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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group II, claims 12-17 in the reply filed on February 4, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 1-11 and 18-20 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
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.
Claim(s) 12-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhu (CN208906119U) with machine translation in view of DeBruin (WO 2021/163088 A1).
Regarding Claim 12, Zhu discloses an integrated recycling center (abs, paragraphs [0011] [0012] equipment is centrally set up and integrated into a building with comprehensive centralized recycling crushing integrated equipment), for separating materials (Figs. 1-4 integrated system includes a material screening device – 6), and although it is inferred that a broad mix of material is anticipated in this disclosure (paragraph [0004] where raw materials and unqualified products are mentioned), however, Zhu is silent as to what intrinsic types of materials are recycled, including a broad mix of plastic waste material including, but not limited to, polyolefin and polyester streams,
DeBruin discloses a waste plastic density separation system for plastic wastes with a method of separating the mixed plastic waste (MPW) in a polyester (PET polyethylene terephthalate)-enriched stream and one or more polyester (PET)-depleted streams (abs paragraph [0004). where the latter includes polyolefins (paragraph [0003]). the center (paragraph [0002] material recovery facilities or MRFs) comprising:
a mechanism for collecting the broad mix of plastic waste material (Fig. 1 paragraphs [0002] [0030] where processing occurs and initial separation such as colored plastic separated from clear plastics and a plastics feedstock is provided); and DeBruin further teaches an optical sorter for pre-processing the broad mix of plastic waste material to remove contamination from the broad mix of plastic waste material (paragraph [0002] optical sorters are used to conduct a more refined culling of the various materials present in the recyclables, and this would obviously include any contamination present);
DeBruin further discloses a shredder for coarsely shredding or grinding the broad mix of plastic waste material, resulting in ground material (Fig. 8 paragraphs [0168] [0176] feedstock – 710 subjected to a mechanical size reduction operation – 715 such as grinding or shredding that result in the production of particles having a smaller size than the material fed into the size reduction operation);
a friction washing machine for removing dirt, sand, grease, and other contaminants from the ground material (paragraph [0055] a friction washer may be used to remove cardboard and/or other cellulosic materials from the MPW);
a sink float separation tank (Fig. 2 paragraphs [0106] [0111] sink float separation stage – either 140 or 150 is a separation sink float separation tank) for further washing and separating the ground material, resulting in recycled polyolefin and polyester remainder (Fig. 2 paragraph [0121] first density separation stage – 140 can produce a first PET-depleted stream – 132 as a polyolefin-enriched stream and a PET-enriched output stream – 142 that is fed into the second density separation stage – 150); and
a dryer unit for drying the polyester remainder, resulting in recycled polyester (paragraph [0123] the second PET-enriched stream – 120 can be subjected to solid-liquid mechanical separation and/or drying to thereby provide a PET-enriched plastic material product).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the disclosure of Zhu with the teachings of DeBruin whereby an integrated recycling center for separating a broad mix of waste material, as disclosed by Zhu, would utilize the method of DeBruin used at a material recovery facility (MRF) whereby a broad mix of plastic waste material is recycled including, but not limited to polyolefin and polyester streams and with all the limitations of claim 12 including collecting the broad mix and using an optical sorter, shredding or grinding the broad mix, using a friction washing machine for removing contaminants, using a sink float separation tank for further washing and separating the ground material resulting in recycled polyolefin and polyester remainder and drying the polyester remainder resulting in a recycled polyester.
The skilled artisan would be motivated to combine these two disclosures because a need exists in the art for a way of recovering useful plastic materials from mixed plastic waste, including wastes from the separation and purification facilities, so that the recovered plastic materials can be used in recycling processes (paragraph [0003]).
Regarding Claim 13, the combination of Zhu and DeBruin disclose all the limitations of claim 12, and DeBruin further discloses that the sink float separation tank uses water as a medium to separate the ground material based on densities (paragraph [0106] sink-float density separation stage refers to a tank, vessel, or other appropriate container holding a liquid medium, such as water).
Regarding Claim 14, the combination of Zhu and DeBruin disclose all the limitations of claim 12, and DeBruin further discloses that the broad mix of plastic waste material that is collected by the mechanism includes one or more of polyethylene (paragraph [0037]), polyethylene terephthalate (paragraph [0040]), linear low density polyethylene (paragraph [0042]), low density polyethylene (paragraph [0042]), polypropylene (paragraph [0042]), high density polyethylene (paragraph [0042]), and polystyrene (paragraph [0037]).
Regarding Claim 15, the combination of Zhu and DeBruin disclose all the limitations of claim 12, and DeBruin further discloses that the recycled polyolefin comprises flakes of polyolefin, the recycled polyester comprises flakes of polyester, or both (paragraphs [0067] [0175] the MPW comprises a flaked waste stream comprising 40 weight percent to 80 weight percent PET).
Regarding Claim 16, the combination of Zhu and DeBruin disclose all the limitations of claim 12, and DeBruin further discloses that optical sorters are used to conduct a more refined culling of the various materials present in the recyclables and can include the identification and removal of heavy materials (paragraphs [0002] [0173]). But DeBruin does not explicitly disclose that its optical sorter fractionates polyolefins into discreet colors and segregates food-grade packaging from non-food-grade packaging.
However, it is well settled that the intended use of a claimed apparatus, as an optical sorter, is not germane to the issue of the patentability of the claimed structure. If the prior art structure is capable of performing the claimed use, then it meets the claim. In re Casey, 152 USPQ 235, 238 (CCPA 1967); In re Otto, 136 USPQ 459 (CCPA 1963). The manner or method in which a machine is to be utilized is not germane to the issue of patentability of the machine itself, In re Casey 152 USPQ 235.
Claim(s) 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Zhu (CN208906119U) with machine translation and DeBruin (WO 2021/163088 A1) as applied to claim 12 above, and further in view of Ginn (US 2019/0211279 A1).
Regarding Claim 17, the combination of Zhu and DeBruin disclose all the limitations of claim 12 including that it constitutes an integrated plastic recycling center, but there is no disclosure as to multiple integrated plastic recycling centers as part of a hub and spoke infrastructure.
Ginn discloses a system for and method of processing post-consumer and post-industrial waste streams for separating and recycling a broad mix of plastic waste material including, but not limited to, polyolefin and polyester streams (paragraphs [0015] [0022] [0031] which include polymer resins and coatings on carpet backings, which are commonly PET), Ginn further discloses that there are multiple integrated recycling centers as part of a hub and spoke infrastructure (Fig. 1, paragraphs [0231] [0239] while Fig. 1 does not show a hub and spoke infrastructure, however, step f) discloses the independent operation or integration of various unit operations phases, options and processes of the various and respective plants on a regional, geographic or territorial, optimized cluster basis, which can inherently approximate a hub and spoke configuration and certain sub-process stations or locations of the integrated system – 40 facilitate administering and positioning the assets and processes associated with various distinct waste stream processing operations, all in one place, which is inherently a hub).
Ginn further discloses a plurality of materials recovery facilities (paragraph [0092]) collecting a first portion of the broad mix of plastic waste material (paragraph [0166] where the preliminary processing step for a waste stream is described);
a number of recycling facility/transfer stations both collecting a second portion of the broad mix of plastic waste material and receiving from at least one materials recovery facility the mixed plastic waste material collected by the at least one materials recovery facility (paragraph [0183] [0235] regional centers subsequently facilitates secondary-servicing to nearby, independent processors; network may link various sub-process stations and locations that are intended to handle the specific portions of the method) and
where the multiple integrated plastic recycling centers as recited in claim 12 (see above) and each center is collecting the broad mix of plastic waste material from one or more of the plurality of materials recovery facilities, from one or more of the recycling facility/transfer stations, or from both one or more of the plurality of materials recovery facilities and one or more of the recycling facility/transfer stations (paragraph [0239] it is envisioned that certain sub-process stations or locations of the integrated system – 40 and/or regional system -20 and that certain sub-process stations or locations of the integrated system – 40 facilitate administering and positioning the assets and processes associated with various distinct waste stream processing operations, all in one place),
wherein each of the multiple centers is located geographically in relative proximity to the one or more materials recovery facilities, the one or more recycling facility/transfer stations, or to both the one or more materials recovery facilities and the one or more recycling facility/transfer stations from which the center collects the broad mix of plastic waste material (Fig 1 paragraphs [0231] [0238] where in step i) there is constructing and operating the various independent or integrated operation on a geographic optimized cluster basis including plant on-site of said source or adjacent to said source or in a geographic optimized cluster location with regard to one or more sources; distances between the sub-systems or sub-process stations/locations is minimized to squeeze as much efficiency in collecting as possible and yield as much recycled outputs as possible).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WAYNE K. SWIER whose telephone number is (571)272-4598. The examiner can normally be reached M-F generally 8:30 am - 5:30 pm PST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Abbas Rashid can be reached at 571-270-7457. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WAYNE K. SWIER/ Examiner, Art Unit 1748
/Abbas Rashid/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1748