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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 18, 2026 has been entered.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-6 and 9-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Berlin (WO 2012/129652) in view of Turunen et al. (US 2019/0112623).
Considering Claims 1, 4, 6, and 13: Berlin teaches a process for separating solids from an enzymatic hydrolysis product comprising adding a polymeric (4:26-5:7) flocculant to an enzymatic hydrolysis product after a enzymatic hydrolysis (8:3-20, Fig. 1); and separating the solid and liquids of the mixture to solid and liquid streams by settling (6:2-7). Berlin teaches adding a flocculant to an enzymatic hydrolysis reaction mixture. Berlin teaches the flocculant as being a cationic polyacrylamide (Abstract).
Berlin does not teach a second hydrolysis step. However, Turunen et al. teaches a two stage enzymatic hydrolysis where there is a first enzymatic hydrolysis step followed by separation to form a solid and a liquid stream (¶0019); and the solid stream is re-slurried and passed to a second enzymatic reaction (¶0019). When combined with the flocculation step of Berlin, this reads on the claimed process. Berlin and Turunen et al. are analogous art as they are concerned with the same field of endeavor, namely enzymatic hydrolysis reactions. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have used the multiple hydrolysis steps of Turunen et al. in the process of Berlin, and the motivation to do so would have been, as Turunen et al. suggests, to increase the yield of the enzymatic hydrolysis (Example 3).
Considering Claims 2 and 3: Berlin teaches reslurrying the solids with a diluent followed by treatment with a flocculant to separate additional supernatent (5:21-30).
Considering Claim 5: Berlin teaches reslurrying the solids with a diluent followed by treatment with a flocculant to separate additional supernatent (5:21-30).
Considering Claims 9 and 10: Berlin teaches adding a flocculant to the supernatant to recover additional solids (5:21-23).
Considering Claim 11: Berlin teaches filtering the solid fraction after the decantation step (Example 2).
Considering Claim 12: Berlin teaches reslurrying the solids with a diluent followed by treatment with a flocculant to separate additional supernatent (5:21-30).
Considering Claim 14: Berlin teaches recycling a portion of the liquid stream to the enzymatic hydrolysis (Fig. 1).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Berlin (WO 2012/129652) in view of Turunen et al. (US 2019/0112623) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Gallop et al. (US 2015/0182882).
Considering Claim 7: Berlin teaches the process of claim 1 as shown above.
Berlin does not teach the means of adding the flocculant. However, Gallop et al. teaches adding a flocculant to a mixture of suspended solvents in a liquid in an inline mixer (¶0065). Berlin and Gallop et al. are analogous art as they are concerned with a similar technical difficulty. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have used the inline mixer of Gallop et al. in the process of Berlin, and the motivation to do so would have been, as Gallop et al. suggests, to provide sufficient agitation to distribute the flocculant in the slurry (¶0065).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed February 18, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive, because:
A) The applicant’s argument that Berlin does not teach gravitational separation is not persuasive. Berlin teaches using a settling step to separate the solid and liquid phases (6:2-7). As the solid material settles at the bottom of the tank through the action of gravity on the heavier solid phase, it would meet the broadest reasonable interpretation of gravitational separation.
B) The applicant’s argument of unexpected results is not persuasive. A showing of unexpected results must compare the claimed subject matter with the closest prior art to be effective to rebut a prima facie case of obviousness. In re Burckel, 592 F.2d 1175, 201 USPQ 67 (CCPA 1979). See MPEP § 716.02(e). The applicant has not compared the process to that of Berlin, which adds the cationic flocculant to the hydrolyzed material as claimed. As such, the applicant has not met the burden required for establishing unexpected results.
Correspondence
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LIAM J HEINCER whose telephone number is (571)270-3297. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-5:00.
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/LIAM J HEINCER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1767