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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 10 April 2026 has been entered.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 3, 4, 15 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Binley et al. (US 2003/0068409) in view of Potter (US 3,635,444):
Regarding claim 1, Binley discloses a variegator comprising a chamber (3,4,5) having a first set of one or more openings (opening of “7” within 3) and a second set of at least two openings (openings of “9” within 3), and one or more conduits (7) suitable for feeding the first set; and at least two conduits (9) suitable for feeding the second set from a conduit opening that is not a required element of the claimed variegator, the second set being below the first set (see Fig. 3); and a static mixer (10) below the second set, said static mixer comprising a series of baffles (see Fig. 3), where the axis of the at least two conduits is disposed perpendicular to the axis of the at least one conduit (see Fig. 3). However, Potter does not disclose the baffles being helical. Potter discloses a series of helical baffles (7) which each divide the mixer into two sections and which divide and recombine material. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have utilized helical baffles such as those taught by Potter, because Binley at [0060] suggests using other conventional baffles.
Regarding claim 3, Binley discloses two opposed conduits (7).
Regarding claim 4, the axes of the conduits (7) are perpendicular to the axes of conduits (9).
Regarding claim 15, Fig. 3 would have suggested that the openings corresponding to "9" are very close to the upper end of the static mixer top baffle; it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have varied the scale of the structure depending upon how much mixed material production capacity is desired.
Regarding claim 17, Fig. 3 would have suggested that the openings corresponding to "9" are very close to the upper end of the static mixer top baffle; it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have varied the scale of the structure depending upon how much mixed material production capacity is desired.
Response to Arguments
As currently amended, no claim is rejected under section 112.
Applicant discusses in applicant’s remarks “a conduit variegating material opening 60 spitting into two conduits 44, 46”. However, such slitting of one conduit into two conduits is not a required feature of the instance claims. Instead, the claims merely discuss which the two conduits a “suitable for” during an intended operation. This is much different than positively reciting a conduit that splits into two conduits.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID L SORKIN whose telephone number is (571)272-1148. The examiner can normally be reached 7am-3:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Claire X Wang can be reached at (571) 270-1051. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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DAVID L. SORKIN
Examiner
Art Unit 1774
/DAVID L SORKIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1774
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