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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yuji et al. (JP 6061315 B2).
Yuji discloses an electrolytic method for dechlorination of wastewater (Yuji abstract)
For claim 1, Yuji further teaches having an electrochemical reactor with a cathode and an anode (Yuji pg. 3 Lns. 3-6), and having water in the electrochemical reactor, wherein the water contains chlorine or chloramine (Yuji pg. 3 Lns. 27-28) , dechlorinating the water by passing electrons directly from an electrical grid to the chlorine via the cathode (Yuji Fig. 1 and Pg. 3 Lns. 38-42 )
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[AltContent: textbox (Fig. 1: Obtained and modified from Yuji et al.)]
For claim 2, Yuji teaches that the cathode is a stainless steel cathode (Yuji Pg. 3 Lns. 11-12).
For claim 3, Yugi further teaches that the cathode and the anode are separated by a cation-exchange membrane (Yuji pg. 3 Lns. 5-9 and 18 ).
Conclusion
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/ABELLINE KATUSIIME FIONAH/Examiner, Art Unit 1794
/BRIAN W COHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1759