Appeal No. 2007-0360 Page 4
Application No. 11/050,001
26. A composition according to Claim 1, wherein the pre-emulsion form has
a volume average primary droplet size of from 0.1 micrometers to 5,000
micrometers.
Obviousness under 35 U.S.C. § 103
Claims 1-17 and 19-26 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as obvious
over Brockett.1
Brockett discloses a fabric care composition for conferring softness and anti-
wrinkle benefits to a fabric treated with it. Brockett at 4, ll. 5-9. The composition
comprises an anti-wrinkle agent and a solid carrier. Id. at 4, ll. 25-30. It can
comprise “a functionalized oil” and “a solid carrier selected from clays, zeolites,
sugar or derivatives thereof, solid salts, starch or derivatives thereof, and mixtures
thereof to form an admixture.” Id. at 5, ll. 27-30. A functionalized oil and clay are
preferred because they “impart unexpected softness benefits to fabrics treated with
such compositions.” Id. at 5, ll. 15-28. The functional oil of Brockett can be a
silicon oil, including polydimethylsiloxane (“PDMS”), which is utilized as a
wrinkle reduction agent in Brockett’s specific examples. Id. at 9, l. 22; 13, ll.
16-27; 32, ll. 10-14. In one example, the silicon oil is an emulsion. Id. at 33, l. 5.
In addition to the functionalized oil and clay, surfactants (Id. at 17, l. 30 to 19, l. 2)
and flocculating agents can also be present (Id. at 30, ll. 11-13).
Claims 1-9, 12-16, and 19-24
The Examiner asserts that Brockett teaches components (a) through (e) of
claim 1 in quantities which overlap with the recited amounts. See Answer 4. In
describing how Brockett meets the limitation in claim 1 that the “polydimethyl-
1 Brockett, WO 03/055966 A1, Jul. 10, 2003.
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