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/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-9 in the reply filed on November 17, 2025 is acknowledged. Claims 10-20 are withdrawn from further consideration as being drawn to nonelected inventions.
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.
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Frey (US 20150045599- appears on the PTO-892).
Frey teaches a method and system for producing jet-range hydrocarbons which includes passing a stream comprising renewable C4 olefins to an oligomerization reactor containing a zeolite catalyst to produce an oligomerized effluent, separating the oligomerized effluent to produce a jet range hydrocarbon stream and a recycle stream comprising C8 olefins, and passing at least a portion of the recycle stream to the oligomerization reactor (see abstract).
The C4 olefins are derived from dehydrating a renewable alcohol in a dehydration reactor (see claim 2). FIG. 2 describes an embodiment of a system 20 utilizing an exemplary method for producing jet-range hydrocarbons from a mixture of olefins that includes at least C4 olefins. In this embodiment, feedstock 99 is the same as described above, and includes at least C4 olefins, which are fed via stream 206 and 200 to dimerization reactor 5 (see claim 3). Catalysts used in dimerization reactor 5 are selected for their utility in producing single addition dimers. The effluent of reactor 5 including dimers of the C4 olefins (C.sub.8 olefins) is passed to reactor 1' via stream 201. In the oligomerization reactor 1', at least a portion of the C8 olefins are converted into a mixture of heavier boiling hydrocarbons including jet range hydrocarbons via oligomerization by reacting the C.sub.8 olefins using a zeolitic oligomerization catalyst(see para 0052). The effluent from reactor 1’ is conveyed to a distillation column (fractionator) 3 via stream 102 (see claim 10) where the oligomers that boil lighter than the jet range hydrocarbons are separated from the jet-range hydrocarbons. The jet-range hydrocarbons are then sent for further downstream processing (typically hydrogenation of the olefin) (hydrogenation reactor) (see para 0051; claim 7).
Frey comprises a splitter disposed downstream of the dehydration reactor and upstream of the dimerization reactor and the oligomerization reactor. (see Fig 1, components 99,100 101 and 1; Fig 2, components 99, 206, 200, 5). In Fig 1 and 2, the oligomerization and dimerization reactors are connected to the splitter. With respect to the use of a second dehydration reactor, the court held that mere duplication of parts has no patentable significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced (see In re Harza, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960). Frey meets the limitations of the claims other than the differences that are set forth below.
Frey does not specifically teach a dual wall fractionator, however, no unobviousness is seen in this difference because the teaching of a fractionator encompasses both single wall fractionators as well as dual wall fractionators, absent evidence to the contrary.
With respect to the logic-controlled valves in the presence of one or multiple dehydration reactors, it would have been obvious to use such valves to control the flow of the olefins from the dehydration reactors to the dimerization/oligomerization reactors.
Claims 7-9 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. The prior art does not teach or suggest that the dimerization reactor is inaccessible to the first dehydration reactor; that the logic-controlled valves are configured to close in the presence of two bio-alcohol feedstocks or the dual wall fractionator is configured to receive a first olefin process stream from the oligomerization reactor; and receive a second olefin process stream from the dimerization reactor in an instance wherein the one or more logic-controlled valves are closed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CEPHIA D TOOMER whose telephone number is (571)272-1126. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday.
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/CEPHIA D TOOMER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1771 18429615/20260207