Appeal No. 2006-3254
Application No. 10/347,982
and that these ranges encompass or overlap “with Appellants preferred pH of
from about 4 to about 7.” (Answer 17.) The Examiner concludes that “as
Jokura et al. teaches a pH range that meets and/or overlaps with the range
. . . used by Applicants to achieve a ratio of partially to fully neutralized salt,
it is considered that the composition of Jokura et al. does have an amount of
‘fully neutralized’ acid salt form present in the solution.” (Id.)
The Examiner also argues that it would have been obvious “to vary
and/or optimize the pH and/or the ratio of salt form to free acid form as
taught by Jokura et al. (column 3, lines 50-65) and thus simultaneously vary
and/or optimize the ratio of partially neutralized to fully neutralized salt.”
(Answer 17.)
The Examiner states that Jokura “does not specifically teach that the
salt of malonic acid is a mono-hydroxy substituted amine salt.” (Answer 6.)
However, the Examiner states that “Günter teaches compounds that are
suitable for use in cosmetics comprising quaternary ammonium salts of
acids, wherein the ammonium salt is mono-hydroxy substituted (see abstract
and formula (1) . . .),” and “that the mono-hydroxy substituted quaternary
salts can be formed with an organic acid, such as a di-carboxylic acid having
from 1 to 4 carbon atoms (see column 2, lines 15-28 . . . ).” (Answer 6.)
The Examiner concludes that “one of ordinary skill in the art would have
been motivated to provide [the] quaternary mono-hydroxy substituted
ammonium salts of Günter et al. as the salts of malonic acid in the cosmetic
composition of Jokura et al, with [the] expectation of providing a quaternary
mono-hydroxy substituted ammonium salt of a malonic acid that is suitable
for cosmetic use.” (Answer 7.)
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