier (see Col 93 line 22) and lysine as a chlorine scavenger (see Col 85 line 3).
However, Barnabas fails to disclose a method of washing a fabric, the method comprising washing the fabric with detergent followed by rinsing the washed fabric with a fabric rinse formulation comprising an amino acid in aqueous solution.
Price discloses a rinse-added fabric treatment composition, an analogous art (see Abstract). Price further discloses a method in which the disclosed composition is first diluted in water to form an aqueous rinse bath solution. Subsequently, the laundered fabrics which have been washed with a detergent liquor are placed in the rinse bath solution with the diluted composition (see [0277]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date, to utilize the method of Price with the composition of Barnabas. Barnabas discloses a rinse-added fabric care composition and Price teaches both a rinse-added fabric treatment composition and a method of using said rinse-added fabric treatment composition. It stands to reason that the method of using a rinse-added fabric treatment composition of Price would work with the rinse-added fabric care composition of Barnabas as both Price and Barnabas disclose rinse-added fabric care compositions.
Conclusion
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/B.S.H./Examiner, Art Unit 1761
/ANGELA C BROWN-PETTIGREW/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1761
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