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 .
This action is a response to the amendments and remarks filed on 2 March 2026.
Response to Amendment
Claims 42 and 56-59 have been amended. Claims 43 and 47-55 have been canceled. Claims 41-42, 44-46, and 56-60 are pending. In the previous action (Non-Final Rejection filed on 28 November 2025), claims 41-60 were indicated as containing allowable subject matter.
In response to the amendments to the claims, the objections thereto, as well as the rejections under 35 USC 112(b), are withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
Applicant requests that the Examiner update the status of the application in the USPTO’s system to change the continuity type of the application to a continuation of Application 17/135,213 (Remarks, p. 8, middle).
In response, Applicant is respectfully advised that Applicant may correct the application data sheet by providing a new application data sheet with corrected or updated information. See 37 C.F.R. 1.76(c) and MPEP 601.05(a)(II).
Applicant argues that the claims are in condition for allowance (Remarks, p. 7).
In response, Applicant has amended claim 56 to change the scope of the claim, and to claim subject matter that is unpatentable in view of previously cited prior art Raiser (US 2017/0203230 A1). Because of Applicant’s amendments, after further consideration and search, said new grounds of rejection are presented herein as a final rejection. See MPEP 706.07(a).
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 56 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Raiser (US 2017/0203230 A1).
Raiser discloses a system for the purification of an organic solvent (Fig. 1; [0001]) (i.e., a solvent production plant) comprising:
a second distillation column 20 ([0063]) (i.e., a first distillation column);
a first distillation column 10 ([0063]) (i.e., a second distillation column);
a condenser 70 ([0117]) (i.e., a condenser); and
piping (solid lines with arrows in Fig. 1) arranged to configure:
a parallel feed solution F fed to the first and second distillation columns ([0013], [0088]) at inlets 11, 21 ([0098], [0103]) of each column, the feed comprising water, organic solvent ([0021]), and suspended biomass ([0030], [0063]) (i.e., the first distillation column to receive a first portion of a feed stream providing a mixture of an organic solvent, water, and solids; the second distillation column to receive a second portion of the feed stream) to produce overhead streams at first outlets 12, 22 of each column ([0099], [0104]) and a quasi-alcohol free stillage, typically containing less than 0.1 wt % alcohol, from the bottoms of each column ([0023], [0081]) (i.e., to produce a first overhead stream with a higher concentration of the organic solvent than the feed stream and a first bottoms stream with a lower concentration of the organic solvent than the feed stream; to produce a second overhead stream with a higher concentration of the organic solvent than the feed stream and a second bottoms stream with a lower concentration of the organic solvent than the feed stream, noting that the compositions of the overhead streams are implicit from [0023] and [0081] due to mass balancing);
the condenser 70 condensing the output of the first outlet 12 to produce a distillate D ([0087]) that is 85 to 95 wt % solvent ([0014]), wherein the concentration of ethanol (i.e., solvent) in the feed solution is typically between about 3 to 15 wt %, and the concentration of butanol in the in the feed solution is about 1 to about 3 wt % ([0079]) (i.e., the condenser to receive and condense the second overhead stream from the second distillation column into a condensed stream including the organic solvent at a higher concentration than the feed stream).
Claim Objections
Claims 57-60 are 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.
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
A thorough search for pertinent prior art did not locate any prior art that discloses or suggests the invention recited in claims 41-42, 44-46, and 57-60
The concept of a solvent production plant, comprising:
a first distillation column;a second distillation column, operating at a higher pressure than the first distillation column;
a third distillation column;
a fourth distillation column;
a stillage evaporator; and
piping, arranged to selectively configure:
the first distillation column to receive a first portion of a feed stream providing a mixture of an organic solvent, water, and solids;
the second distillation column to receive a second portion of the feed stream;
the third distillation column to receive a first solids-freed overhead stream from the first distillation column;
the stillage evaporator to receive and condense a second solids-freed overhead stream from the second distillation column into a condensed stream; and
the fourth distillation column to receive the condensed stream from the stillage evaporator (claim 41)
is considered to define patentable subject matter over the prior art.
Likewise, the concept of a solvent production plant comprising:
a first distillation column;
a second distillation column;
a condenser; and
piping, arranged to configure:
the first distillation column to receive a first portion of a feed stream providing a mixture of an organic solvent, water, and solids to produce a first overhead stream with a
higher concentration of the organic solvent than the feed stream and a first bottoms stream with a lower concentration of the organic solvent than the feed stream; and
the second distillation column to receive a second portion of the feed stream and produce a second overhead stream with a higher concentration of the organic solvent than the feed stream and a second bottoms stream with a lower concentration of the organic solvent than the feed stream;
the condenser to receive and condense the second overhead stream from the second distillation column into a condensed stream including the organic solvent at a higher concentration than the feed stream (claim 56);
further comprising: a third distillation column; and wherein the piping is further arranged to selectively configure: the third distillation column to receive the condensed stream (claim 57);
further comprising: a third distillation column; a fourth distillation column; and wherein the piping is further arranged to configure: the third distillation column to receive the first solids-freed overhead stream from the first distillation column (claim 58);
further comprising: a third distillation column; a fourth distillation column; a separation system; and wherein the piping is further arranged to configure: the third distillation column to receive the first overhead stream from the first distillation column and produce a third overhead stream with a greater concentration of the organic solvent than the first overhead stream; and the fourth distillation column to receive a regen stream from the separation system, and output a fourth overhead stream, the fourth overhead stream having a greater concentration of the organic solvent than the third overhead stream (claim 59); or
further comprising: a bottoms processing system configured to receive one or both of the first bottoms stream and the second bottoms stream and produce a vapor stream that is directed back to the first distillation column (claim 60)
is considered to define patentable subject matter over the prior art.
The closest prior art is Raiser (US 2017/0203230 A1), which discloses a system for the purification of an organic solvent (Fig. 1; [0001]) comprising:
a second distillation column 20 ([0063]) (i.e., a first distillation column);
a first distillation column 10 ([0063]) (i.e., a second distillation column);
a condenser 70 ([0117]) (i.e., a condenser); and
piping (solid lines with arrows in Fig. 1) arranged to configure:
a parallel feed solution F fed to the first and second distillation columns ([0013], [0088]) at inlets 11, 21 ([0098], [0103]) of each column, the feed comprising water, organic solvent ([0021]), and suspended biomass ([0030], [0063]) to produce overhead streams at first outlets 12, 22 of each column ([0099], [0104]) and a quasi-alcohol free stillage, typically containing less than 0.1 wt % alcohol, from the bottoms of each column ([0023], [0081]);
the condenser 70 condensing the output of the first outlet 12 to produce a distillate D ([0087]) that is 85 to 95 wt % solvent ([0014]), wherein the concentration of ethanol in the feed solution is typically between about 3 to 15 wt %, and the concentration of butanol in the in the feed solution is about 1 to about 3 wt % ([0079]).
However, Raiser does not explicitly disclose piping arranged to selectively configure the feeds of the distillation columns and the output of the condenser, or third or fourth distillation columns, or a bottoms processing system configured to receive one or both of the first bottoms stream and the second bottoms stream and produce a vapor stream that is directed back to the first distillation column.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GABRIEL E GITMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-7934. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 7:15-5:45pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, In Suk Bullock can be reached at 571-272-3471. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GABRIEL E GITMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1772
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