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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Claim 1 is allowable. Claims 14-17, previously withdrawn from consideration as a result of a restriction requirement, require all the limitations of an allowable claim. Pursuant to the procedures set forth in MPEP § 821.04(a), the restriction requirement between inventions groups I and II, as set forth in the Office action mailed on 11/26/2025, is hereby withdrawn and claims 14-17 are hereby rejoined and fully examined for patentability under 37 CFR 1.104. In view of the withdrawal of the restriction requirement, applicant(s) are advised that if any claim presented in a divisional application is anticipated by, or includes all the limitations of, a claim that is allowable in the present application, such claim may be subject to provisional statutory and/or nonstatutory double patenting rejections over the claims of the instant application. Once the restriction requirement is withdrawn, the provisions of 35 U.S.C. 121 are no longer applicable. See In re Ziegler, 443 F.2d 1211, 1215, 170 USPQ 129, 131-32 (CCPA 1971). See also MPEP § 804.01.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-18 are objected to because of the following informalities: in line 7 of Claim 1, insert --the-- between “preventing” and “water”. Appropriate correction is required.
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 7-8 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.
In Claim 7, it is not clear to which of the waters (i.e. “fresh water” or water being recirculated) the limitation “said water” in line 4 is attempting to point to.
Claim 8 recites the limitation "the supply of fresh water" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
In Claim 8, it is not clear how a “supply of fresh water” can be controlled, more specifically it is not clear what/how is being controlled in a step of “controlling the supply of fresh water”.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-6 and 9-18 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: the primary reason for allowance of the claims is due to inclusion of limitations that water is pumped “from a container and passing the pumped water through a degassing filter located upstream of the boiler” and “subsequently … recirculating the water through the degassing filter for additional removal of NCGs while preventing the water from flowing from the degassing filter to the boiler” and “subsequently …. passing at least a portion of the water to the boiler” in a method of controlling a steam sterilizer system comprising a boiler in which liquid water is turned into steam. While prior art such as Eichenauer (DE19728217) discloses a method of degassing a feed water or disinfection solution using filter systems for a steam sterilization/disinfection system use (see entire English translation, particularly Abstract, Description lines 2-8 and 10-14, Claim 1), Eichenauer (‘217) does not specifically teach steps of “subsequently … recirculating the water through the degassing filter for additional removal of NCGs while preventing the water from flowing from the degassing filter to the boiler” and “subsequently …. passing at least a portion of the water to the boiler”. In addition, while prior art of Ma (CN201093467) discloses a method of producing pure steam comprising a step of discharging NCG via an air filter 13 from a buffer tank containing raw water for degassing treatment (see entire English translation, particularly p. 2 lines 16-25 and 2nd line from the bottom), Ma (‘467) does not specifically teach a method of controlling a steam sterilizer system that includes steps of “pumping water from a container and passing the pumped water through a degassing filter located upstream from the boiler in order to remove non-condensable gases (NCGs) dissolved in the water”, “subsequently … recirculating the water through the degassing filter for additional removal of NCGs while preventing the water from flowing from the degassing filter to the boiler”, and “subsequently …. passing at least a portion of the water to the boiler”. Furthermore, while prior art of Hirayama (CA2316012) discloses a method of treating water by pumping (via P0) water from a container (1) and passing through a membrane degassing apparatus (4) (see Figures 1-3, Abstract), Hirayama (‘012) does not specifically teach that the membrane degassing apparatus is a degassing filter or that the degassing means is “located upstream from the boiler in order to remove non-condensable gases (NCGs) dissolved in the water”, nor steps of “subsequently … recirculating the water through the degassing filter for additional removal of NCGs while preventing the water from flowing from the degassing filter to the boiler” and “subsequently …. passing at least a portion of the water to the boiler”. It would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide a method of controlling a steam sterilizer system comprised of a boiler in which liquid water is turned into steam comprised of steps as set forth in the claims, particularly steps of “pumping water…through a degassing filter upstream of the boiler”, “subsequently … recirculating the water through the degassing filter for additional removal of NCGs while preventing the water from flowing from the degassing filter to the boiler” and “subsequently …. passing at least a portion of the water to the boiler”.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following references relate either to the field of the invention or subject matter of the invention, but are not relied upon in the rejection of record: CN109205717 (use of a degasser to remove NCGs in water from waste water), CN108558110 (a method degassing waste water via a vacuum degasser in a ultra-supercritical VFB boiler waste water zero discharging processing system), WO03086573 (a method of degassing NCGs from water solutions during a layup period of power plant systems including steam generating systems and nuclear power plant systems), CA3052795 and RO129715 (water treatment in desalination utilizing a degasser), KR940003209 (a method of producing ultrapure water including degassing NCGs via a vacuum degassing apparatus), CN107489995 and CN206904939 (a pure steam generator used for pure steam moist heat sterilization utilizing a degasser where NCGs are separated from water by heating the water), CN107174884 (a degassing filter), CN206284307 (a high-temperature instant sterilizing device with a vacuum degassing system), 20070191711 and JP2003260463 (a method of liquid processing and handling comprising a step of degassing via a degassing filter/membrane), CA2037177 (a water degasification and distillation apparatus), JPS60235687 (a device that manufactures pure steam for sterilizing and washing medical supplies production equipment utilizing a degassing valve), JPS6051588 (high pressure steam pasteurization of an interior of an apparatus only by self-generating steam and degassing via a degassing lead pipe), WO2022187910 (a method of treating a liquid and utilizing a degasser where gas(es) is/are separated from water by heating the water), CZ306559 (a degassing apparatus for degassing of feed water for steam boilers and hot water systems utilizing a degassing membrane in a nebulizing chamber), WO2019006567 (a system for treating and recirculating water using a degassing filter for restoring the quality of water in fish farming pens).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to REGINA M YOO whose telephone number is (571)272-6690. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm EST.
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, Maris Kessel can be reached at (571)270-7698. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/REGINA M YOO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1758
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