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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on August 27, 2026, has been entered.
Applicants’ submission includes an amendment, in which claims 1, 4, 5, and 9 have been amended, and new claims 12-20 have been added.
Claims 1-20 are presently pending in this application.
Support for new claims 1-15 and 17-20 can be found as follows:
Claims 12-15 and 17: claims 1-11;
Claims 18 and 19: in paragraphs [0018], [0024], and [0026] of Applicants’ Specification;
Claim 20: paragraphs [0012] and [0035] of Applicants’ Specification.
New Objections and Rejections
The following New Objections and Rejections are being made in view of the Examiner’s review of the Specification and of the addition of new claims 17 and 20.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
In paragraph [0015] of Applicants’ Specification, line 10 therein, delete "absorbed" and insert therefor --adsorbed--.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 17 and 20 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 17, “Ca(OH)2, Na2CO3, KOH, NH4OH, and Mg(OH)2” should be amended to recite “Ca(OH)2, Na2CO3, KOH, NH4OH, and Mg(OH)2”; see claim 6.
In line 2 of claim 20, after “gas stream”, a period (“.”) should be added.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 16 is rejected because the limitation therein, “between about 10 atmospheres and about 500 atmospheres”, is not supported by Applicants’ Specification. While paragraph [0019] of Applicants’ Specification describes various parameters “to achieve destruction of the PFOS and regeneration of the adsorbent media…and the time at elevated temperature and pressure may be greater than about 60 seconds”, and that, “In other embodiments, process temperature, pH, alkaline substance, pressure, and time may vary depending on the individual PFAS to be targeted”, the Specification does not explicitly disclose a pressure range, such as that recited in claim 16.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-15 and 17-20 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
As stated in the previous Final Rejection, 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. (U. S. Patent Publication No. 2017/0297926), Strathmann et al. (U.S. Patent Publication No. 2020/0155885), Pinkard et al. (WO 2022/155271), or the cited references of record teach or suggest Applicants’ claimed method.
Conclusion
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 September 8, 2026
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