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 .
Response to Amendment
This is responsive to correspondence filed on 07/21/2026. Claims 1-8, 10-15 and 17-18 are pending. Claims 9 and 16 are canceled. Claims 1 and 15 are amended. New claims 17-18 are entered.
The previous rejection of claims 1, 4, 8 and 10 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) are withdrawn, necessitated by the Applicant amendment.
The previous rejection of claims 5 and 13 under 35 U.S.C. 103 are withdrawn, necessitated by the Applicant amendment.
After reconsideration of the record, the rejection of claim 15 under 35 U.S.C. 103 is maintained.
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.
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BAO (CN 111795511) in view of Lilja et al (DE 4110908).
With respect to claim 15, Bao discloses an apparatus for spatially separating hot and cold gas products of a gas or gas mixture, the apparatus comprising:
a chamber into which the gas or gas mixture can be introduced (see page 15, figure 2, see page 6, claim 1);
a heating element arranged and configured to heat the gas or gas mixture introduced into the chamber such that a hotter and thus lighter gas product and a colder and thus heavier gas product of the gas or gas mixture are formed (see page 15, figure 2, see page 6, claim 1).
Bao does not disclose wherein the Apparatus comprises a rotating element which is arranged and configured in such a way that the gas or gas mixture introduced into the chamber can be rotated in the chamber.
However, in a relevant separation process Lilja discloses a utilizing a rotating element which is arranged and configured in such a way that the gas or gas mixture introduced into the chamber can be rotated in the chamber (see figure 3, page 2 last paragraph and page 3 first and second paragraph).
Consequently, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date to modify the claimed invention with the rotating element, as Lilja discloses wherein rotating elements are conventionally used in separation processes.
Examiner notes, the prior combination does not disclose wherein the rotating element is configured in such a way that, due to an acting centrifugal force, the hotter gas product is displaced in the direction of a center of rotation of the chamber and the colder gas product is displaced in the direction of a chamber wall of the chamber.
However, claim analysis is highly fact-dependent. A claim is only limited by positively recited elements. Thus, "[i]nclusion of the material or article worked upon by a structure being claimed does not impart patentability to the claims." In re Otto, 312 F.2d 937, 136 USPQ 458, 459 (CCPA 1963); see also In re Young, 75 F.2d 996, 25 USPQ 69 (CCPA 1935).
The prior combination does not disclose wherein the gas or gas mixture in the chamber contains methane, ethane, higher hydrocarbons, hydrogen sulfide, water vapor, ammonia and/or mixtures thereof, and wherein by spatially separating the hotter and colder gas products, a temperature difference between a temperature of the chamber wall and a temperature in the center of rotation is between 100°C and 2500°C.
With respect to the Apparatus, a claim containing a "recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus" if the prior art apparatus teaches all the structural limitations of the claim. Ex parte Masham, 2 USPQ2d 1647 (Bd. Pat. App. & Inter. 1987).
In this case, the amended language does not differentiate the claimed Apparatus from the prior art.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-8 and 10-14 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
With respect to claims 1-8 and 10-14, the closest prior art Clements (US 2018/0216852), discloses a method of spatially separating hot and cold gas products of a gas or gas mixture (see abstract), the method comprising the steps of:
introducing a gas or gas mixture into a chamber (see paragraph 0041);
heating the gas or gas mixture in the chamber such that a hotter and thus lighter gas product and a colder and thus heavier gas product of the gas or gas mixture are formed (see paragraph 0040); and
rotating the gas or gas mixture in the chamber in such a way that, due to an acting centrifugal force, the hotter gas product is displaced in the direction of a center of rotation of the chamber and the colder gas product is displaced in the direction of a chamber wall of the chamber (see paragraph 0041).
Clement fails to teach or suggest to one with ordinary skill in the art, to modify the process with the claimed, wherein the gas or gas mixture in the chamber contains methane, ethane, higher hydrocarbons, hydrogen sulfide, water vapor, ammonia and/or mixtures thereof.
Claims 17-18 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
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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/JUAN C VALENCIA/ Examiner, Art Unit 1771
/Randy Boyer/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1771
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