DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This communication is in response to the election made 1/23/2026.
Claims 1-11 are pending. Claim 11 is withdrawn from consideration.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of group I in the reply filed on 1/23/2026 is acknowledged.
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) 1-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (US 2022/0350309).
With respect to claim 1, Kim teaches a method for operating a continuous catalytic reformer unit using machine learned model (abstract). Kim teaches passing a hydrocarbon feed to a heat exchanger for preheating, catalytic reforming in a reactor (exemplified as 4 reactors in one embodiment), and separating the effluent (0041). Kim teaches wherein the control system includes a medium including computer-readable code/instructions and enables storage and transmission, processor, output unit and control signal generation unit (0096-0097; 0068).
Kim is silent regarding the specific executable instructions of: receive: one or more signals indicative of one or more present state variables from one or more state variable actuator hardwares, wherein the present state variables are process variables that cannot be directly set in the continuous catalytic reformer unit; and one or more signals indicative of one or more present control variables of the continuous catalytic reformer unit from one or more control variable actuator hardwares, wherein the present control variables are process variables that can be directly set in the continuous catalytic reformer unit; and generate, by utilizing a machine learned model, an improved control variable that increases a selected performance variable based on the inputs of one or both of one or more present state variables or one or more present control variables, wherein the improved control variable wherein the machine learned model is trained utilizing inputs of at least historic state variable data, historic control variable data, and historic performance variable data; and adjusting one or more present control variables of the continuous catalytic reformer unit based on the improved control variable determined by the machine learned model.
However, Kim teaches receiving one signals indicative of one or more present state variables that can be controlled, such as temperature, and that cannot be controlled, such as properties of the feedstock. Kim teaches “control[ing] the operating conditions of each reactor in real time based on the predicted properties of products” (0043). Kim teaches the process control system executes (generates and adjusts) control of a property that can be directly set in the catalyst reformer unit, such as operating temperature of each reactor, in response to the model (0070).
Therefore, before the filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the instruction sequence claimed in the process of Kim because the listed instructions are general recitations of the same steps being performed in Kim of receiving the same two types of signals, generating an improved control variable from a trained predictive model, and adjusting the control variable.
With respect to claim 2, Kim teaches wherein the cos one or more signals to one or more control variable control signal generation unit sends a signal (which would be received by a hardware) to adjust the preset control variable (0009; 0070).
With respect to claim 3, Kim teaches “for controlling a reactor in a reformer capable of predicting properties of feed and products in a reformer in real time” (0008; throughout).
With respect to claim 4, Kim teaches wherein the input is received by the process control system in real-time or near-real time (0009).
With respect to claim 5, Kim teaches wherein the process control system generates the one or more improved control variables in real-time or near-real time (0009).
With respect to claims 6-7, Kim teaches using variables including experimental values for the properties of feed, the operating conditions of the reactor (0044). Such may include “the feed flow rate, the circulating gas flow rate, the hydrogen purity, the operating pressure, the operating temperature for each reactor (internal temperature for each reactor), the inlet and outlet temperatures of each reactor, and a weighted average inlet temperature (WAIT) of the reactor” (0044).
With respect to claim 8, Kim teaches wherein the performance controlled is the product reformate.
With respect to claim 9, Kim teaches wherein the reactant stream comprises refinery naphtha (0005).
With respect to claim 10, Kim teaches wherein the machine learned model includes multiple inputs, followed by computation performed, and a final prediction, thus appears to be a neural network model.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Brandi Doyle whose telephone number is (571)270-1141. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM.
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, Prem Singh can be reached at (571)272-6381. 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.
/BRANDI M DOYLE/Examiner, Art Unit 1771
/PREM C SINGH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1771