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
Claims 7-11 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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 July 21, 2025.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because at least figures 2, 4, 8, 11 misspell electrolysis as “Electrolyses” and figures 2 and 8 misspell chlorine as “Chloriine”. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 3 are objected to because of the following informalities: at least the terms hydrochloric, recycling, mixture, system, and continuous are misspelled within the body of the claim. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph, as based on a disclosure which is not enabling. The disclosure does not enable one of ordinary skill in the art to practice the invention without the addition of a sodium source, which is/are critical or essential to the practice of the invention but not included in the claim(s). See In re Mayhew, 527 F.2d 1229, 188 USPQ 356 (CCPA 1976). Currently, claim 1 recites a method where sodium carbonate is generated in a continuous stirred tank reactor where the only input is ammonium carbonate. It is evident that ammonium carbonate cannot chemically produce sodium carbonate without the additional input of a sodium source.
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.
Claims 1-6 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 generating sodium carbonate within a continuous stirred tank reactor by receiving ammonium carbonate within said reactor. It is unclear whether applicant intends the current steps of the method to generate ammonium carbonate without a sodium addition, or whether a sodium source is necessary but unclaimed.
Claim 1 recites “separating, by the settling tank within the recycling system” ammonium carbonate into ammonia, water, and waste. As an initial matter, ammonium carbonate solubility causes it to dissociate under typical reactor conditions, where ammonium carbonate precipitation is only possible under specific conditions and/or utilizing specific techniques. It is unclear whether applicant intends to recite ammonium carbonate settling out of the settling tank, whether an additional and unclaimed product settles out of said settling tank, or some other alternative.
The examiner recommends applicant provide additional detail to the claim linking the generation and/or addition of one product as an input for downstream steps. For example, sodium hydroxide (generated from an upstream process) can be recited as the input for the continuous stirred tank reactor. Currently, the claims cannot be examined for the purposes of a prior art rejection until the enablement and indefiniteness issues are resolved.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DIRK R BASS whose telephone number is (571)270-7370. The examiner can normally be reached 8-4:30 EST Monday-Friday.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Bobby Ramdhanie can be reached at (571) 270-3240. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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DIRK R. BASS
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1779
/DIRK R BASS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1779