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
This Final Office action is based on the 18/394511 application originally filed December 22, 2023.
Claims 1-13, filed January 22, 2026, are pending and have been fully considered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
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(s) 1-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Reid (GB 2493377 A) hereinafter “Reid” in view of Eden et al. (US 2004/0200265) hereinafter “Eden”.
Regarding Claims 1-13
Reid discloses on page 1 lines 4-5, a fuel composition and additives thereto. In particular, relates to additives for fuel used in spark ignition engines.
Reid discloses on page 10 lines 30-35, to form the quaternary ammonium salt additives the quaternizing agent is reacted with a compound formed by the reaction of a hydrocarbyl substituted acylating agent and an amine of formula (Bi) or (B2).
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wherein R2 and R3 are the same or different alkyl, alkenyl or aryl groups having from 1 to 22 carbon atoms; X is a bond or alkylene group having from 1 to 20 carbon atoms; n is from 0 to 20; m is from 1 to 5; and R4 is hydrogen or a C1 to C22 alkyl group.
Reid discloses on page 13 lines 15-20, when a compound of formula (B1) is used, R4 is preferably hydrogen or a C1 to C16 alkyl group, preferably a C1 to C13 alkyl group, more preferably a C1 to C6 alkyl group. When R4 is alkyl it may be straight chained or branched. It may be substituted for example with a hydroxy or alkoxy substituent. Preferably R4 is not a substituted alkyl group. Preferably R4 is selected from hydrogen, methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl and isomers thereof. Most preferably R4 is hydrogen.
Reid further discloses on page 11 lines 16-18, the quaternising agent may suitably be selected from esters and non-esters. The compound of formula RCOOR1 is preferably an ester of a carboxylic acid selected from a substituted aromatic carboxylic acid, an a-hydroxycarboxylic acid and a polycarboxylic acid.
Reid discloses on page 13 lines 15-20, suitable non-ester quaternising agents include dialkyl sulfates, benzyl halides, hydrocarbyl substituted carbonates, hydrocarbyl substituted epoxides in combination with an acid, alkyl halides, alkyl sulfonates, sultones, hydrocarbyl substituted phosphates, hydrocarbyl substituted borates, alkyl nitrites, alkyl nitrates, hydroxides, N-oxides or mixtures thereof.
Reid discloses on page 16, the compound of formula (B1) is selected from N,N-dimethyl-1,3-diaminopropane, N,N-diethyl-1 3-diaminopropane, N,N-dimethylethylenediamine, N,N-diethylethylenediamine, N,N-dibutylethylenediamine, or combinations thereof. Examples of compounds of formula (B2) suitable for use herein include alkanolamines including but not limited to triethanolamine, N,N-dimethylaminopropanol, N,N- diethylaminopropanol, N,N-diethylaminobutanol, triisopropanolamine, 1-[2- hydroxyethyl]piperidine, 2-[2-(dimethylamine)ethoxy]-ethanol, N-ethyldiethanolamine, N- methyldiethanolamine, N-butyldiethanolamine, N,N-diethylaminoethanol, N,N-dimethyl amino-ethanol, 2-dimethylamino-2-methyl-1-propanol.
Reid discloses on page 16, X is a bond or alkylene group having from 1 to 20 carbon atoms. In preferred embodiments when X alkylene group this group may be straight chained or branched. The alkylene group may include a cyclic structure therein. It may be optionally substituted, for example with a X is preferably an alkylene group having 1 to 16 carbon atoms. Most preferably X is an ethylene, propylene or butylene group, especially a propylene group.
Reid discloses on page 17, the amine of formula (B1) or (B2) is reacted with a hydrocarbyl substituted acylating agent. The hydrocarbyl substituted acylating agent may be based on a hydrocarbyl substituted mono-di-or polycarboxylic acid or a reactive equivalent thereof. Preferably the hydrocarbyl substituted acylating agent is a hydrocarbyl substituted succinic acid compound such as a succinic acid or succinic anhydride. The hydrocarbyl substituent preferably comprises at least 10. It may comprise up to about 200 carbon atoms. Preferably the hydrocarbyl substituent has a number average molecular weight (Mn) of between 170 to 2800.
Reid discloses on page 21, the gasoline compositions may suitably comprise one or more additional components selected from carrier oils; acylated nitrogen compounds which are the reaction product of a carboxylic acid-derived acylating agent and an amine; hydrocarbyl-substituted amines wherein the hydrocarbyl substituent is substantially aliphatic and contains at least 8 carbon atoms; and aromatic esters of a polyalkylphenoxyalkanol. Compounds of these general types will be known to the person skilled in the art.
Reid discloses on pages 21 and 22, a method of controlling deposits in a spark ignition gasoline engine. Controlling deposits in this specification is intended to cover one or more of: reducing existing deposits ("clean-up"); reducing deposit formation ("keep-clean"); modifying deposits so as to reduce their negative effects. It has surprisingly been found that the gasoline compositions achieve good control of deposits in spark ignition gasoline engines. It has surprisingly been found that the gasoline compositions used achieve good control of deposits even in the demanding context of the direct injection spark ignition gasoline engine. This control of deposits may lead to a significant reduction in maintenance costs and/or an increase in power and/or an improvement in fuel economy.
It is to be noted, Reid specifically teaches testing integrated parts of the engine and emission systems of the internal combustion engine combusting gasoline or diesel fuel compositions but fails to specifically teach the claimed measuring step of the presently claimed invention.
However, it is known in the art to apply an apparatus for measuring particulates that are found in emissions in the tailpipe of the a vehicle, as taught by Eden.
Eden discloses in the abstract, a method and apparatus for characterizing particulate matter in gases emitted from the exhaust tailpipe of a moving vehicle includes providing a micro-dilution device on the vehicle and, while the vehicle is moving, retrieving samples of the gases and mixing the samples with ambient air with the micro-dilution device, thereby forming diluted samples of the gases containing volatile and non-volatile particulate matter. A particulate analyzer is provided on the vehicle which measures at least one parameter of the volatile and non-volatile particulate matter.
Eden further discloses in paragraph 0008, a vehicle propelled by a pressure ignition engine or a spark ignition engine.
Eden discloses in paragraph 0010, an apparatus and method for measuring and characterizing particulate matter emitted from an engine, according to another aspect of the invention, includes providing a mass analyzer, a particle analyzer and a computer. The mass analyzer measures the mass of the particulate matter. The particle analyzer counts the particles present in the particulate matter by particle size histogram entailing specific particle size groups. The computer resolves the resulting measured mass and particle counts to estimates of the mass of the particles according to their size as defined by the size histogram.
Eden discloses in paragraph 0028, referring now to the drawings and the illustrative embodiments depicted therein, an apparatus 10 is for characterizing particulate matter in gases emitted from an exhaust tailpipe of a moving vehicle 8 (FIG. 1). Vehicle 8 may be propelled by a compression-ignition engine which has traditionally been associated with particulate matter emission. However, vehicle 8 may be propelled with a spark-ignition engine which also may be capable of producing particulate matter emission.
Eden discloses in paragraph 0036, an output 36 of mass flow controller 26 is combined with the exhaust gas line 38 at a combiner 40. Combiner 40 includes a capillary 42, which combines a portion of output 36 with the exhaust gas from line 38.
Eden discloses in paragraph 0032, an outlet 58 of diluter 46 is supplied to a particle analyzer, such as a counter, and particle sizer 60. Particle analyzer 60 determines a parameter related to the particle content of the raw exhaust provided from line 14. Particle analyzer 60 may measure the count of the particles present in the particulate matter by a size histogram entailing specific particle size groups and provide the histogram through a serial port 62 to a logging device, such as a computer 64.
Eden discloses in paragraph 0038, apparatus 10 may, advantageously, be located a distance from the vehicle exhaust tailpipe. An alternative analyzer 110 is illustrated in FIG. 9 which is configured to be mounted, at least in part, in proximity to the vehicle tailpipe thereby enabling immediate mixing of the gases with ambient air. Apparatus 110 includes a tailpipe unit 72, which is mounted in close proximity to the vehicle tailpipe, and an in-vehicle unit 74 which may be mounted away from the vehicle tailpipe. Tailpipe unit 72 includes micro-dilution device 24, namely, mass flow control valve 28, pump 30, filter 32 and combiner 40. Because the tailpipe unit may be positioned in proximity to the tailpipe, it may be connected to the tailpipe with a line 1 14, which does not have to be heated. A linking line 76, which also does not need to be heated because it is conveying diluted exhaust gas, is reduced in volume by an exhaust discharge 116 and supplied to an optional diluter 46. As with analyzer 10, outlet 58 of diluter 46 is supplied to particle analyzer 60 whose output serial port 62 is supplied to computer 64. Apparatus 10, 110 may provide particle count data of the type illustrated in FIG. 8, which was collected on a diesel bus, by way of example. Referring to FIG. 8, it can be seen that the particulate count is lower during periods where the engine is idling and is higher during other periods. However, it can be seen that the apparatus 10, 110 provides an ongoing stream of data for the vehicle, which it is moving rather than placed on a dynamometer or merely in, an idling state.
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to measure and/or test the deposit/particulate formation of various parts of an internal combustion engine, including the tailpipe, as taught by Reid and Eden. The motivation to do so is to measure and/or test the particulate matter found in emission from the combustion of a fuel composition in DISI engines and spark ignition engines.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments directed to the newly submitted claimed amendments, filed July 07, 2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-22 under Reid (GB 2493377 A) hereinafter “Reid” in view of Hansch et al. (EP 2604674 A1) hereinafter cited under English Translation CA 2859182 C “Hansch” and List et al. (US 2017/0050590) hereinafter “List” been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Reid (GB 2493377 A) hereinafter “Reid” in view of Eden et al.(US 2004/0200265) hereinafter “Eden”.
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 LATOSHA D HINES whose telephone number is (571)270-5551. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Prem Singh can be reached on 571-272-6381. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Latosha Hines/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1771
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