CTNF 18/274,490 CTNF 69986 Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Drawings 06-36-01 AIA Figure s 1-4 should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art-- because only that which is old is illustrated. See MPEP § 608.02(g). Corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The replacement sheet(s) should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. 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. 06-36 AIA The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the enclosure provided with a handle and the concentration apparatus comprising wheels must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered. 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 Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 1-4 and 6-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Katayama et al., Applied And Environmental Microbiology, Mar. 2002, Vol. 68, No. 3, pages 1033-1039 (hereinafter “Katayama”) in view of English translation copy of Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-087098 A to Satoshi et al. (hereinafter “Satoshi”) . Regarding claim 1, Katayama discloses a method for concentrating a virus using a negatively charged membrane (see p. 1033, abstract). Katayama describes a method of using a negatively charged membrane in a vacuum pump system; and filtering two liters of seawater to allow the membrane to adsorb the virus, passing 200 ml of 5 mM sulfuric acid through the membrane to wash away the cations, and then pouring 10 ml of 1 mM sodium hydroxide onto the membrane (see p. 1034, right column, lines 18-25). However, Katayama does not specifically disclose a device for implementing this method. Satoshi discloses well-known features of concentration apparatus for concentration method when allowing an adsorbent 12 to adsorb an objective substance in a liquid to concentrate the objective substance, to: provide, upstream of the adsorbent 12, a reservoir 11 for a raw material liquid containing the objective substance and a reservoir 21, 22, 23 for liquid for eluting the objective substance from the adsorbent; provide, downstream of the adsorbent, a recovery part 14 for liquid in which the concentration of the objective substance has increased and a discharge part 25 for liquid in which the concentration of the objective substance has decreased; and, provide a control unit that sequentially supplies a plurality of types of liquids to the adsorbent by controlling the opening and closing of valves PV1-PV8, and selects and recovers a fraction, of liquid discharged from the adsorbent, in which the concentration of the objective substance has increased (especially fig. 2, paragraphs [0040]-[0045]). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to include well-known features of concentration apparatus as described in Satoshi in the method of Katayama to reduce the work burden in Katayama with reasonable expectation of success. Regarding claims 2-4 and 6-11, providing a mixed-solution storage tank and a pressurized tank; providing a plurality of liquid feed pumps and suction pumps, performing integration by housing inside an enclosure and providing a handle and wheels are well-known features in a concentration apparatus and it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skills in the art to incorporate claimed features in the concentration apparatus to reduce the work burden in Katayama with reasonable expectation of success. For example, US 2023/0391645 A1 teaches a mixed-solution storage tank 6 e.g. magnesium chloride solution, a suction pump 3 (see Fig. 8; paragraphs [0038]-[0044]). US 2007/0187261 A1 teaches handle 148 and wheels 118 on an enclosure (see Fig. 10A, paragraphs [0137], [0148]) . Allowable Subject Matter 12-151-08 AIA 07-43 12-51-08 Claim 5 is 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. 12-151-07 AIA 07-97 12-51-07 Claim 12 is allowed. 13-03-01 AIA The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: None of the prior art of record teaches or suggests a concentration apparatus of claim 5 and a concentration method of claim 12 executed by a concentration apparatus comprising: a negatively charged negative charge membrane; a sample water supply unit that is disposed upstream of the negative charge membrane and operable to supply sample water; a first solenoid valve disposed on a flow path from the sample water supply unit to the negative charge membrane; an acidic solution storage tank disposed upstream of the negative charge membrane in parallel to the sample water supply unit and storing an acidic solution; a second solenoid valve disposed on a flow path from the acidic solution storage tank to the negative charge membrane; an alkaline solution storage tank disposed upstream of the negative charge membrane in parallel with the sample water supply unit and the acidic solution storage tank and storing an alkaline solution; a third solenoid valve disposed on a flow path from the alkaline solution storage tank to the negative charge membrane; an outlet disposed downstream of the negative charge membrane and operable to discharge fluid externally; a fourth solenoid valve and a first suction pump disposed on a flow path from the negative charge membrane to the outlet; a collection container disposed downstream of the negative charge membrane in parallel with the outlet and in which fluid is collected; and a fifth solenoid valve disposed on a flow path from the negative charge membrane to the collection container, the concentration method comprising: a first step of opening the first solenoid valve and the fourth solenoid valve, closing the second solenoid valve, the third solenoid valve, and the fifth solenoid valve, and causing the first suction pump to be driven; a second step of opening the second solenoid valve and the fourth solenoid valve, closing the first solenoid valve, the third solenoid valve, and the fifth solenoid valve, and causing the first suction pump to be driven; and a third step of opening the third solenoid valve and closing the first solenoid valve, the second solenoid valve, the fourth solenoid valve, and the fifth solenoid valve . Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN KIM whose telephone number is (571)272-1142. The examiner can normally be reached Maxi Flex. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, IN SUK BULLOCK can be reached at 571-272-5954. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /John Kim/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1777 JK 11/25/25 Application/Control Number: 18/274,490 Page 2 Art Unit: 1777 Application/Control Number: 18/274,490 Page 3 Art Unit: 1777 Application/Control Number: 18/274,490 Page 4 Art Unit: 1777 Application/Control Number: 18/274,490 Page 5 Art Unit: 1777 Application/Control Number: 18/274,490 Page 6 Art Unit: 1777 Application/Control Number: 18/274,490 Page 7 Art Unit: 1777