FINAL OFFICE ACTION
This application has been assigned or remains assigned to Technology Center 1700, Art Unit 1774 and the following will apply for this application:
Please direct all written correspondence with the correct application serial number for this application to Art Unit 1774.
Telephone inquiries regarding this application should be directed to the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at http://www.uspto.gov/ebc/index.html or 1-866-217-9197 or to the Examiner at (571) 272-1139. All official facsimiles should be transmitted to the centralized fax receiving number (571)-273-8300.
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 .
Responses to Restriction Arguments
Claims 19-24 remain withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 2 OCT 2025.
In response to this Final Action, these nonelected claims 19-24 must be cancelled or other appropriate action before the application can be passed to allowance.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for domestic priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e).
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR § 1.83(a) since the drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the following features must be shown or the features canceled from the claims. No new matter should be entered.
Per Rule 84, the drawings remain objected to because suitable descriptive and concise text legends should be provided to label the blank boxes in Figure 1 such as the source of emulsion 20, metering device 14, process liquid source 18, fluid pressurization device 12, and flow restrictor 16, etc. for understanding of the drawings (37 CFR 1.84(o)). Suggested formats for labeling the elements of the invention via text legends can be found in US Patent No. 11745388 and 8591098. Note the elements/boxes are clearly labeled with such text legends for improved and rapid understanding of the drawings. Blank boxes in a drawing Figure even if presented with a refence character fail to express what elements are being depicted in said Figure. Looking to the specification to determine what elements are being depicted by uninformative blank boxes in a Figure during a typical search is a time consuming and unnecessary aggravating diversion, a departure from the drawings to the written specification that would not be required if the drawing Figures comply with 37 CFR 1.84(o).
INFORMATION ON HOW TO EFFECT DRAWING CHANGES
Replacement Drawing Sheets
Drawing changes must be made by presenting replacement figures which incorporate the desired changes and which comply with 37 CFR 1.84. An explanation of the changes made must be presented either in the drawing amendments, or remarks, section of the amendment. Any replacement drawing sheet must be identified in the top margin as “Replacement Sheet” (37 CFR 1.121(d)) and include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even though only one figure may be amended. The figure or figure number of the amended drawing(s) must not be labeled as “amended.” If the changes to the drawing figure(s) are not accepted by the examiner, applicant will be notified of any required corrective action in the next Office action. No further drawing submission will be required, unless applicant is notified.
Identifying indicia, if provided, should include the title of the invention, inventor’s name, and application number, or docket number (if any) if an application number has not been assigned to the application. If this information is provided, it must be placed on the front of each sheet and centered within the top margin.
Annotated Drawing Sheets
A marked-up copy of any amended drawing figure, including annotations indicating the changes made, may be submitted or required by the examiner. The annotated drawing sheets must be clearly labeled as “Annotated Marked-up Drawings” and accompany the replacement sheets.
Timing of Corrections
Applicant is required to submit acceptable corrected drawings within the time period set in the Office action. See 37 CFR 1.85(a). Failure to take corrective action within the set period will result in ABANDONMENT of the application.
If corrected drawings are required in a Notice of Allowability (PTOL-37), the new drawings MUST be filed within the THREE MONTH shortened statutory period set for reply in the “Notice of Allowability.” Extensions of time may NOT be obtained under the provisions of 37 CFR 1.136 for filing the corrected drawings after the mailing of a Notice of Allowability.
Specification
The abstract is acceptable.
The title is acceptable.
Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. § 112(b)
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
The inquiry during examination is patentability of the invention as the inventor or a joint inventor regards such invention. If the claims do not particularly point out and distinctly claim that which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as his or her invention, the appropriate action by the examiner is to reject the claims under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph. In re Zletz, 893 F.2d 319, 13 USPQ2d 1320 (Fed. Cir. 1989).
Claims 1-18, as amended, remain rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 1 and 7: In claim 7, line 1: “the plurality of flow channels” lacks antecedent basis. Claim 1 recites “a plurality of channels”.
Claims 1 and 14: Claim 14, line 4: does “pressurization” have any relationship to the “pressurizing step” recited in claim 1, line 7?
The use of a confusing variety of terms for the same thing should not be permitted - MPEP 608.01(o). For example, “plurality of channels” vs. “plurality of flow channels” – referring to the same channels?; the step of “pressurizing the dilute emulsion” vs. a step of “pressurization of the dilute emulsion” – referring to the same step?
Also see 37 CFR 1.121(e) Disclosure consistency. The disclosure must be amended, when required by the Office, to correct inaccuracies of description and definition, and to secure substantial correspondence between the claims, the remainder of the specification, and the drawings.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-18 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b). Claims 19-24 remain withdrawn from further consideration.
Upon reconsideration of the pending claims in conjunction with the remarks, the patent to HOCH is believed to be the closest prior art. However, as noted by Applicant, claim 1 requires at least three distinct materials or states including an emulsion already having a continuous phase and a discontinuous phase containing a polymer, a process liquid into which that emulsion is introduced, and a resulting dilute emulsion that is subsequently pressurized and passed through the claimed flow restrictor whereby HOCH does not disclose these three materials. Rather, HOCH discloses preparing stable polymer dispersions by subjecting a water-in-oil emulsion to shear to convert the water-in-oil emulsion into an oil-in-water emulsion and HOCH places the polymer in the organic phase. However, claim 1 requires the discontinuous phase of the introduced emulsion to contain a polymer that is soluble in the process liquid, with the continuous phase being immiscible in that process liquid. The resultant emulsion in HOCH is produced by combining the rubber solution and the emulsifier solution wherein HOCH does not disclose that either source 1 or source 2 already contains an emulsion having a continuous phase and a discontinuous phase containing a polymer that is then introduced into a separate process liquid to form the claimed dilute emulsion. Accordingly, since there is no separate process liquid in HOCH, this patent lacks the recited step of introducing the emulsion into the process liquid comprises introducing the emulsion into the process liquid upstream of a fluid pressurization device to form a dilute emulsion.
The examiner disagrees, however, that HOCH fails to disclose the broadly recited flow restrictor. The flow restrictor seen in Figure 5 of HOCH shows a plurality of flow channels 2 which may number from six to sixty (for example), that divide the flow of pressurized emulsion between these many channels, and that generate a shear force within the restrictor for dispersing and inverting the flow – per at least col. 2, lines 41-44; col. 4, lines 23-50; col. 5, lines 49-53; col. 6, lines 16-30. Furthermore, WALDRON discloses the disclosed flow restrictor with channels therein as seen in instant Figure 2.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 C.F.R. § 1.136(a).
Per Rule 1.116(b)(3): “An amendment touching the merits of the application or patent under reexamination may be admitted upon a showing of good and sufficient reasons why the amendment is necessary and was not earlier presented.” Thus, an amendment after final lacking such showing will be denied entry.
A SHORTENED STATUTORY PERIOD FOR RESPONSE TO THIS FINAL ACTION IS SET TO EXPIRE THREE MONTHS FROM THE DATE OF THIS ACTION. IN THE EVENT A FIRST RESPONSE 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 EXTENSION FEE PURSUANT TO 37 C.F.R. § 1.136(a) WILL BE CALCULATED FROM THE MAILING DATE OF THE ADVISORY ACTION. IN NO EVENT WILL THE STATUTORY PERIOD FOR RESPONSE EXPIRE LATER THAN SIX MONTHS FROM THE DATE OF THIS FINAL ACTION. ANY RESPONSE FILED AFTER THE MAILING DATE OF THIS FINAL REJECTION WILL BE SUBJECT TO THE PROVISIONS OF MPEP 714.12 AND 714.13 - NO EXCEPTIONS.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHARLES COOLEY whose telephone number is (571)272-1139. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30 AM - 6:00 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. New USPTO policy limits time for interviews to one per new application or RCE (utility), when during prosecution, the examiner conducts an interview. More than one interview and additional time will only be granted if it is ensured “that the interviews are being used to advance prosecution”.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, CLAIRE X. WANG can be reached at 571-272-1700. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHARLES COOLEY/
Examiner, Art Unit 1774
DATED: 2 OCT 2026
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