CTNF 18/037,594 CTNF 79381 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia 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 § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-20-02-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Colling et al. (WO 00/17946 A2) in view of or Colman (US 6,288,269 A) . Regarding claim 1, Colling et al. discloses a fixed-bed multi-tubular reactor for alkenyl acetate production (i.e., a shell-and-tube reactor 10 for the production of vinyl acetate; see FIG. 1-5; see, e.g., page 5, line 1, to page 6, line 21), comprising: a plurality of reaction tubes (i.e., a plurality of reactor tubes 120 each containing a catalyst for the production of vinyl acetate) which are supplied with a raw material (i.e., reactants comprising ethylene, acetic acid, and oxygen) from a top part of the reactor (i.e., the reactants are fed to the top of the reactor 10 and into a head space 140 under pressure; the reactants are then forced to flow through the reactor tubes 120 from the top of each reactor tube to the bottom of each reactor tube; see flow arrows in FIG. 5); a thermometer protection tube (i.e., a “small diameter tube” that is a thin-walled stainless steel (or other suitable material) tube for containing a thermocouple 150 ; see page 2, lines 9-13; page 6, lines 11-14) inserted into at least one of the plurality of reaction tubes 120 from a bottom part of the reactor (i.e., the small diameter tube is positioned in the center of a selected reactor tube 120 ; as shown in FIG. 5, the small diameter tube is inserted into the reactor tube 120 from a lower part of the reactor 10 ); and a thermometer (i.e., a thermocouple 150 , such as a multi-point thermocouple; see page 6, lines 6-17) which is inserted in the thermometer protection tube (i.e., the thermocouple is positioned within the small diameter tube). The reactor 10 of Colling et al. is the same as the claimed reactor, except that Colling et al. fails to disclose the reactor 10 being further configured to supply the reaction tubes 120 with “a mist of an aqueous solution of an alkali metal acetate” from the top part of the reactor. Colman et al. discloses a fixed-bed reactor for alkenyl acetate production (i.e., a fixed bed reactor 12 for the production of vinyl acetate; see FIG. 1; column 3, line 57, to column 4, line 38), wherein the reactor 12 contains a catalyst bed 13 comprising a catalyst for the production of vinyl acetate. Colman et al. discloses that the catalyst bed 13 is supplied with a raw material gas (i.e., reactants comprising ethylene, acetic acid, and oxygen, supplied by a pipe 14 into a reactor head-space 26 for distribution over the catalyst bed 13 ) and, additionally, a mist of an aqueous solution of an alkali metal acetate (i.e., a potassium acetate solution as a catalyst promoter; the potassium acetate solution being introduced into the pipe 14 as liquid droplets generated by a spray nozzle 16 , wherein the liquid droplets partially evaporate while in the pipe 14 and are carried by the flow of the reactants into the reactor head-space 26 for distribution over the catalyst bed 13 ; see column 1, lines 28-31; column 4, lines 18-38). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the fixed-bed multi-tubular reactor 10 of Colling et al. to further supply the reaction tubes 120 with a mist of an aqueous solution of an alkali metal acetate from the top part of the reactor because the activity of the catalyst contained in the reaction tubes could be enhanced by the addition of the alkali metal acetate (for instance, potassium acetate), which acts as a catalyst promoter during the production of vinyl acetate, as taught by Colman et al. (see column 1, lines 10-13). Regarding claim 2, Colman et al. discloses that the alkali metal acetate is potassium acetate (see column 1, lines 10-13; column 4, lines 18-22). Regarding claim 3, Colling et al. (at page 2, lines 3-8; with emphasis added) discloses, “Within a vinyl acetate reactor there may be as many as 6,000 or more reaction tubes containing catalyst. In a small percentage of those tubes, thermocouples may be placed to detect, determine and monitor temperatures within each of the selected reaction tubes . Shell and tube reactors vary in size and tubes may exceed 20 feet in length. Accordingly, multiple thermocouples, called multi-point thermocouples, may be placed in a given tube so that thermocouples are positioned inside the selected tube over its entire length.” Colling et al. (at page 8, lines 1-5; with emphasis added) further discloses, “As can be seen in Figure 2, there may be a large number of reactor tubes 120 within a shell and tube reactor 10 . Indeed, the number of reactor tubes 120 within a shell and tube reactor 10 may exceed 6,000. With so many reactor tubes 120 within a shell and tube reactor 10 , operators of such vapor-phase processes as a vinyl acetate production process will seek to determine the temperature of reaction within selected reactor tubes 120 . ” For instance, Colling et al. (see EXAMPLES, beginning on page 9) discloses a fixed-bed multi-tubular reactor where the temperature of the reaction tubes was monitored during the production of vinyl acetate. Specifically, Colling et al. (at page 9, line 10) discloses, “ Eight tubes with thermocouples were monitored over the course of about 90 days.” Thus, Colling et al. discloses that the number of the reaction tubes 120 having the thermometer protection tube inserted therein can be between 3 to 10 (i.e., eight ). Additionally, the specific number of the reaction tubes 120 having the thermometer protection tube inserted therein is not considered to confer patentability to the claim since the precise number of reaction tubes would have been considered a result effective variable by one of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to select a suitable number of the reaction tubes (i.e., as a “small percentage” of the total number of reactor tubes) to have the thermometer protection tube inserted therein in the modified reactor of Colling et al., based on the size of the reactor and the number of reaction tubes in the reactor, in order to satisfactorily evaluate the reactor for signs of thermal runaway during the production of vinyl acetate (see Colling et al., at page 3, lines 21-30). Regarding claim 4, Colling et al. discloses that the thermometer is a thermocouple (i.e., a thermocouple 150 , such as a multi-point thermocouple; see page 6, lines 6-11) . Conclusion 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure : Colling et al. (US 6,013,834 A) discloses another known fixed-bed multi-tubular reactor for the production of vinyl acetate. Olbert et al. (US 2013/0072717 A1) discloses a fixed-bed multi-tubular reactor 1 for the production of phosgene by a gas-phase reaction of carbon monoxide and chlorine (see FIG. 13-14; paragraphs [0088]-[0089]), wherein the reactor 1 comprises a plurality of reaction tubes 2 containing a catalyst; a thermometer protection tube (i.e., a sheath 17 ) inserted into at least one of the reactor tubes 2 from a bottom part of the reactor; and a thermometer (i.e., a multi-thermocouple 18 ) inserted into the thermometer protection tube. * * * Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JENNIFER A LEUNG whose telephone number is (571)272-1449. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:30 AM - 4:30 PM EST. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, CLAIRE X WANG can be reached at (571)270-1051. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /JENNIFER A LEUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1774 Application/Control Number: 18/037,594 Page 2 Art Unit: 1774 Application/Control Number: 18/037,594 Page 3 Art Unit: 1774 Application/Control Number: 18/037,594 Page 4 Art Unit: 1774 Application/Control Number: 18/037,594 Page 5 Art Unit: 1774 Application/Control Number: 18/037,594 Page 6 Art Unit: 1774 Application/Control Number: 18/037,594 Page 7 Art Unit: 1774
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