DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
Examiner acknowledges Applicant’s response filed 21 July 2026 containing amendments to the claims and remarks.
Claims 1, 61, and 63-84 are pending. Claims 66-79 are withdrawn as being directed to a nonelected invention. Consequently, only claims 1, 61, 63-65, and 80-84 are pending for examination.
The previous rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 is maintained. In addition, new grounds for rejection of claim 63, necessitated by Applicant’s amendments to the claims, is entered under 35 U.S.C. 112(d). The rejections follow.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claim 63 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends.
With respect to claim 63, the claim recites limitations already included in claim 1. Thus, claim 63 does not further limit the subject matter from which it depends. Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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, 61-65, and 80-84 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kassargy (C. Kassargy et al., 127 J. Anal. Appl. Pyrol. 31-37 (2017)), Kumar (S. Kumar and R. K. Singh, J. Petroleum Eng. (2013)), Ding (W. Ding et al., 51 Fuel Process. Technol. 47-62 (1997)), and Gala (A. Gala et al., 34 Energy Fuels 5969-5982 (2020)).
With respect to claims 1, 61-65, and 80-84, the limitations as specified in the claims recite well known characteristics exhibited by any plastics-derived pyrolysis oil as clearly evidenced by the cited references. Specifically, Kassargy explains that such oil is known to provide products having carbon numbers ranging from C8 to C39 with a maximum fraction falling in the C18 to C21 range (see Kassargy, page 34, right column). In addition, it is known that the 90% boiling point is 350C (see Kassargy, Table 4). Similarly, Kumar notes that the T0 of such oils derived from HDPE is 72C, while the T100 of such oil is 364C (see Kumar, Table 6), thus indicating that the T50 would be expected to fall somewhere between 72C and 364C. Ding confirms the carbon range of products obtained similar to that of Kassargy (see Ding, page 51, second paragraph). In addition, Ding notes the weight percent yield of various carbon range fractions meeting the limitations of claims 80-84 and notes that the exact percentages are dependent on the exact nature of the plastics being pyrolyzed (see Ding, Fig. 5 and Fig. 7). Thus, the person having ordinary skill in the art would be able to adjust the exact range of Cx-Cy in the product by simply varying the plastic types or mixtures thereof being pyrolyzed. Finally, Gala confirms the 95% boiling point of plastics derived pyrolysis oil being in excess of 350C (see Gala, Table 8). The r-pyoil may comprise not more than 20 wt% aromatics and at least 50 wt% paraffins based on the total weight of the r-pyoil (see Ding, Table 3, runs A-1, A-4, A-7, and A-10) (see Gala, Table 4).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 21 July 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Examiner understands Applicant’s arguments to be:
The references do not teach or suggest a steam cracker feedstock comprising a non-hydrotreated r-pyoil that simultaneously retains a C12-C25 heavy fraction, comprises not more than 20 wt% aromatics, comprises at least 50 wt% paraffins, and is combined with a non-recycle C2-C4 hydrocarbon composition in the claimed amount.
The Office Action has not identified a particular low-aromatic / high-paraffin r-pyoil combined with a non-recycle C2-C4 hydrocarbon composition to obtain the claimed feedstock.
With respect to Applicant’s first and second arguments, the r-pyoil of the cited references may comprise not more than 20 wt% aromatics and at least 50 wt% paraffins based on the total weight of the r-pyoil (see Ding, Table 3, runs A-1, A-4, A-7, and A-10) (see Gala, Table 4). The r-pyoil may be one that is not hydrotreated (see all cited references, entire disclosure). Finally, it is readily known that r-pyoil constituents include C2 to C4 components (see, e.g., Ding, page 51, second paragraph). In this regard, there is no discernable patentable distinction between the claimed feedstock comprising a so-called “non-recycle C2 to C4 hydrocarbon composition” and feedstocks of the cited references comprising “C2 to C4 hydrocarbon composition” as both such compositions contain the same components.
Conclusion
Applicant’s amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office Action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Randy Boyer whose telephone number is (571) 272-7113. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday from 10:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M. (EST).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Prem C. Singh, can be reached at (571) 272-6381. The fax number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Randy Boyer/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1771
