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 .
Claim Interpretation
For examination, a “minor portion” is taken to mean less than half, and a “minor portion” of pores is taken to mean less than half of the pore volume of given micro-, meso-, or macropores. “Occluded” is taken to mean at least partially blocked.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-20 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.
Regarding claims 1-7, 9-14, 16 and 17, it is unclear what is meant by a “minor portion” of pores being occluded. Does this refer to less than half of the “pore volume” of the pores, or the “pore mass” of the pores, or simply less than half of the number of pores being occluded? Some of the claims indicate “volume basis” but this does not indicate if it is based on the pore volume or adsorbent material volume. It is also unclear what is meant by “occluded.” Does this mean blocked or partially blocked? If a pore contains a molecule of salt, is it occluded or impregnated, or are these the same?
Claims 2 (line 6) and 14 (line 4) are indefinite because they do not indicate “on a volume basis” as in the other claims.
Claims 8, 15 and 18-20 are rejected for depending from an indefinite parent claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 13-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by EP 0747118 A2.
EP ‘118 teaches an adsorbent prepared by impregnating BPL activated carbon with potassium acetate solution followed by drying, implying exposure of the carbon to the solution for a period of time before drying. BPL activated carbon is used, which inherently has micropores, and the metal and metal oxide loading is 13 wt% potassium or 16 wt% potassium oxide, respectively (see abstract, examples 2, 3). Regarding claim 15, one skilled in the art will understand that drying involves removing the adsorbent from the salt solution. It is submitted that a minor portion of the micropores will inherently be occluded because the same method of making is used.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 1, 8 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over EP ‘118 in view of Monereau et al. (6,402,813).
EP ‘118 discloses all of the limitations of the claim except that there is a second layer of adsorbent material and that the adsorbent is present as a bed in a vessel positionable to receive a fluid for fluid for purification, but does disclose that the adsorbent is used for removing trace oxygen from an inert gas. Monereau et al. ‘813 disclose a gas purification arrangement comprising several different adsorbent layers in a contact vessel (3) (see figure, abstract). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify the device of EP ‘118 by placing the sorbent in a vessel for controlled contact with a target gas, and including another adsorbent layer in order to provide for removing additional or different contaminants from a gas stream.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-7, 10-12 and 16-20 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The additional references listed on the attached PTO-892 form disclose impregnated adsorbent materials.
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/FRANK M LAWRENCE JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1776
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