DETAILED ACTION
This detailed action is in response to the application filed on August 29, 2023, and any subsequent filings.
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 .
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 MBR module with a base material in membrane tank as recited in Claim 1 must be shown or the features canceled from the claim. Similarly, how a base material “adopts” various connective structures as recited in Claim 4 must be shown. No new matter should be entered.
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.
In addition to Replacement Sheets containing the corrected drawing figure(s), applicant is required to submit a marked-up copy of each Replacement Sheet including annotations indicating the changes made to the previous version. The marked-up copy must be clearly labeled as “Annotated Sheets” and must be presented in the amendment or remarks section that explains the change(s) to the drawings. See 37 CFR 1.121(d)(1). Failure to timely submit the proposed drawing and marked-up copy will result in the abandonment of the application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites a “dynamic-like membrane” yet nothing in the claim, specification, or drawings indicates what is meant by this limitation. Claim 1 also recites that activated sludge induces the formation of the dynamic-like membrane further adding confusion as to the meaning of the term.
Claim 1 recites a “critical pore size” yet nothing in the claim, specification, or drawings indicates what is meant by this limitation.
Claim 1 recites a “average size of activated sludge” yet nothing in the claim, specification, or drawings indicates what is meant by this limitation.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "reducing an aeration rate" in line 7. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim as nothing indicates an aeration rate is applied.
Claim 1 recites the activated sludge induces formation of the dynamic-like membrane yet how activated sludge may form any type of membrane is not provided either in the claim, specification, or drawings.
Claim 2 recites a “critical pore size D” yet nothing in the claim, specification, or drawings indicates what is meant by this limitation.
Claim 4 contains the trademark Velcro®. Where a trademark or trade name is used in a claim as a limitation to identify or describe a particular material or product, the claim does not comply with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph. See Ex parte Simpson, 218 USPQ 1020 (Bd. App. 1982). The claim scope is uncertain since the trademark or trade name cannot be used properly to identify any particular material or product. A trademark or trade name is used to identify a source of goods, and not the goods themselves. Thus, a trademark or trade name does not identify or describe the goods associated with the trademark or trade name. In the present case, the trademark is used to identify/describe an unknown feature and, accordingly, the identification/description is indefinite.
Claim 5 recites a flow rate using units of L·m-2·h-1 yet these units represent a flux rate not a flow rate rendering the claim indefinite.
Claim 7 recites the dynamic-like membrane as constructed yet does not indicate what the construction structure comprises.
Claim 8 is a use claim that does not set forth any steps for the process (see MPEP 2173.05(q)).
The dependent claims not specifically detailed above contain the limitations of the recited claims and thus are rejected for the same reasons.
Prior Art Rejections
Although an attempt has been made to determine the scope and meaning of the claimed invention, the indefinite limitations are fundamental to understanding the claims and prevent a thorough search of the prior art based upon any recognizable technical features and limitations in the art. Further, "where there is a great deal of confusion and uncertainty as to the proper interpretation of the limitations of a claim, it would not be proper to reject such a claim on the basis of prior art," MPEP 2173.06(II).
Although no rejections based upon the prior art have been made, this does not mean that the prior art does not disclose the intended definite claims. From the limited understanding of the claimed invention, which may or may not be correct, Venosa, et al., U.S. Publication No. 2003/0146152 and Chant, U.S. Publication No. 2003/0192825, appear to disclose, either alone or in combination, the claims of the instant application.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The prior art cited by the Chinese Patent Office in the examination of the Chinese application from which this application seeks priority. The prior art has not been provided by the Applicant but is believed to include "Applied Research on Membrane Staining", Lewis, et al., Water Treatment Technology, vol. 41, no. 12, pages 106-109.
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/PATRICK ORME/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1779