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 .
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.
Claims 1-4, 7-10 and 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Andou et al (US 20040162439) in view of Titanium Alloy guide (RTI international metal Inc. website), herein RTI.
Andou teaches a process for producing an aromatic polycarbonate by an interfacial polymerization method comprising reacting an aqueous solution of a bisphenol compound and phosgene in the presence of an organic solvent in a reactor (see Abstract).
Regarding claim 4, Andou teaches a stirred reactor , where the stirrer is not limited. Paddle type turbine blade stirrer, max blend type stirrer, full zone type stirrer and reciprocal reversible rotating type stirrer can be applied, among which reversible rotating type stirrer is preferable (see 0048).
Regarding claims 7-10 and 13-14, Andou teaches a batch process, where media represented by aqueous sodium hydroxide and methylene chloride (see Example 1 at 0072).
Andou discloses that it is preferable to use materials with excellent corrosion resistance, such as titanium alloy for a gas phase portion of the reactor (see 0032-0033).
However, Andou fails to teach a specific Titanium-Palladium alloy.
RTI teaches that Titanium alloys doped with Palladium (Grade 7, meeting the limitations of claims 2, 3 and 12) is the most resistant Ti alloy to corrosion in reducing acids and localized attack in hot halide media, having excellent weldability/fabricability (see Table 3 at pages 5 and 6).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use Grade 7 Titanium alloy in Andou’s process, since it the most resistant Ti alloy to corrosion, while having an excellent weldability/fabricability.
Claims 5 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Andou in view of RTI as applied to claims 1-4, 7-10 and 12-14 above, and further in view of Ishikawa et al (CN 1630675).
Andou and RTI fail to teach a vertical reactor with baffles.
Ishikawa discloses a process of making an aromatic polycarbonate by the interfacial polymerization method comprising reacting an aqueous solution of a bisphenol compound and phosgene in the presence of an organic solvent in a reactor (see claim 12).
Ishikawa teaches a stirred vertical reactor having 4 baffles and paddle type stirring blades (see Example 13).
The position is taken the baffles above are suitable for Andou’s process, providing a very good stirring. Such stirring is particularly required for interfacial polymerization, because the reaction talks place only in the border of organic and aqueous phase.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use Ishikawa’s reactor design in polycarbonate synthesis in order to obtain highly stirred reaction environment.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY LISTVOYB whose telephone number is (571)272-6105. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-5pm EST M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Heidi Riviere Kelley can be reached at (571) 270-1831. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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GL
/GREGORY LISTVOYB/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1765
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