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 Objections
Claims 2, 4, and 5 are objected to because of the following informalities: Claims 2, 4, and 5 do not reference the specific claim upon which they depend, making it unclear upon which claim each of claims 2, 4, and 5 depend. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the disclosed invention is inoperative and therefore lacks utility.
Claim 1 and its dependent claim 2-8 are directed to an apparatus for treating a beverage ostensibly via exposure to medium, high, and very high frequency radio waves. The entire mechanism by which the purported invention operates therefore is the modification of water using radio waves. This modality is simply not operative. Water is a liquid at room temperature with the individual molecules being bound by weak hydrogen bonds. The inventive concept that radio waves can restructure water defies the underlying chemistry and physics of the hydrogen bonds in water which are extremely weak and are continuously forming, collapsing, and reforming, hence why water is a liquid and not a solid at room temperature. Therefore, it is not credible that the claimed invention has any operative effect since applying radio frequency electromagnetic radiation cannot change the hydrogen bond mechanism in a water molecule.
Note the attached reference, “Don’t fall for the snake oil claims of ‘structured water’. A chemist explains why it’s nonsense,” by Boyer noting the nature of hydrogen bonds in water and how it is not possible to impart structure to water.
The claims made in this patent application that applying radio waves to water may affect its taste, mouthfeel, and ability to germinate seeds are similarly not credible.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID A VANORE whose telephone number is (571)272-2483. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday 7AM to 6 PM.
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DAVID A. VANORE
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2881
/DAVID A VANORE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2881
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