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
REQUIREMENT FOR UNITY OF INVENTION
As provided in 37 CFR 1.475(a), a national stage application shall relate to one invention only or to a group of inventions so linked as to form a single general inventive concept (“requirement of unity of invention”). Where a group of inventions is claimed in a national stage application, the requirement of unity of invention shall be fulfilled only when there is a technical relationship among those inventions involving one or more of the same or corresponding special technical features. The expression “special technical features” shall mean those technical features that define a contribution which each of the claimed inventions, considered as a whole, makes over the prior art.
The determination whether a group of inventions is so linked as to form a single general inventive concept shall be made without regard to whether the inventions are claimed in separate claims or as alternatives within a single claim. See 37 CFR 1.475(e).
When Claims Are Directed to Multiple Categories of Inventions:
As provided in 37 CFR 1.475 (b), a national stage application containing claims to different categories of invention will be considered to have unity of invention if the claims are drawn only to one of the following combinations of categories:
(1) A product and a process specially adapted for the manufacture of said product; or
(2) A product and a process of use of said product; or
(3) A product, a process specially adapted for the manufacture of the said product, and a use of the said product; or
(4) A process and an apparatus or means specifically designed for carrying out the said process; or
(5) A product, a process specially adapted for the manufacture of the said product, and an apparatus or means specifically designed for carrying out the said process.
Otherwise, unity of invention might not be present. See 37 CFR 1.475 (c).
Restriction is required under 35 U.S.C. 121 and 372.
This application contains the following inventions or groups of inventions which are not so linked as to form a single general inventive concept under PCT Rule 13.1.
In accordance with 37 CFR 1.499, applicant is required, in reply to this action, to elect a single invention to which the claims must be restricted.
Group I, claim(s) 1-8, drawn to a method.
Group II, claim(s) 9-13, drawn to a device.
Group III, claim(s) 14-15, drawn to a composition.
Groups I and III and II lack unity of invention because even though the inventions of these groups require the technical feature of vacuuming, this technical feature is not a special technical feature as it does not make a contribution over the prior art in view of Ji (CN 210448159). Ji describes a device that performs vacuuming (title).
Groups I, II and III lack unity of invention because the groups do not share the same or corresponding technical feature. In particular, the device is not limited to the method steps of Claim 1 except for the way it overlaps in the paragraph above and the product describes product by process features (Claim 14), which are not limiting on the product. The composition of invention III can be made using any process effective to make the same product and is not related to the device claims of invention II.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-8 are allowed pending cancelation of the non-elected claims.
Conclusion
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/SHENG H DAVIS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1732 March 19, 2026