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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 11/4/2025 has been entered.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-2, 4-5, 7, 15-16, and 20 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 1, line 9, “liquid from” should be changed to--of--.
In claim 1, line 11, “storage tank; should be changed to --storage tank; and--.
In claims 1-2, 4-5, 15-16, and 20, “the aquaculture water tank” and/or “the hydroponic culture water tank” should be changed to --the at least one aquaculture water tank—and/or --the at least one hydroponic culture water tank--.
In claim 2, line 3, “from impurities” should be changed to --from the impurities--.
In claim 7, line 4, “growing plants, a production system comprising:” should be changed to --growing plants within a production system, the production system further comprising:--
In claim 7, line 5, “a water treatment device configured to treat water” should be changed to --the water treatment device configured to treat the water--.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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 1-2, 4-7, 9, 15-17, and 19-20 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.
Claim 1 recites the “solid-liquid separation unit… thereby generating… a liquid fertilizer that is supplied to a liquid fertilizer storage tank” which is a misrepresentation of the disclosed invention in which the solid-liquid separation unit generates separated impurities to be used to generate liquid fertilizer.
Claims 2 and 5 recite the limitation "the nutrient content" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claims.
Claim 7 recites the limitation “storing the excessive nutrient content in a storage tank” in line 38. It is unclear if this “storage tank” is the same or different from the liquid fertilizer storage tank cited in line 12. For the purposes of examination, the storage tank will be read as the liquid fertilizer storage tank.
Claim 16 recites the limitation “the water treatment device performs water treatment on water which flows to…. the water treatment device”. It is unclear how the water treatment device can perform water treatment on water flowing to itself.
Claim 17 recites the limitation “the water treatment performed on the water treatment device”. It is unclear since the water treatment is on the water, not the device.
Claims 4, 6, 9, 15, and 19-20 are rejected for being dependent upon a rejected claim.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 4, 9, 16, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nelson (US 8677686) in view of Jobs et al. (DE 102016002201).
Regarding claim 1, a production system (100) comprising: at least one aquaculture water tank (7) configured to culture water creatures; at least one hydroponic culture water tank (5) configured to hydroponically grow plants; a water treatment device configured to treat water discharged from the aquaculture water tank and supply the treated water to the hydroponic culture water tank, the water treatment device including: a solid-liquid separation unit ((1) and (2)) that separates impurities and solid-liquid separation liquid from the water discharged from the aquaculture water tank (21), thereby generating treated water that is supplied to the hydroponic culture water tank (pathway including (22)-(23)-(24)-(25) treating the water, to (5)) and a liquid fertilizer that is supplied (liquid fertilizer is created through (8) from the impurities supplied by the solid-liquid separation unit ((1) and (2))) to the hydroponic culture water tank (through pathway including (34)); a first pipe configured to supply the treated water from the water treatment device to the hydroponic culture water tank (end of path including (25)); a first tank (6); wherein the first tank stores water discharged from the hydroponic culture water tank (27) and supplies the water discharged from the hydroponic culture water tank (27) to the aquaculture water tank (7).
Nelson does not explicitly teach a liquid fertilizer storage tank; a second tank; wherein the first tank supplies the water discharged from the hydroponic culture water tank to at least one of the hydroponic culture water tank and the second tank, and the second tank stores at least one of the water discharged from the first tank and treated water discharged from the water treatment device and supplies at least one of the water discharged from the first tank and treated water discharged from the water treatment device to the aquaculture water tank.
Jobs et al. teaches a liquid fertilizer storage tank ((26), cache); a first tank (14); and a second tank (11); the first tank storing the water discharged from the hydroponic culture water tank ((18)(19)) and supplying the water discharged from the hydroponic culture water tank to at least one of the hydroponic culture water tank and the second tank (Fig 1 shows (14) supplying water back to the hydroponic culture water tank and/or supplying the second tank (11) through (9) and (10)), and the second tank storing at least one of the water discharged from the first tank (from (14) through (9) and (10)) and treated water discharged from the water treatment device and supplying at least one of the water discharged from the first tank and treated water discharged from the water treatment device to the aquaculture water tank (Fig. 1 shows (11) supplying water to the aquaculture water tank (3)). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the production system of Nelson to include a liquid fertilizer storage tank and a first and second tank as taught by Jobs et al., with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to store additional water and liquid nutrients for circulation for when volume runs low in the main tanks (Job et al.: p. 5 of translation portion, fourth full paragraph, p. 6 of translation portion, first and second paragraphs). In the combination, the liquid fertilizer storage tank of Jobs et al. would be positioned to transfer (34) of Nelson.
Nelson as modified by Jobs et al. does not explicitly teach the water treatment device includes the solid-liquid separation unit and liquid fertilizer storage tank physically. However, controls for the water treatment device (pumps, etc.) would include the solid-liquid separation unit and liquid fertilizer storage tank in the combination, and therefore the water treatment device is considered to include the solid-liquid separation unit and liquid fertilizer storage tank. Further, it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 181 F.2d 1019, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950).
Regarding claim 4, Nelson as modified by Jobs et al. teaches the system of claim 1, and teaches (references to Jobs et al.) wherein water treatment including at least one of desalination treatment and sterilization treatment is performed on the water to be supplied from the first tank to the aquaculture water tank via the second tank (Fig. 1, p. 8, first full paragraph of machine translation, water treatment includes biological filter (10) that acts as a sterilization treatment, which is the water that is supplied to the aquaculture water tank).
Regarding claim 9, Nelson as modified by Jobs et al. teaches a method for producing a fertilizer for plants using the production system according to claim 1 (see rejection for claim 1 above), the method comprising: separating impurities from water discharged from the aquaculture water tank (Nelson: ((1) and (2))); and generating nutrient content from the separated impurities, and in a case where the amount of the generated nutrient content is excessive, storing the excessive nutrient content in the liquid fertilizer storage tank that stores the nutrient content (Jobs et al.: stored within (26)).
Regarding claim 16, Nelson as modified by Jobs et al. teaches the production system of claim 1, and teaches (references to Nelson) wherein the water treatment device performs water treatment on water which flows to at least one of the aquaculture water tank, the hydroponic culture water tank (Fig. 1, water that flows to (5)) and the water treatment device.
Regarding claim 19, Nelson et al. as modified by Jobs et al. teaches the production system of claim 1, and teaches (references to Nelson et al.) wherein the water treatment device generates the liquid fertilizer with one or more aerobes (col. 3, lines 46-64, notes aerobes).
Regarding claim 20, Nelson et al. as modified by Jobs et al. teaches the production system of claim 1, and teaches (references to Nelson et al.) wherein the water treatment device includes a filter or a membrane that separates the impurities and the solid-liquid separation liquid from the water discharged form the aquaculture water tank as the solid-liquid separation unit (impurities and solid-liquid separation happens through (1)/(2)).
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nelson (US 8677686) in view of Jobs et al. (DE 102016002201) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Sasaki et al. (JP H03108422, machine translation was provided on the 892-form dated 8/6/2025).
Regarding claim 2, Nelson as modified by Jobs et al. teaches the production system of claim 1, and teaches wherein the water treatment device adjusts the amount of the nutrient content for the plants to be supplied to the hydroponic culture water tank by generating the nutrient content from impurities contained in the water discharged from the aquaculture water tank (Nelson: released from (8)), in a case where the amount of the generated nutrient content is excessive, storing the excessive nutrient content in the liquid fertilizer storage tank that stores the nutrient content (Jobs et al.: p. 5 of translation portion, fourth full paragraph).
Nelson as modified by Jobs et al. does not explicitly teach wherein the water treatment device controls the performing of refilling from the liquid fertilizer storage tank in a case where the amount of the generated nutrient content is insufficient.
Sasaki et al., like Nelson, teaches a production system, and teaches the control (by controller (15) and analyzer (16)) of the performing of refilling from the liquid fertilizer storage tank (7a-7d) in a case where the amount of the generated nutrient content is insufficient (p. 6 of machine translation, when concentration is insufficient, filling from outlet of liquid fertilizer storage tank).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the production system of Nelson modified by Jobs et al. to include the control of the refilling from the liquid fertilizer storage tank as taught by Sasaki et al., with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to more precisely control the nutrient content for the hydroponic culture water tank through the stored liquid fertilizer for improved plant growth without the increase of outside additional content. Please note in the combination, the storage tank is holding the liquid fertilizer (34) leaving the filter process of (8) in Nelson.
Claims 5, 15, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nelson (US 8677686) in view of Jobs et al. (DE 102016002201) as applied to claims 1 and 16 above respectively, and further in view of Kim et al. (KR 20200025410)).
Regarding claim 5, Nelson et al. as modified by Jobs et al. teaches the production system of claim 1. However, Nelson et al. as modified by Jobs et al. does not explicitly teach wherein the water treatment device controls the nutrient content to be supplied to the hydroponic culture water tank and the content thereof on the basis of at least one of the type of the plants to be hydroponically grown in the hydroponic culture water tank and a growing condition of the plants to be hydroponically grown in the hydroponic culture water tank.
Kim et al., like Nelson et al., teaches a production system, and teaches wherein the water treatment device controls the nutrient content to be supplied to the hydroponic culture water tank and the content thereof on the basis of at least one of the type of the plants to be hydroponically grown in the hydroponic culture water tank and a growing condition of the plants to be hydroponically grown in the hydroponic culture water tank (paragraphs [0032] and [0049] of machine translation discuss the control of nutrient content is based at least on the type of plant being cultivated).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the production system of Nelson et al. as modified by Jobs et al. on the basis of the type of plants as taught by Kim et al., with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to provide specific conditions that benefit specific types of plants over others for improved growth.
Regarding claim 15, Nelson et al. as modified by Jobs et al. teaches the production system of claim 1, and teaches the importance of having the right pH value (col. 4, lines 1-25). However, Nelson et al. as modified by Jobs et al. does not explicitly teach wherein a pH adjustment unit configured to adjust pH of at least one of water in the aquaculture water tank and water in the hydroponic culture water tank.
Kim et al., like Nelson et al., teaches a production system, and teaches the production system further comprising: a pH adjustment unit configured to adjust pH of at least one of water in the aquaculture water tank and water in the hydroponic culture water tank (paragraphs [0029]-[0031] discuss the pH adjustment of the nutrient content of water in hydroponic culture water tank (2000).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the production system of Nelson et al. as modified by Jobs et al. to include a pH adjustment unit as taught by Kim et al., with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to provide the proper pH value that is within a preferred range as suggested by Nelson et al. for optimal alkalinity for the nitrates (Nelson et al.: col. 4, lines 1-25).
Regarding claim 17, Nelson et al. as modified by Jobs et al. teaches the production system of claim 16. However, Nelson et al. as modified by Jobs et al. does not explicitly teach wherein the water treatment performed on the water treatment device includes at least one of desalination treatment, sterilization treatment, pH adjustment treatment, dissolved oxygen concentration adjustment treatment, and dissolved carbon dioxide concentration adjustment treatment.
Kim et al., like Nelson et al., teaches a production system, and teaches the production system further comprising: a pH adjustment treatment (paragraphs [0029]-[0031] discuss the pH adjustment of the nutrient content of water in hydroponic culture water tank (2000).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the production system of Nelson et al. as modified by Jobs et al. to include a pH adjustment unit as taught by Kim et al., with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to provide the proper pH value that is within a preferred range as suggested by Nelson et al. for optimal alkalinity for the nitrates (Nelson et al.: col. 4, lines 1-25).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nelson (US 8677686) in view of Jobs et al. (DE 102016002201) as applied to claims 1 and 16 above respectively, and further in view of Ayers et al. (WO 2020/168203).
Regarding claim 6, Nelson et al. as modified by Jobs et al. teaches the production system of claim 1, and teaches (references to Nelson et al.) a plurality of hydroponic culture water tanks (col. 7, lines 5-19, (51)/(52)). However, Nelson et al. as modified by Jobs et al. does not explicitly teach a plurality of third tanks, wherein the plurality of third tanks are provided to correspond to each of the plurality of hydroponic culture water tanks, each of the third tanks stores the treated water from the water treatment device, supplies the stored water to the corresponding hydroponic culture water tank, and stores water from the corresponding hydroponic culture water tank, and the amount of nutrient content to be supplied to each of the plurality of hydroponic culture water tanks is independently controlled by the nutrient content generated by the water treatment device being supplied to each of the plurality of third tanks and by the amount of nutrient content to be supplied to each third tank being independently controlled.
Ayers et al. teaches a plurality of hydroponic culture water tanks; and a plurality of third tanks, wherein the plurality of third tanks are provided to correspond to each of the plurality of hydroponic culture water tanks, each of the third tanks stores the treated water from the water treatment device, supplies the stored water to the corresponding hydroponic culture water tank, and stores water from the corresponding hydroponic culture water tank, and the amount of nutrient content to be supplied to each of the plurality of hydroponic culture water tanks is independently controlled by the nutrient content generated by the water treatment device being supplied to each of the plurality of third tanks and by the amount of nutrient content to be supplied to each third tank being independently controlled (paragraphs [0098], [00102], and [00116] teach a plurality of the components can be in the system independently).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the production system of Nelson et al. modified by Jobs et al. to include a plurality of hydroponic culture water tanks and a plurality of third tanks controlled independently as taught by Ayers et al., with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to expand the production of the system and to provide control over each particular hydroponic culture water tank, i.e. in the case of a plurality of different plants that require different requirements, such as different pH values.
Claims 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nelson (US 8677686) in view of Jobs et al. (DE 102016002201) and Sasaki et al. (JP H03108422, machine translation was provided on the 892-form dated 8/6/2025).
Regarding claim 7, Nelson discloses a water treatment device configured to treat water discharged from an aquaculture water tank (7) for culturing water creatures and supply the treated water to a hydroponic culture water tank (5) for hydroponically growing plants, a production system (100) comprising: a water treatment device configured to treat water discharged from the aquaculture water tank and supply the treated water to the hydroponic culture water tank, the water treatment device including: a solid-liquid separation unit ((1) and (2)) that separates impurities and solid-liquid separation liquid from the water discharged from the aquaculture water tank (21), thereby generating treated water that is supplied to the hydroponic culture water tank (pathway including (22)-(23)-(24)-(25) treating the water, to (5)) and a liquid fertilizer that is supplied (liquid fertilizer is created through (8) from the impurities supplied by the solid-liquid separation unit (1)) to the hydroponic culture water tank (through pathway including (34)); a first pipe configured to supply the treated water from the water treatment device to the hydroponic culture water tank (end of path including (25)); a first tank (6); wherein the first tank stores water discharged from the hydroponic culture water tank (27) and supplies the water discharged from the hydroponic culture water tank (27) to the aquaculture water tank (7), to execute a process comprising: adjusting the amount of nutrient content for the plants to be supplied to the hydroponic culture water tank by generating the nutrient content from impurities contained in the water discharged from the aquaculture water tank (released from (8)).
Nelson does not explicitly disclose a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing therein a program, a liquid fertilizer storage tank; a second tank; wherein the first tank supplies the water discharged from the hydroponic culture water tank to at least one of the hydroponic culture water tank and the second tank, and the second tank stores at least one of the water discharged from the first tank and treated water discharged from the water treatment device and supplies at least one of the water discharged from the first tank and treated water discharged from the water treatment device to the aquaculture water tank, to execute a process comprising: controlling the amount of nutrient content, in a case where the amount of the generated nutrient content is excessive, storing the excessing nutrient content in a storage tank.
Jobs et al. teaches a liquid fertilizer storage tank ((26), cache); a first tank (14); and a second tank (11); the first tank storing the water discharged from the hydroponic culture water tank ((18)(19)) and supplying the water discharged from the hydroponic culture water tank to at least one of the hydroponic culture water tank and the second tank (Fig 1 shows (14) supplying water back to the hydroponic culture water tank and/or supplying the second tank (11) through (9) and (10)), and the second tank storing at least one of the water discharged from the first tank (from (14) through (9) and (10)) and treated water discharged from the water treatment device and supplying at least one of the water discharged from the first tank and treated water discharged from the water treatment device to the aquaculture water tank (Fig. 1 shows (11) supplying water to the aquaculture water tank (3)); and in a case where the amount of the generated nutrient content is excessive, storing the excessing nutrient content in a storage tank ((26), p. 5 of translation portion, fourth full paragraph). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the production system of Nelson to include a liquid fertilizer storage tank and a first and second tank as taught by Jobs et al., with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to store additional water and liquid nutrients for circulation for when volume runs low in the main tanks (Job et al.: p. 5 of translation portion, fourth full paragraph, p. 6 of translation portion, first and second paragraphs). In the combination, the liquid fertilizer storage tank of Jobs et al. would be positioned to transfer (34) of Nelson.
Nelson as modified by Jobs et al. does not explicitly teach the water treatment device includes the solid-liquid separation unit and liquid fertilizer storage tank physically. However, controls for the water treatment device (pumps, etc.) would include the solid-liquid separation unit and liquid fertilizer storage tank in the combination, and therefore the water treatment device is considered to include the solid-liquid separation unit and liquid fertilizer storage tank. Further, it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 181 F.2d 1019, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950).
Sasaki et al., like Nelson, teaches a production system, and teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing therein a program (by controller (15) and analyzer (16)) to execute the process of having storage tanks (7a-7d) in a case where the amount of the generated nutrient content is insufficient (p. 6 of machine translation, when concentration is insufficient, filling from outlet of liquid fertilizer storage tank).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the production system of Nelson modified by Jobs et al. to include the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing therein a program as taught by Sasaki et al., with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to more precisely control the nutrient content for the hydroponic culture water tank through the stored liquid fertilizer for improved plant growth without the increase of outside additional content. Please note in the combination, the storage tank is holding the liquid fertilizer (34) leaving the filter process of (8) in Nelson.
Regarding claim 8, Nelson discloses a method for controlling a production system comprising: an aquaculture water tank (7) configured to culture water creatures; a hydroponic culture water tank (5) configured to hydroponically grow plants; a water treatment device configured to treat water discharged from the aquaculture water tank and supply the treated water to the hydroponic culture water tank, the water treatment device including: a solid-liquid separation unit ((1) and (2)) that separates impurities and solid-liquid separation liquid from the water discharged from the aquaculture water tank (21), thereby generating treated water that is supplied to the hydroponic culture water tank (pathway including (22)-(23)-(24)-(25) treating the water, to (5)) and a liquid fertilizer that is supplied (liquid fertilizer is created through (8) from the impurities supplied by the solid-liquid separation unit (1)) to the hydroponic culture water tank (through pathway including (34)); a first pipe configured to supply the treated water from the water treatment device to the hydroponic culture water tank (end of path including (25)); a first tank (6); wherein the first tank stores water discharged from the hydroponic culture water tank (27) and supplies the water discharged from the hydroponic culture water tank (27) to the aquaculture water tank (7), the method comprising: treating water discharged from the aquaculture water tank and supplying the treated water to the hydroponic culture water tank; and adjusting the amount of the nutrient content for the plants to be supplied to the hydroponic culture water tank by generating the nutrient content from impurities contained in the water discharged from the aquaculture water tank (released from (8)).
Nelson does not explicitly disclose a liquid fertilizer storage tank; a second tank; wherein the first tank supplies the water discharged from the hydroponic culture water tank to at least one of the hydroponic culture water tank and the second tank, and the second tank stores at least one of the water discharged from the first tank and treated water discharged from the water treatment device and supplies at least one of the water discharged from the first tank and treated water discharged from the water treatment device to the aquaculture water tank, the method comprising: controlling the amount of nutrient content, in a case where the amount of the nutrient content is excessive, storing the excessing nutrient content in the liquid fertilizer storage tank.
Jobs et al. teaches a liquid fertilizer storage tank ((26), cache); a first tank (14); and a second tank (11); the first tank storing the water discharged from the hydroponic culture water tank ((18)(19)) and supplying the water discharged from the hydroponic culture water tank to at least one of the hydroponic culture water tank and the second tank (Fig 1 shows (14) supplying water back to the hydroponic culture water tank and/or supplying the second tank (11) through (9) and (10)), and the second tank storing at least one of the water discharged from the first tank (from (14) through (9) and (10)) and treated water discharged from the water treatment device and supplying at least one of the water discharged from the first tank and treated water discharged from the water treatment device to the aquaculture water tank (Fig. 1 shows (11) supplying water to the aquaculture water tank (3)); and in a case where the amount of the generated nutrient content is excessive, storing the excessing nutrient content in the liquid fertilizer storage tank ((26), p. 5 of translation portion, fourth full paragraph). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the production system of Nelson to include a liquid fertilizer storage tank and a first and second tank as taught by Jobs et al., with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to store additional water and liquid nutrients for circulation for when volume runs low in the main tanks (Job et al.: p. 5 of translation portion, fourth full paragraph, p. 6 of translation portion, first and second paragraphs). In the combination, the liquid fertilizer storage tank of Jobs et al. would be positioned to transfer (34) of Nelson.
Nelson as modified by Jobs et al. does not explicitly teach the water treatment device includes the solid-liquid separation unit and liquid fertilizer storage tank physically. However, controls for the water treatment device (pumps, etc.) would include the solid-liquid separation unit and liquid fertilizer storage tank in the combination, and therefore the water treatment device is considered to include the solid-liquid separation unit and liquid fertilizer storage tank. Further, it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 181 F.2d 1019, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950).
Sasaki et al., like Nelson, teaches a method including a production system, and teaches the method comprises: controlling (by controller (15) and analyzer (16)) storage tanks (7a-7d) in a case where the amount of the generated nutrient content is insufficient (p. 6 of machine translation, when concentration is insufficient, filling from outlet of liquid fertilizer storage tank).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the production system of Nelson modified by Jobs et al. to include the controller as taught by Sasaki et al., with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to more precisely control the nutrient content for the hydroponic culture water tank through the stored liquid fertilizer for improved plant growth without the increase of outside additional content. Please note in the combination, the storage tank is holding the liquid fertilizer (34) leaving the filter process of (8) in Nelson.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claims have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
Bodlovich et al. (US 2010/0031893), Liang (CN 103999812), and Lee et al. (WO 2021/040365) teach a production system with liquid fertilizer from waste water.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CARLY W. LYNCH whose telephone number is (571)272-5552. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 8:30am-5:30pm, Eastern Time, alternate Friday.
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/CARLY W. LYNCH/Examiner, Art Unit 3643