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 § 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 1-5 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 sample" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The Applicants are advised, amending the limitation to recite “the single sample” is one way to resolve the indefiniteness issues.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the entrainment of the gaseous pyrolysis effluents" in lines 3-4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The Applicants are advised, amending the limitation to recite “entrainment of gaseous pyrolysis effluents” is one way to resolve the indefiniteness issues.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the analysis of said effluents" in line 4-5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The Applicants are advised, amending the limitation to recite “analysis of said gaseous pyrolysis effluents” is one way to resolve the indefiniteness issues.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the pyrolysis temperature" in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The Applicants are advised, amending the limitation to recite “pyrolysis temperature” is one way to resolve the indefiniteness issues.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the equation (F)" in line 7. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The Applicants are advised, amending the limitation to recite “equation (F)” is one way to resolve the indefiniteness issues.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "said classes" in line 7. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The Applicants are advised, amending the limitation to recite “said class of isomer” is one way to resolve the indefiniteness issues.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the carrier gas" in line 13. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The Applicants are advised, amending the limitation to recite “the inert gas stream” is one way to resolve the indefiniteness issues.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the Antoine equation" in line 18. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The Applicants are advised, amending the limitation to recite “the empirical Antoine equation” is one way to resolve the indefiniteness issues.
Claim 1 recites “Pi (Pa): partial pressure” in line 19 as being part of “equation (F)”, but fails to integrate the variable into the recited equation. It is unclear how “Pi (Pa): partial pressure” is integrated into the recited method and therefore it is unclear how the limitation affects the scope defined by the claim.
Claims 2-5 depend on claim 1.
Appropriate corrections are 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 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
The claim(s) recite(s) mathematical concepts (see: mathematical equations) and mental processes (see: performing the mathematical calculations and organizing the resulting numerical data into profiles and charts).
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the data gathering steps required to use the correlation do not add a meaningful limitation to the method as they are insignificant extra-solution activity, see: MPEP 2106.05(g).
The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the data gathering steps are well-understood and routine as evidenced by Ammar et al. (US 2019/0064039 A1) which discloses an analogous method of analyzing rock samples extracted from a geological formation comprising heating a rock sample under inert atmosphere with a temperature below 300 °C during a heating operation which may last less than 30 minutes ([0039], 30 minutes of heating to reach 300 °C would result in a heating rate of 10 °C/min), and analyzing the heated sample with a flame ionization detector ([0042], see: Flame Ionization Detector (FID)).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT J EOM whose telephone number is (571)270-7075. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday (9:00AM-5:00PM).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Lyle Alexander can be reached at 5712721254. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ROBERT J EOM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1797