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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 February 2, 2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed February 2, 2026 have been fully considered. Amendments to the current set of claims have changed the scope of the claimed invention, resulting in a modification of the previous prior art rejection using newly found secondary reference Lee, KR202000059778A, (“Machine Translation of KR20200059778A”, Lee, published 2020, filed Nov. 21, 2018, 29 total pages).
On page 7 of the Remarks section, as indicated by the page number at the top of each page, Applicant summarizes the previous interview, and the amendments made to the current set of claims. Then, on pages 7-8, Applicant states the previous 103 prior art rejection using that previous primary reference Yeung (U.S. Publication 2017/0029300 A1), and secondary references Kawamitsu, JP2004066055A, (“Machine Translation of JP2004066055A”, published 2004, 14 total pages), Shaffer, (US 3,923,629), and Ogawa et al., (“Ogawa”, US 2008/0283391), does not disclose the added limitation to independent Claim 1, in which the plurality of spacing members define walls of each of the plurality of fluid channels through which fluid flows. Applicant argues that none of the references disclose the limitation here as claimed. The Examiner has withdrawn the combination of Yeung with all of Kawamitsu, Shaffer and Ogawa, but has combined Yeung with Kawamitsu as well as newly found secondary reference Lee, KR202000059778A, (“Machine Translation of KR20200059778A”, Lee, published 2020, filed Nov. 21, 2018, 29 total pages), which discloses the above discussed limitation in detail as further demonstrated in the prior art rejection section below. Applicant’s arguments against the combination of Yeung, Kawamitsu, Shaffer and Ogawa is considered moot since the remarks are directed towards the deficiencies of Shaffer and Ogawa in disclosing the amended feature above, in which Shaffer and Ogawa have been withdrawn.
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.
Claims 1-10, 12-13, 15-18 & 42 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yeung U.S. Publication 2017/0029300 A1 in view of Kawamitsu, JP2004066055A, (“Machine Translation of JP2004066055A”, published 2004, 14 total pages), in further view of Lee, KR202000059778A, (“Machine Translation of KR20200059778A”, Lee, published 2020, filed Nov. 21, 2018, 29 total pages).
Regarding claims 1-10, 12-13, 15-18 & 42, Yeung discloses a water treatment device (Paragraph 0028 and figure 23) comprising:
A first textured electrode layer comprising a first array of rib like protrusions (see figures 5a-c);
a second textured electrode layer comprising a second array of rib/ribbon like protrusions, wherein
a texture of the first textured electrode layer is misaligned relative to a texture of the second textured electrode layer (See figures 5b-c); the electrode having a coating layer serving as a protector. See abstract and paragraphs 0159, 0134, 0031-0033, 0106.
A spacer layer (insulator figure 6) positioned between the first and second textured electrode layers (0002), the spacer layer constructed and arranged to define a plurality of fluid channels (0058) extending between the first and second textured electrode layers from an inlet end at a first edge of the first and second textured electrode layers to an outlet end at a second opposing edge of the first and second textured electrode layers; (See paragraphs 0107).
A power supply (0028) electrically coupled to the first and second textured electrode layers, wherein the first and second textured electrode layers are constructed and arranged to form a non-uniform electric field along a flow length of each of the one or more fluid channels when the power supply supplies a voltage to the first and second textured electrode layers (0030, 0058).
Yeung does not explicitly disclose wherein the texture of the first textured electrode layer and the texture of the second textured electrode layer face into the plurality of fluid channels.
Kawamitsu discloses wherein the texture of the first textured electrode layer and the texture of the second textured electrode layer face into the one or more fluid channels, (Anode 11 and Cathode 12, See Figure 1, Anode 1 with Projection 1b and Cathode 2 with Projection 2b, See Figure 2, See paragraphs [0024] & [0027]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the water treatment device of Yeung by incorporating wherein the texture of the first textured electrode layer and the texture of the second textured electrode layer face into the plurality of fluid channels as in Kawamitsu for “eliminating the occurrence of areas with very weak electric fields in any region of the treatment tank, enabling reliable treatment, while the areas near the exposed portions of the conductor become high electric field regions, improving treatment efficiency”, and additionally “the load capacity per unit processing volume is small, and the power supply capacity can be kept small”, (See paragraphs [0021] and/or [0022], Kawamitsu).
Modified Yeung does not explicitly disclose wherein the spacer layer comprises a plurality of spacing members extending between the first and second textured electrode layers, or wherein the plurality of spacing members define walls of each of the plurality of channels through which fluid flows.
Lee discloses wherein the spacer layer comprises a plurality of spacing members extending between the first and second textured electrode layers, or wherein the plurality of spacing members define walls of each of the plurality of channels through which fluid flows, (Insulator Layers 130 on either interior side of Electrode 110/110’, each with their own plurality of square shaped holes/walls 132 defining channels, See Figures 6 & 7, See paragraph [0111], [0117]; The electrodes 110/110’/insulator layers 130/132 are shown in further detail in Figures 4 & 5, See paragraphs [0095]-[0104], Lee).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the device of modified Yeung by incorporating wherein the spacer layer comprises a plurality of spacing members extending between the first and second textured electrode layers, and wherein the plurality of spacing members define walls of each of the plurality of channels through which fluid flows as in Lee so that the “interval between a plurality of current paths…is maintained at a constant level, thereby maximizing the efficiency of uniformly producing a sterilizing component through electrolysis between the first electrode…and the second electrode”, (See paragraph [0100], Lee).
Regarding Claim 2, modified Yeung discloses wherein the texture of the first textured electrode layer comprises a saw tooth texture, a ribbed texture, a pattern of raised hemispheres, a pattern of raised rectangles, a pattern of raised cylinders, a pattern of raised cones, and/or a pattern of raised pyramids, (Anode 11 and Cathode 12, See Figure 1, Anode 1 with Projection 1b and Cathode 2 with Projection 2b, See Figure 2, See paragraphs [0024] & [0027], Kawamitsu; saw tooth, ribbed, raised rectangles).
Regarding claim 3, modified Yeung discloses the texture of the first textured electrode layer is misaligned relative to a flow direction of the one or more fluid channels. See figures 1 and 5a-c. See paragraph 0058, Yeung.
Regarding claim 4, modified Yeung discloses the fluid treatment device of claim 1, wherein the texture of the second textured electrode layer comprises a saw tooth texture, a ribbed texture, a pattern of raised hemispheres, a pattern of raised rectangles, a pattern of raised cylinders, a pattern of raised cones, and/or a pattern of raised pyramids, (Anode 11 and Cathode 12, See Figure 1, Anode 1 with Projection 1b and Cathode 2 with Projection 2b, See Figure 2, See paragraphs [0024] & [0027], Kawamitsu; saw tooth, ribbed, raised rectangles).
Regarding claim 5, modified Yeung discloses the texture of the first textured electrode layer is misaligned relative to the texture of the second textured electrode layer by about 45 degrees. See at least figure 5 b Yeung below disclosing the 45-degree angle.
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Regarding claim 6, modified Yeung discloses the fluid treatment device of claim 1, wherein each of the first and second textured electrode layers comprises a textured polymer layer coated with a conductive layer, (See paragraphs [0134], [0106], [0116], Yeung).
Regarding claim 7, modified Yeung discloses the conductive layer comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of a gold layer, a platinum layer, a titanium layer, a stainless-steel layer, a carbon nanotube composite layer, and an epoxy-graphite composite layer. See paragraphs 0134 and 0106 Yeung.
Regarding claim 8, modified Yeung discloses a distance between the first and second textured electrode layers is between about 10 microns and about 2 mm. See paragraphs 0160-0161 Yeung.
Regarding claim 9, modified Yeung discloses the distance between the first and second textured electrode layers is less than or equal to 100 microns. See paragraphs 0160-0161 Yeung.
Regarding claim 10, modified Yeung discloses a width of each fluid channel is between about 100 microns and 5 cm. See paragraphs 0160-0161 Yeung.
Regarding claim 12, modified Yeung discloses the power supply is configured to supply voltage pulses to the first and second textured electrode layers, and wherein a voltage change for each voltage pulse is between about 50 Volts and about 200 Volts. See paragraphs 0130 and 0223-0224 Yeung and claim 10 Yeung.
Regarding claim 13, modified Yeung discloses the voltage is pulsed in a square wave pattern. See paragraph 0176 Yeung.
Regarding claim 15, modified Yeung discloses the spacer layer is constructed and arranged to define between about 50 fluid channels and about 1000 fluid channels. See paragraph 0152 Yeung wherein the number of squares equates to the number of channels.
Regarding claim 16, modified Yeung discloses the fluid channels are configured to provide a flow rate of up to 0.2 L/min. See paragraph 0196 Yeung. Flow rate is a function of how the device is operated.
A recitation of the intended use of the claimed invention must result in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art in order to patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art. If the prior art structure is capable of performing the intended use, then it meets the claim.
Regarding claim 17, modified Yeung discloses further comprising a non- reactive coating layer formed on the first textured electrode layer and/or the second textured electrode layer. See paragraphs 0116, 0023, 0106 and 0134 Yeung.
Regarding claim 18, modified Yeung discloses the non-reactive coating layer comprises graphite. See paragraphs 0116, 0023, 0106 and 0134 Yeung.
Regarding Claim 42, modified Yeung discloses the fluid treatment device of claim 1, wherein a height of the plurality of fluid channels is a minimum spacing between the texture of the first textured electrode layer and the texture of the second textured electrode layer, (Insulator Layers 130 on either interior side of Electrode 110/110’, each defining channels, which provides at least an inherent thickness separating the two electrode surfaces 110/110’ from each other, See Figures 6 & 7, See paragraph [0111], [0117]; The electrodes 110/110’/insulator layers 130/132 are shown in further detail in Figures 4 & 5, See paragraphs [0095]-[0104], Lee).
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yeung in view of Kawamitsu and Lee.
Regarding claim 11, modified Yeung does not explicitly disclose a characteristic texture height of the first textured electrode layer and/or the second textured electrode layer is between about 20 microns and about 200 microns.
However the height of the textured electrode is a result effective variable. Increasing the height would increase the size and through put of the electrode would decrease the size would decrease the throughput of the electrode making the variable a result effective variable.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of modified Yeung and use the electrode layer of 20-200 microns, since it has been held that wherein the general conditions exist it is with the routine skill of one in the art to find the optimum or workable ranges.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yeung in view of Kawamitsu and Lee and in further in view of Li CN 105692803 B.
Regarding claim 14, modified Yeung discloses the power supply is configured to supply bi-directional voltage pulses to the first and second textured electrode layers between about 120 Volts and about -120 Volts. See paragraph 0130 Yeung.
Li CN 105692803 B discloses a similar device using alternating or reverse polarity, making it bidirectional at 15 V a point between 120 and -120V to provide drinking water. See last paragraph before listing of the claims.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of modified Yeung and use reverse polarity, since Li discloses it would provide the desired disinfection to produce drinking water.
Conclusion
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/JONATHAN M PEO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1779