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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-3 in the reply filed on 1/8/26 is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The listing of references in the specification is not a proper information disclosure statement. 37 CFR 1.98(b) requires a list of all patents, publications, or other information submitted for consideration by the Office, and MPEP § 609.04(a) states, "the list may not be incorporated into the specification but must be submitted in a separate paper." Therefore, unless the references have been cited by the examiner on form PTO-892, they have not been considered.
Applicant cited two NPL references relevant to the invention in the specification. One by Maruf, et. al., which the examiner was able to find (see PTO-892), but the other, Arnush et al., the examiner was unable to obtain. Applicant is required to submit a copy of this reference in an IDS.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by Koiwa et al (US 9,597,640).
PNG
media_image1.png
498
736
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Koiwa teaches spiral wound membranes having polyamide separation functional layer (col. 15, lines 17-24) – see the figures. Fig. 8 of the reference is copied herein, which shows the feed side channel material 4 formed directly on the membrane feed surface as a pattern. Different patterns are disclosed in the other figures.
Col. 9, lines 10-12, teaches among other things, polyamide as a suitable channel material. Col. 31, lines 50-56 teaches that a channel material resin can be applied to the support layer of the composite membrane before the separation layer is formed. The patterns or the features thus formed on the membrane would be of polyamide.
This also agrees with applicant’s disclosure that the technique used by the applicant is that provided by the Arnush and the Maruf references (pages 7 and 2 of the disclosure.) At the least, the Maruf reference taches applying the separation polyamide layer on a support layer that was pre-applied with the features or patterns.
Koiwa also teaches features such as projections (col. 20 lines 22-45) formed by embossing the membrane (col. 31 lines 10-31.) These also constitute features of polyamide on polyamide membrane.
Therefore, the claims are anticipated.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KRISHNAN S MENON whose telephone number is (571)272-1143. The examiner can normally be reached Flexible, but generally Monday-Friday: 8:00AM-4:30PM.
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, Prem C Singh can be reached at 571-272-6381. 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.
/KRISHNAN S MENON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1777
Prosecution Insights