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 .
Drawings
Figure 2 should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art-- because only that which is old is illustrated. See MPEP § 608.02(g). Corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The replacement sheet(s) should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Huang et al. (CN 212467630).
Regarding claim 15, the reference Huang et al. teaches a method for evacuating NOx gases from a nitric acid storage tank (5), in a production plant for producing nitric acid, utilizing a gas injector (4) (see Machine Translation, paras. [0028]; [0030]; [0037]; [0045]; Fig. 1).
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Gu et al. (CN 209205019).
Regarding claim 15, the reference Gu et al. also teaches a method for evacuating acidic fumes, which encompasses NOx gases, from a nitric acid storage tank (11) utilizing a gas injector (211) (see Machine Translation, para. [0017]; Figs. 1 and 2).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-14 and 16-19 are allowed.
Regarding claims 1-6, 16, and 17, the claims are allowed because the prior art of record does not disclose or fairly suggest the feature: a first gas inlet of the gas ejector is branched from a gas conduit of the nitric acid production plant through which NOx-containing gas is flowing at a pressure P1 ranging from 2 bar to 16 bar; a second gas inlet of the gas ejector is fluidically connected to the nitric acid storage tank essentially maintained at atmospheric pressure; and a gas outlet of the gas ejector is fluidically connected to a gas conduit of the nitric production plant through which NOx-containing gas is flowing at a pressure P2 which is lower than P1, as recited in claim 1.
Regarding claims 7-14, 18, and 19, the claims are allowed because the prior art of record does not disclose or fairly suggest the feature: wherein a first NOx-containing gas from a gas conduit of the nitric acid production plant at a pressure P1 ranging from 2 bar to 16 bar and a second NOx-containing gas from the nitric acid storage tank at atmospheric pressure are respectively flown in through a first inlet and a second inlet of a gas ejector and flown out to a gas conduit of the nitric acid production plant through which a NOx-containing gas is flowing at a pressure P2 which is lower than P1, as recited in claim 7.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Lessanework T Seifu whose telephone number is (571)270-3153. The examiner can normally be reached M-T 9:00 am - 6:30 pm; F 9:00 am - 1:00 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, Claire Wang can be reached at 571-270-1051. 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.
/LESSANEWORK SEIFU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1774
Prosecution Insights