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Claims 6-16 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected methods, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 12/17/2025.
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 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Taniguchi et al. (USP 6322703).
Taniguchi et al. teach: a hollow fiber membrane module comprising a hollow fiber membrane bundle composed of a plurality of hollow fiber membranes (41);
a housing (43) in which the hollow fiber membrane bundle is housed;
and an adhesive fixing portion by which both ends of the hollow fiber membrane bundle are adhesively fixed to the housing (Fig. 5, 42 and 44), wherein the hollow fiber membranes are microfiltration (MF) membranes or ultrafiltration (UF) membranes (col. 2, lines 1-3), the adhesive fixing portion comprises a first adhesive fixing layer for adhesively fixing hollow fiber membranes to each other and the hollow fiber membrane bundle to an interior wall of the housing via a resin material (col. 2, lines 5-10) at one end of the hollow fiber membranes (22);
and a second adhesive (Fig. 5, 42 or 44) fixing layer for adhesively fixing the hollow fiber membranes to each other and the hollow fiber membrane bundle to an interior wall of the housing via a resin material (col. 2, lines 5-10) at the other end of the hollow fiber membranes (24), the hollow fiber membrane module comprises an inlet (45) for communicating between an exterior portion of the hollow fiber membrane module and a space outside the hollow fiber membranes;
a filtered water port (Fig. 5, 46) for communicating between an exterior portion of the hollow fiber membrane module and spaces inside the hollow fiber membranes (Col. 9, lines 25-40);
and a cleaning outlet (Fig. 5, 47) for communicating between an exterior portion of the hollow fiber membrane module and a space outside the hollow fiber membranes,
and all of the following conditions (A), (B), and (C) are satisfied:
(A) a packing rate of the hollow fiber membranes, which is expressed as a ratio of a total cross-sectional area of the hollow fiber membranes to an internal cross-sectional area of the housing, is 38% or less (col. 12, lines 5-10; col. 4, lines 8-14);
(B) an outer diameter of the hollow fiber membranes is 1.1 mm or less (col. 4, lines 40-42, wherein the claimed range of 1.1mm or less overlaps significantly with the range of 0.5 to 3.1mm as disclosed;
Taniguchi et al. teach that it is important to consider the amount of membrane area per module available when designing the hollow fiber membrane module (col. 9, lines 20-24, Col. 10, lines 25-40). They teach that the total surface area available affects the amount of recovered filtrate possible. They do not specifically teach (C) a total membrane area of the hollow fiber membranes is 70 m2 or more.
However, they clearly acknowledge as the total surface area as a result effective variable that is varied in routine experimentation to, at least, optimize filtrate output. “[W]here the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation.” See In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955). The discovery of an optimum value of a known result effective variable, without producing any new or unexpected results, is within the ambit of a person of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Boesch, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980) (see MPEP § 2144.05, II.).
Claim 2: the effective length is 100 mm (col. 14, lines 46-51).
Claim 3: There is no requirement of “a restricting member for restricting an arrangement of the hollow fiber membranes” required in Fig. 5.
Claim 4: the hollow ends of the membrane may be sealed at one end (col. 12, lines 39-55).
Claim 5: The second adhesive has a hole in the layer (Fig. 5, see the holes pictured between 44).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALLISON FITZSIMMONS whose telephone number is (571)270-1767. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30 am - 2:00 pm.
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ALLISON FITZSIMMONS
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1773
/ALLISON G FITZSIMMONS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1773