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 claims 1-6 in the reply filed on 2/13/26 is acknowledged.
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 1-6 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.
The structure of the filtering unit in claim 1 is unclear. Claims recite mounting the marked screen meshes, then filtering the water, then mounting the fixed screen meshes to perform in-situ purification. The actual arrangement of the screens is confusing and unclear. This is because applicant’s fig. 1 shows the marked screens as removable in the assembly with the clamps 4, whereas the fixed meshes are fixed to the filter housing. Also, the relationship between fixed screens and marked screens is given in the specification as:
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This equation results ion a negative number for M. Suggested correction: ratio of M/m = 2 to 3.75.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-6 are allowable when corrected for any 112(b) issues, without changing the scope of the subject matter claimed.
Several references were found that taught the increasing mesh number screen stacks for this intended purpose, but none of these teach the elaborate in-situ purification scheme as claimed in claim 2 and incorporating the fixed meshes before the in-situ cleaning in claim 1, for the reason the examiner assumes as preventing the loss of microplastics collected during filtration by covering the marked screens with Larger mesh number (smaller opening) fixed screens.
As example of a close prior art is:
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Other prior arts found are listed in an 892.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KRISHNAN S MENON whose telephone number is (571)272-1143. The examiner can normally be reached Flexible, but generally Monday-Friday: 8:00AM-4:30PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Prem C 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.
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/KRISHNAN S MENON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1777
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