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 without traverse of Group II (claims 7-12) in the reply filed on 23 October 2025 is acknowledged.
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 7-10 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. (KR 20200021319 A) in view of Brocker et al. (US 7,576,246).
Regarding claim 7, the reference Kim et al. teaches an apparatus for preparing alkylene carbonate, comprising a reactor filled with a polyamine-based heterogenous catalyst for reacting an alkylene oxide and carbon dioxide in the presence of the polyamine-based heterogenous catalyst to produce the alkylene carbonate (see Machine Translation, paras. [0021]; [0030]; [0089]). The reference Kim et al. is, however, silent with respect to the apparatus comprising a pump which supplies an alkylene oxide and carbon dioxide as raw materials to the reactor; a storage tank wherein an alkylene carbonate produced in the reactor is stored; and a pump which recycles at least a part of the produced alkylene carbonate to the reactor.
The reference Brocker et al. teaches an apparatus for the isothermal operation of heterogeneously catalyzed reactions in a continuous flow reaction process involving at least three phases in the form of a gaseous phase, a liquid phase and a solid phase (see Abstract; col. 1, lines 5-11; Fig. 1). The reference Brocker et al. teaches that the apparatus may comprise: a reactor (1) filled with a solid catalyst (see col. 1, lines 5-11; Fig. 1); a pump (13, 21) for continuously supplying liquid phase and gaseous phase reactants to the reactor (see col. 4, lines 33-49; Fig. 1); a tank (10) wherein a liquid reaction product produced in the reactor is stored (see col. 4, lines 49-53; Fig. 1); and a pump (21) which recycles at least a part of the produced liquid product to the reactor (see col. 4, lines 33-49; Fig. 1).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Kim et al. and Brocker et al., and modified the apparatus of Kim et al. to similarly include a pump which supplies an alkylene oxide and carbon dioxide as raw materials to the reactor; a storage tank wherein an alkylene carbonate produced in the reactor is stored; and a pump which recycles at least a part of the produced alkylene carbonate to the reactor, as claimed by applicant, in application were it is desired to produce alkylene carbonate by a continuous flow reaction process as taught by Brocker et al. Furthermore, the reference Kim et al. teaches for the need to recirculate at least a part of the produced alkylene carbonate to the reactor to function as a solvent for the alkylene oxide reactant, which is highly reactive and poses a risk of explosion (see para. [0063]).
Regarding claim 8, the references Kim et al. and Brocker et al. teach the apparatus, wherein the alkylene carbonate is prepared continuously while the temperature of the catalytic reactor is maintained constant (see Kim et al. para. [0059]; Brocker et al.; col. 1, lines 5-18; col. 4, lines 17-20).
Regarding claim 9, as no structural distinction is seen between the apparatus Kim et al. and Brocker et al., and the instantly claimed apparatus, the apparatus of Kim et al. and Brocker et al. is considered capable of performing the function recited in claim 9.
Regarding claim 10, the references Kim et al. and Brocker et al. teach the apparatus, wherein a reaction may be performed at a temperature of 80-150 ºC and a pressure of 10-30 atm for 3-5 hours (see Kim et al. paras. [0059]-[0062]).
Regarding claim 12, the references Kim et al. and Brocker et al. teach the apparatus, wherein the catalyst is one or more catalyst of Chemical Formulas 1 and 2 as specified in claim 12 (see Kim et al.: Chemical Formulas 1 and 2).
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. in view of Brocker et al. as applied to claim 7 above, and further in view of Marquis et al. (US 6,156,160).
Regarding claim 11, the references Kim et al. and Brocker et al. do not specifically disclose a distillation tower connected to the storage tank and, when the alkylene carbonate in the storage tank reaches a predetermined level, the alkylene carbonate above the predetermined level is supplied to the distillation tower. However, as evidence by the Marquis et al. (see col. 5, lines 4-36; Fig. 1), it is typical in the art to arrange one or more distillation towers downstream of a reactor employed for the production of alkylene carbonate so as to produce a high purity alkylene carbonate by distillation. The reference Marquis et al. also teaches that the alkylene carbonate product may be sent to a storage unit prior to distillation (see col. 5, lines 14-15). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide a distillation tower connected to the storage tank of Kim et al. and Brocker et al. such that when the alkylene carbonate in the storage tank reaches a predetermined level, the alkylene carbonate above the predetermined level is supplied to the distillation tower so as to produce a high purity alkylene carbonate by a distillation process as suggested by Marquis et al. (see col. 5, lines 9-36).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Lessanework T Seifu whose telephone number is (571)270-3153. The examiner can normally be reached M-T 9:00 am - 6:30 pm; F 9:00 am - 1:00 pm.
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/LESSANEWORK SEIFU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1774