Patent No. U.S. 7,731,820 B2
Ciba Specialty Chemicals Corporation has received a patent for a composition comprised of at least one water-soluble fluorescent whitening agent, a water-soluble polymer consisting of acrylamide only or acrylamide and other monomers, the monomers are selected from the group consisting of methacrylamide, N-alkyl acrylamides, N-alkyl methacrylamides, N-hydroxy acrylamides, N,N-dialkyl acrylamides, N,N-dialkyl methacrylamides, N,N-di(hydroxyalkyl) acrylamides, morpholino acrylamide, acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, itaconic acid, crotonic acid, 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulphonic acid, allyl sulphonic acid and vinyl sulphonic acid, whereby the acidic monomers are in the form of their free acid or water-soluble salts and the water-soluble polymer has an average (weight average) molecular weight of between 500 and 49,000, optionally; polyethylene glycol with a weight average molecular weight of between 500 and 6000 and water.