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 .
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.
Claims 1-7, 9-11, 13-17, 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sokolovsky et al ‘239 (US 10,450,239) in view of CN 108623333 A. Sokolovsky et al ‘239 discloses a method for forming spherical KCl by mixing KCl in a suitable mixer, such as a high shear mixer or paddle mixer, followed by coating the KCl granules. (See col. 5, lines 59-67; col. 8, lines 64-67; col. 10, lines 30-33 and FIG. 1 and the description thereof.) The KCl of Sokolovsky et al ‘239 would be expected to have a sphericity of below 0.87 and a sphericity of between 0.88 and 0.92 after the mixing step, since Sokolovsky et al ‘239 discloses in col. 7, lines 8-13 that have sharp edges and rough surfaces having bumps and curves, and in col. 9, lines 59-61 that the invention provides for smooth spherical granules The difference between the process disclosed by Sokolovsky et al ‘239, and that recited in applicant’s claims, is that Sokolovsky et al ‘239 does not disclose that the KCl is mixed in an intensive mixer type device consisting of a container vessel and at least one set of agitating elements rotating relative to static elements in the vessel. CN 108623333 (A) discloses a mixer comprising a high-speed stirrer in an inclined mixing disc container wherein mixing tool or stirrer 3 rotates independently of the mixing disc 2, and scraper 4 is fixedly configured inside the mixing disc 2. (See Paragraph [0055] of the English translation and the figure.) It would be obvious to employ the mixing apparatus of CN 108623333 (A) to mix the components in the process of Sokolovsky et al ‘239. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so, since Sokolovsky et al ‘239 teaches at col. 8, lines 64-67 that the mixture may be mixed using any suitable mixer, and the intense mixing device of CN 108623333 (A) would be analogous to the “high shear mixer” disclosed at col. 8, line 66 of Sokolovsky et al ‘239.
Regarding claims 7 and 17, Sokolovsky et al ‘239 discloses at col. 10, lines 27-29 that the coating may be a polymer.
Regarding claims 10, 11, 13, 14, 19 and 20, it would be expected that the coated KCl of Sokolovsky et al ‘239 would have the properties recited in these claims, since the process of Sokolovsky et al ‘239 is substantially identical to that disclosed in applicant’s specification.
Regarding claims 2-6 and 16, the limitations recited therein would be matters of routine design choice for one of ordinary skill in the art.
Claims 8 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sokolovsky et al ‘239 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of CA 2,164,547. It would be obvious from CA 2,164,547 to provide a coating of sulfur on the KCl granules of Sokolovsky et al ‘239. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so, since discloses sulfur coatings on potassium chloride granules (see claim 1 and the paragraph bridging pages 11 and 12), and Sokolovsky et al ‘239 implies at col. 10, lines 27-29 that the coating may be any which is conventionally used in the fertilizer industry.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 2 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. In claim 2, it is indefinite as to what the “certain gap” would be within the range between 1 mm and 5 cm.
In claim 3, it is indefinite as to what the “certain circumferential tip speed” would be between 0.3 and 5 m/s.
Quanquin et al (US 3,776,713) is made of record for disclosing substantially spherical granules consisting essentially of potassium chloride and phosphate, which are hard and abrasion-resistant.
GB 1,277,456 is made of record for disclosing a method for granulating potassium chloride into substantially spherical particles.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WAYNE A LANGEL whose telephone number is (571) 272-1353. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday from 8:15 am to 4:15 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anthony Zimmer can be reached at 571-270-3591. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WAYNE A LANGEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1736
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