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/Restriction
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-4 in the reply filed on 24 July 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 5-10 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 24 July 2026.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Duan et al. (CN 218539843 U, using attached machine translation) in view of Guo et al. (CN 109970691 A, using attached machine translation).
Regarding claim 1, Duan teaches a continuous production system for 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid/FDCA ([n0010]; Fig. 2; [n0093]) comprising raw material supply units supplying an aqueous 5-hydroxymethylfurfural/HMF solution and a basic aqueous solution ([n0093]: alkaline electrolyte is KOH), respectively (Fig. 2: 12, 11); a micro-mixing unit (labeled as “micro-mixer” below) mixing the aqueous HMF solution and the basic aqueous solution supplied from the raw material supply units, respectively, to form a raw material mixture; and an electrochemical reaction unit (Fig. 2: 2) synthesizing FDCA while passing the raw material mixture introduced from the micro-mixing unit in a single pass ([n0095]: discussion of single-pass conversion). The product is discharged from the electrochemical reaction unit ([n0079]).
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Duan does not teach the product storage unit storing a product discharged from the electrochemical reaction unit. However, Guo teaches that in the continuous production of FDCA from HMF, the product is collected in a product storage unit (Guo Fig. 1, “FDCA”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to collect the product of the electrochemical reactor taught by Duan. One would make this modification because it is necessary for determining the yield of FDCA produced (Guo [0044]).
Claims 2-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Duan et al. (CN 218539843 U) and Guo et al. (CN 109970691 A) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Hauke et al. ("Efficient electrolysis of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural …" Cell Rep Phys Sci (2021), as attached by applicant).
Regarding claim 2, modified Duan does not teach wherein the electrochemical reaction unit of includes a first electrode plate and a second electrode plate positioned to face each other, a membrane positioned between the first electrode plate and the second electrode plate, an anode and a cathode positioned to face each other on both sides of the membrane; an anode flow path is positioned between the first electrode plate and the anode; and a cathode flow path is positioned between the second electrode plate and the cathode.
However, Hauke teaches that in a continuous process for the electrolytic conversion of 5-HMF to FDCA, first and second electrode plates are positioned to face each other, with a membrane positioned between the first and second electrode plates, an anode and a cathode are positioned to face each other on both sides of the membrane; an anode flow path is positioned between the first electrode plate and the anode; and a cathode flow path is positioned between the second electrode plate and the cathode (p. 3, ¶2; graphical abstract). The flow paths are in the form of the channels present in the electrode plates facing the anode/cathode; when electrolyte flows through these channels, a flow path can be said to exist between the electrode plates and anode/cathode by the broadest reasonable interpretation.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to use the electrochemical reaction unit of Hauke in the continuous production system taught by Duan. One would be motivated to use such a system because it is disclosed as producing the by-product hydrogen gas (p. 9, ¶5 – p. 10, ¶1), not present in the system taught by Duan in view of Guo.
Regarding claims 3 and 4, both the anode and cathode flow paths are a lattice-type flow path, and more specifically, the shape of the flow path is a zig-zag (Hauke p. 13, ¶5: “linear serpentine flow fields”).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Schouten et al. (US 2018/0142362 A1) teaches a continuous electrolytic process for production of 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid from 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and basic alkaline solutions.
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/CBF/ Examiner, Art Unit 1711
/MICHAEL E BARR/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1711
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