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) 1-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by EP 1735086 to Statoil ASA (Statoil).
Regarding claim 1, Statoil discloses a bubble column reactor comprising:
a down chamber (fig. 2) provided at a lower portion of the bubble column reactor;
a reaction zone (7]) provided at an upper portion of the down chamber;
a dispersion plate ([7]) provided between the down chamber and the reaction zone; and
a gas supply pipe (13, figs. 1-2) connected to the down chamber to supply a gaseous reactant,
wherein the gas supply pipe includes a spray part (14, figs. 1-2) extending into the down chamber, and
wherein the spray part includes a plurality of spray nozzles (20-24, fig. 2; [33], [37]) configured to spray the gaseous reactant to a lower side of the down chamber.
Regarding claim 2, Statoil discloses the bubble column reactor of claim 1, wherein the plurality of spray nozzles of the spray part is provided in a line in a radial direction of the down chamber (fig. 2).
Regarding claim 3, Statoil discloses the bubble column reactor of claim 1, wherein the spray part extends in a horizontal direction through a center of a horizontal cross-section of the down chamber (fig. 2).
Regarding claim 4, Statoil discloses the bubble column reactor of claim 1, wherein a height of the down chamber is at least twice or more a diameter of the bubble column reactor ([46]).
Regarding claim 5, Statoil discloses the bubble column reactor of claim 1, wherein the plurality of spray nozzles includes:
a first spray nozzle (24, fig. 2) located in a central region of the down chamber;
a second spray nozzle (20, fig. 2) located in a region adjacent to an inner wall of the down chamber; and
a third spray nozzle (21, 22, 23, fig. 2) located in a region between the central region and the region adjacent to the inner wall of the down chamber,
wherein spray directions of the first and third spray nozzles are each a downward vertical direction (fig. 2), and
wherein an angle between a spray direction of the second spray nozzle and the downward vertical direction is 150 to 500 ([21]).
Regarding claim 6, Statoil discloses the bubble column reactor of claim 5, wherein each spray nozzle of the plurality of spray nozzles has a different spray angles depending on a position of each spray nozzle ([21]).
Regarding claim 7, Statoil discloses the bubble column reactor of claim 6, wherein a spray angle of the first spray nozzle is 950 to 1200,wherein a spray angle of the second spray nozzle is 150 to 450, and wherein a spray angle of the third spray nozzle is 500 to 900 ([21]).
Regarding claim 8, Statoil discloses the bubble column reactor of claim 1, further comprising at least one or more reaction medium supply line configured to supply a reaction medium and connected to one side of the reaction zone, wherein the reaction medium includes a catalyst, a co-catalyst, and a solvent (one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that in a two system as disclosed by would have an additional reaction medium supply line configured to supply a reaction medium and connected to one side of the reaction zone, wherein the reaction medium includes a catalyst, a co-catalyst, and a solvent).
Regarding claim 9, Statoil discloses the bubble column reactor of claim 8, further comprising a product discharge line connected to the reaction zone and provided on another side of the reaction zone (one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that in a two system as disclosed by would have a product discharge line connected to the reaction zone and provided on another side of the reaction zone) .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Statoil as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of EP 0810902 to Hoechst AG (Hoechst) (Machine translation has been used for translational purposes).
Regarding claim 10, Statoil discloses the bubble column reactor of claim 1, But does not explicitly disclose which Hoechst discloses:
the gaseous reactant includes ethylene (abstract).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to the one with ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have the gaseous reactant include ethylene so as to achieve a system that has high abrasion resistance ([2]; Hoechst).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 11,904,291 to Hwang et al.
US 11,583,825 to Hwang et al.
US 11,511,255 to Song et al.
US 6,991,767 to Staffin et al.
US 4,880,451 to Konijn
All references above describe general state of art.
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/DAPINDER SINGH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3746