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 .
Applicants’ remarks and amendments, filed on May 29, 2026, have been carefully considered. Claims 1 and 9 have been amended; no claims have been canceled or added.
Claims 1-11 are presently pending in this application.
Withdrawn Objections and Rejections
The following objections and rejections of record, stated in the previous Office Action, have been withdrawn in view of Applicants’ claim amendments and persuasive traversing arguments:
The objection to claim 1 for the informalities therein;
The 35 U.S.C. 112(b)/35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph rejection of claims 9-11 for lacking antecedent basis for the limitation “absorbent media”;
The 35 U.S.C. 103 rejection of claims 1-4 and 9-11 as being unpatentable over Nickelsen et al. (U. S. Patent Publication No. 2017 /0297926) in view of Strathmann et al. (U.S. Patent Publication No. 2020/0155885, Applicants' submitted art); and
The 35 U.S.C. 103 rejection of claims 5-8 as being unpatentable over Nickelsen et al. (U. S. Patent Publication No. 2017 /0297926) in view of Strathmann et al. (U.S. Patent Publication No. 2020/0155885, Applicants' submitted art), as applied to claims 1 and 4, and further in view of Pinkard et al. (WO 2022/155271).
Maintained Rejection
The following rejection of record has been maintained; the text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 4-11 stand 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.
Claims 4 and 5 (and claims 6-8 depending directly or indirectly therefrom) are indefinite for lacking antecedent basis for the limitation “absorbent media”. Claims 1 and 3, from which claims 4 and 5 directly or indirectly depend, recite the limitation “adsorbent media”.
Claim 9, and claims 10 and 11 depending therefrom, are indefinite due to a discrepancy between “absorbent material” in lines 1 and 13 therein, and “adsorbent material” in lines 5, 11, and 12 therein.
Claims 6-8, 10, and 11 do not remedy the aforementioned deficiencies of claims 4, 5, and 9, and are thus rejected for the same rationale.
New Ground of Rejection
The following New Ground of Rejection is being made in view of Applicants’ amendment to claim 9 by adding thereto the limitation “separate the regenerated absorbent material from the mineralized PFAS for reuse”.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim 11 is 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 11 is indefinite for lacking antecedent basis for the limitation “system is configured to separate the regenerated adsorbent material from the mineralized PFAS”. Claim 9, from which claim 11 depends, recites (a) “system for regenerating an absorbent material” in line 1 therein, and (b) “separate the regenerated absorbent material from the mineralized PFAS” in line 13 therein.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-3 are allowed.
Claims 4-11 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art of record does not teach or suggest Applicants’ claimed method for treating and regenerating an adsorbent media, wherein a PFAS-contaminated adsorbent media is treated with an alkaline substance in a sealed reactor, in which the temperature in said reactor is increased to hydrothermal conditions with condensed-phase water at a temperature between about 150°C and about 374°C, wherein the alkaline substance is present in an amount sufficient to achieve a pH of at least 12, wherein an elevated temperature is maintained for a time sufficient to at least partially mineralize the PFAS and regenerate the adsorbent media, wherein the regenerated adsorbent media exhibits a Langmuir maximum adsorption capacity for perfluoropentanoic acid (PFPeA) that is at least 85% of a virgin adsorbent media; and wherein the adsorbent media is separated from the mineralized PFAS.
Neither Nickelsen et al., Strathmann et al., Pinkard et al., or the cited references of record teach or suggest Applicants’ claimed method.
Conclusion
In addition to the above-maintained rejections of claims 4-11, Applicant's amendment to claim 9 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 PATRICIA L HAILEY whose telephone number is (571) 272-1369. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ching-Yiu (Coris) Fung, can be reached at 571-270-5713. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Patricia L. Hailey/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1732 July 15, 2026
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