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 .
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 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Xia et al. (US 2015/0344333).
Regarding claim 18, Xia discloses a method for detecting chlorine in an aqueous sample, the method comprising: mixing the aqueous sample with a DPD reagent to obtain a test sample (a water sample is mixed with DPD reagent, para 50-53); and subjecting the test sample to photometry (para 52, DR5000 spectrophotometer measured at 530nm), wherein the DPD reagent comprises: N,N-diethyl-p-phenylenediamine (DPD) (para 52); an inorganic chloride salt at a concentration of 0.5 M or more (para 52-53, 100 g/l); and water (liquid chamber has water therein).
Regarding claim 19, the method of claim 18, wherein the test sample does not include a buffering agent (no buffer is disclosed in para. 52-53).
Regarding claim 20. The method of claim 18, wherein the inorganic chloride salt is NaCl (para 52-53) or KCl.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-9 and 11- 17 are allowed.
Claim 1 is allowed because the prior art does not teach a reagent comprising 1 M NaCl, DPD and water.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 9/30/25 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues, “Thus, the sodium chloride solution of 100 g/L in Xia was not the testing reagent, but rather was the solution circulated through the electrolytic cells. The reagent used in Xia was only the N,N-diethyl-p-phenylenediamine (DPD). Moreover, that DPD reagent was used to test the free chlorine level of the output of the liquid chamber. Nowhere does Xia disclose any particular concentration of sodium chloride in the output of the liquid chamber, much less that such sodium chloride is part of the DPD reagent. Instead, any sodium chloride present is simply part of the test sample, not of the reagent.” A reagent can be any part of a system to which is used in a chemical reaction. Xia provides sodium chloride which interacts with the DPD, water and chlorine to produce a chemical reaction. Therefore sodium chloride is part of the chemical reaction. Claim 18 has not stated the reagent is a dissolvable tablet or a separate reagent in an ampoule or dropper to which consists of DPD, sodium chloride, and water. The combination of DPD reagent can be added from different droppers to a mixing container containing the aqueous sample.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/SAMUEL P SIEFKE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1758