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
Applicant’s election of Group I, claims 104-112 in the reply filed on 11/13/2025 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Claims 113-123 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 11/13/2025.
Claim Objections
The numbering of claims is not in accordance with 37 CFR 1.126 which requires the original numbering of the claims to be preserved throughout the prosecution. When claims are canceled, the remaining claims must not be renumbered. When new claims are presented, they must be numbered consecutively beginning with the number next following the highest numbered claims previously presented (whether entered or not).
Misnumbered claim 11 has been renumbered 111.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 104-111(11) and 112 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bhalla et al. (hereinafter Bhalla) WO 2020/028403 A1.
Regarding claim 104, Bhalla discloses a process for treating a livestock waste, comprising: subjecting the livestock waste (raw chicken manure) to a preparation treatment, comprising: supplying the livestock waste to a preparation reservoir in fluid communication with a first oxygen-containing gas distribution system; and aerating the livestock waste with a first oxygen-containing gas from the first oxygen-containing gas distribution system to produce a stabilized livestock waste (As shown in Figure 1, the process began 10 when raw chicken manure was transported to the location directly from the farm(s) in covered live bottom trailers. The trucks were unloaded into mix tanks at the location and combined with citric acid 15 and water to form a homogeneous slurry. The citric acid bound the natural organic ammonia in raw manure. The next step in the process involved the preparation of feedstock material 20…The mixing tank was fitted with 2 micron sintered stainless steel spargers for delivering pure oxygen. During mixing, pure oxygen 22 (>96%) was injected into the slurry at a rate of 0.5 CFM per 10,000 gallons of slurry.); and subjecting the stabilized livestock waste to a bioreaction treatment, comprising: supplying the stabilized livestock waste to a bioreactor in fluid communication with the preparation reservoir and with a second oxygen- containing gas distribution system, the bioreactor comprising a pipeline configured for receiving and circulating the stabilized livestock waste therewithin; and aerating the stabilized livestock waste with a second oxygen- containing gas from the second oxygen-containing gas distribution system to enable aerobic reactions to occur within the stabilized livestock waste and produce an aerated livestock product having a solid component and a liquid component (Once the liquid stream 45 was fed to the to the aerobic bioreactor 50, native microorganisms were cultivated. During the incubation, pure oxygen 51 (>96%) was injected into the liquid stream at a rate of 1.0 CFM per 1,000 gallons. The microorganisms metabolized the organic components of the feedstock into primary and secondary metabolomic byproducts including, but not limited to, plant growth factors, lipids and fatty acids, phenolics, carboxylic acids/organic acids, nucleosides, amines, sugars, polyols and sugar alcohol, and other compounds.), the second oxygen-containing gas distribution system comprising a conduit (delivery device) extending within the pipeline and comprising a plurality of openings (sparger or bubbler) to introduce the second oxygen-containing gas within the pipeline. See example 1, fig. 1 and page 22, lines 6-10. Also see whole document.
Regarding claim 105, Bhalla discloses further comprising subjecting the aerated livestock product to a solid-liquid separation to obtain a solid-enriched phase (solid stream 43) comprising predominantly the solid component and a solid-depleted phase (liquid stream 45) comprising predominantly the liquid component. See example 1 and fig. 1.
Regarding claim 106, Bhalla discloses wherein the preparation treatment further comprises mixing the livestock waste at least during the aerating of the livestock waste (In some embodiments, the oxygen is delivered to the mixing tank of the preparation step and/or directly injected into the slurry…) See at lease page 24, lines 1-3, table 3 and Example 1.
Regarding claim 107, Bhalla discloses wherein the preparation treatment further comprises recirculating the livestock waste via a recirculation loop. See at least page 30, lines 3-7.
Regarding claim 108, Bhalla discloses wherein aerating the livestock waste comprises passing the livestock waste through a Venturi device (venturi pump). See at least page 22, lines 6-7.
Regarding claim 109, Bhalla discloses wherein aerating the livestock waste is performed to avoid coalescence of bubbles of the first oxygen-containing gas with the use of a sparger or bubbler discussed on at least page 22, lines 6-10.
Regarding claim 110, Bhalla discloses wherein aerating the stabilized livestock waste comprises producing fine bubbles within the stabilized livestock waste via a sparger or bubbler discussed on at least page 22, lines 6-10.
Regarding claim 111 (11), Bhalla discloses comprising controlling an operating parameter of the preparation treatment to achieve a given property of the stabilized livestock waste, and wherein the operating parameter comprises at least one of a temperature of the livestock waste within the preparation reservoir, a residence time of the livestock waste within the preparation reservoir, and a flow rate of the first oxygen-containing gas (To monitor the temperature, pH and oxygenation parameters of the ATAB, the bioreactor can be equipped with automated controllers to control such parameters. In some embodiments, the bioreactor is equipped with a programmable logic controller (PLC) that effectively controls pH, ORP, and other parameters by adjusting oxygen air supply and feed rate of a pH adjuster to the bio reactor.). See at least page 34, line 27-page 35, line 2; table 5; and page 45 lines 21-22.
Regarding claim 112, Bhalla discloses wherein the given property of the stabilized livestock waste comprises at least one of a pH of the livestock waste a composition of the livestock waste, and a concentration of oxygen in the stabilized livestock waste See at least page 34, line 27-page 35.
Conclusion
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/LYDIA EDWARDS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1796