CTNF 18/391,097 CTNF 66146 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia 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 with traverse of Group I, claims 1-16 in the reply filed on April 1, 2026 is acknowledged. The requirement for restriction between the apparatus claims of elected Group I and the method claim of non-elected Group II is hereby withdrawn in view of the amendments made to non-elected claim 17, which render it unrestrictable from the claims of elected Group I. Specification The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because, as currently recited the abstract, particularly line 2 thereof, does not make sense. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b). Drawings The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the agitating unit, as recited by instant claim 12, must be shown or the feature canceled from the claim. No new matter should be entered. 06-22 Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance. 06-40 AIA INFORMATION ON HOW TO EFFECT DRAWING CHANGES Replacement Drawing Sheets Drawing changes must be made by presenting replacement sheets which incorporate the desired changes and which comply with 37 CFR 1.84. An explanation of the changes made must be presented either in the drawing amendments section, or remarks, section of the amendment paper. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). A replacement sheet must include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of the amended drawing(s) must not be labeled as “amended.” If the changes to the drawing figure(s) are not accepted by the examiner, applicant will be notified of any required corrective action in the next Office action. No further drawing submission will be required, unless applicant is notified. Identifying indicia, if provided, should include the title of the invention, inventor’s name, and application number, or docket number (if any) if an application number has not been assigned to the application. If this information is provided, it must be placed on the front of each sheet and within the top margin. Annotated Drawing Sheets A marked-up copy of any amended drawing figure, including annotations indicating the changes made, may be submitted or required by the examiner. The annotated drawing sheet(s) must be clearly labeled as “Annotated Sheet” and must be presented in the amendment or remarks section that explains the change(s) to the drawings. Timing of Corrections Applicant is required to submit acceptable corrected drawings within the time period set in the Office action. See 37 CFR 1.85(a). Failure to take corrective action within the set period will result in ABANDONMENT of the application. If corrected drawings are required in a Notice of Allowability (PTOL-37), the new drawings MUST be filed within the THREE MONTH shortened statutory period set for reply in the “Notice of Allowability.” Extensions of time may NOT be obtained under the provisions of 37 CFR 1.136 for filing the corrected drawings after the mailing of a Notice of Allowability. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 1-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamada et al ‘090 . Yamada et al ‘090 (Figs. 13, 14, 20, and 21; paragraphs [0250]-[0259], [0262], [0263], [0265]-[0268], [0271], [0274]) disclose an apparatus and process including an ultrafine bubble, UFB hereafter, film boiling (claim 15) generating unit (60), which may have pumps arranged upstream and downstream thereof (see paragraph [0257]) to thus create a circulating unit to circulate liquid through a circulation path including the UFB generating unit (see paragraph [0262]), and a computer control means to control the UFB generating unit and the circulation unit, wherein based on a predetermined condition the control unit switches from a first mode to a second mode wherein the flow velocity of the liquid in the circulation path is at a higher velocity (see paragraph [0266]). Note that the first flow velocity could be zero within the scope of the current recitation of claims 1 and 17. Further, the predetermined condition, within the scope of the disclosure of the reference could be the time the UFB generator has operated to arrive at a desired UFB concentration (claim 13) (see paragraph [0267]), or the temperature thereof (see paragraph [0255]), as recited by instant claims 2-9. With regard to the temperature of the UFB generating means, paragraph [0255] clearly discloses providing a cooling means to be associated therewith to maintain the liquid and the UFB generator at a desired temperature, and as such one having ordinary skill in the art would have envisaged providing the UFB generator with one or more temperature sensors to maintain the device at the desired temperature to efficiently produce the desired UFB concentration. It is noted that many of the instant claims rely upon process limitations to attempt to limit the apparatus claims in which they appear (claim 2, 4, and 7). Applicant should note that such process limitations cannot be considered to impart patentability to an apparatus claim, since they do not structurally limit the claim beyond the apparatus elements that appear in claims from which they depend. Wherein the reference clearly teaches all of the structural aspects of instant claims 1-9 (as well as the functional aspects of process claim 17), it would have been obvious for an artisan at the time of the filing of the application, to utilize the computer processor of the reference in any desired manner to control the device as set forth by instant claims 1-9, and 17. With regard to instant claim 10, the reference clearly discloses operable valves (Fig. 20) and pumps (paragraph [0257]) upstream and downstream of the UFB generating means, which in conjunction with the disclosed computer controller of the reference, would have suggested the desired operation of instant claim 10 to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing of the application. The storing unit (40 in Fig. 20) with cooler (44 in Fig. 20) is at an intermediate portion of the circulation path, and can have an agitator (see paragraph [0254]), with regard to claims 11, 12 and 14. The reference also clearly discloses a dissolving unit (30 in Fig. 20) for dissolving a desired gas into the liquid, the dissolving unit being provided on the circulation path (claim 16) . Conclusion 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHARLES S BUSHEY whose telephone number is (571)272-1153. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 6:30-5:00. 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, Jennifer Dieterle can be reached at 571-270-7872. 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. /C.S.B/6-14-26 /CHARLES S BUSHEY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1776 Application/Control Number: 18/391,097 Page 2 Art Unit: 1776 Application/Control Number: 18/391,097 Page 3 Art Unit: 1776 Application/Control Number: 18/391,097 Page 4 Art Unit: 1776 Application/Control Number: 18/391,097 Page 5 Art Unit: 1776 Application/Control Number: 18/391,097 Page 6 Art Unit: 1776 Application/Control Number: 18/391,097 Page 7 Art Unit: 1776
Prosecution Insights