DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of group I, claims 1-12, in the reply filed on 16 December 2025 is acknowledged.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because:
Reference character “103” has been used to designate both a falling film evaporator and a plate heat exchanger.
Reference character “105” has been used to designate both a thin film evaporator and a flash tank.
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. 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 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 1-12 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 limitation "the liquid phase" in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-12 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art does not disclose or suggest a method of removing at least one impurity from an alkyl polyglucoside stream according the claimed technique, entailing passing an alkyl polyglucoside fluid stream through a plate heat exchanger where it receives thermal energy from a second fluid stream being simultaneously passed through the plate heat exchanger to form a heated alkyl polyglucoside stream, the heated alkyl polyglucoside stream comprising the alkyl polyglucoside and a gaseous phase comprising the at least one impurity, and separating the gaseous phase from the liquid phase.
Known techniques for purification of alkyl polyglucoside streams include:
Ulvenlund et al (WO 2021/255243): discloses purification of an alkyl polyglucoside stream by flash chromatography followed by freeze drying (see Example 1).
Han (CN 113416611; English machine translation provided): discloses purification of an alkyl polyglucoside stream by phase separation and serial stages of distillation and film evaporation (see Example 1, S6).
Jin et al (CN 1116900021, English translation provided): acknowledges that separation and purification of alkyl polyglucoside is typically accomplished by falling film evaporation under vacuum. However, this technique requires high energy consumption. The solution offered by Jin entails adding a reaction reagent into an alkyl polyglucoside fluid to form a eutectic solvent and subsequent phase separation (see pp. 1-2).
Zhao et al (CN 111040004; English translation provided): discloses purifying alkyl polyglucoside by countercurrent extraction with supercritical CO2 (see pp. 2-3).
However, there is no teaching and/or suggestion in the prior art to utilize the claimed technique entailing heat exchange in a plate heat exchanger followed by separation of a gaseous phase comprising impurities from a liquid phase comprising the alkyl polyglucoside.
The office notes that plate heat exchangers are known in the art. See, e.g., Meschke et al (US 2009/0151917). However, without any clear indication of how they may be used specifically for the purification of alkyl polyglucoside fluid streams, there lacks sufficient teachings and/or suggestion in the prior art which would lead a person of ordinary skill to arrive at the claimed invention.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RENEE ROBINSON whose telephone number is (571)270-7371. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 8:00a-5:00p and Friday 8:00a-2:00p.
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/Renee Robinson/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1772