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 Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 26-50 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO2020094661A1 see abstract and page 2; in view of USP10385183B2 see col. 14 lines 65-67.
With regard to claim 26, the claim discloses a process for degrading a plastic product comprising at least one polyester comprising at least a terephthalic acid monomer (TA) wherein the process comprises a main step of enzymatic depolymerization of said at least one polyester performed at a pH between 4 and 6, and wherein said enzymatic depolymerization step is implemented in a reaction medium wherein the equivalent TA concentration in the liquid phase of said reaction medium is of at least 10 g/kg based on the total weight of the liquid phase of the reaction medium with at least 90% of said equivalent TA in the form of salts.
WO2020094661A1 discloses a process for enzymatic depolymerization of polyester plastic materials to produce terephthalic acid and salts. The reference discloses recovering terephthalic acid stats in solubilized form and terephthalic acid concentrations great than 40kg/t in the liquid phase of the reaction medium. See abstract and page 2.
WO2020094661A1 does not discloses performing the depolymerization at a pH between 4 and 6.
USP10385183B2 discloses enzymatic depolymerization of mixed PET plastic articles and disclosing that the pH of the medium may be within the range of 4 to 10 and is adjusted according to the targeted polymer/enzyme couple and the solubility of the targeted monomer for improving the process efficiency. More particularly , the pH is adjusted to be maintained at the optimal pH of the enzyme. See col. 14 lines 65-67 and col. 15 lines 1-5.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to perform the process of WO2020094661A1 at a pH between 4 and 6 in view of USP10385183B2 since the pH was recognized in the art to be a parameter which affects the depolymerization performance and selecting value with the disclosed range would have been an obvious routine optimization.
With regard to claim 27, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to run the main step of enzymatic depolymerization in a reaction medium wherein the equivalent TA concentration in the liquid phase of the reaction medium comprising between 20 g/kg and 80 g/kg and wherein at least 95% of the equivalent TA in the liquid phase of said reaction medium is in the form of salts since WO2020094661A1 discloses terephthalic acid concentrations exceeding 40kg/t in the liquid phase and shows maintaining terephthalic acid in the form of a soluble terephthalate salt by controlling the pH during depolymerization. See pages 3,5 and 12.
With regard to claim 28, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to perform the main enzymatic depolymerization step without regulation because USP10385183B2 teaches that pH selection and adjustment depends on the polymer enzyme system and process conditions which make the regulation of pH obvious variation, i.e. regulated, or not regulated.
With regard to claim 29, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the main enzymatic depolymerization step at a pH between 4 and 5.5 and/or wherein the main enzymatic depolymerization step is implemented at a temperature between 40°C and 80°C since USP10385183B2 discloses reaction medium pH between 4 and 10 and depolymerization temperatures between 20C and 80C. See col. 14 lines 45-55 and col. 14 lines 65-67 and col. 15 lines 1-5.
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With regard to claim 30, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the main enzymatic depolymerization step at a pH between 5.0 and 5.5, and wherein the equivalent TA concentration in the liquid phase of the reaction medium is between 5 g/kg and 110 g/kg. Note WO2020094661A1 page 10 lines 21-25 and USP10385183B2 col. 14 lines 65-67 and col. 15 lines 1-5.
With regard to claim 31, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to perform the main enzymatic depolymerization step by contacting the plastic product with an enzyme able to degrade the polyester because WO2020094661A1 discloses contacting polyester plastic materials with enzymes capable of depolymerizing the polyester. See pages 5-8.
With regard to claim 32, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to obtain the reaction medium by implementing a preliminary depolymerization step using chemical and biological depolymerizing agent because sequential depolymerization treatments and pretreatment operations were known methods for improving polyester degradation efficiency and preparing material for subsequent enzymatic depolymerization. See USP10385183B2 see col. 19 lines 24-38.
With regard to claim 33, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to conduct the preliminary depolymerization step by contacting the plastic product in an initial reaction medium with at least an enzyme able to degrade said polyester of the plastic product and wherein the pH is regulated at a pH between 7.00 and 9.50 by addition of a base in the reaction medium, and/or wherein the temperature is between 50°C and 80°C since WO2020094661A1 discloses enzymatic polyester depolymerization and temperatures ranges as claimed (pages 3, 8-12) and USP10385183B2 teaches pretreating mixed PET plastic articles including chemical pretreatment to modify the structure and increase contact between polymers and enzymes. See col. 14 lines 7-9, 20-38.
With regard to claim 34, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to maintain the pH of the preliminary depolymerization step at the given pH until the equivalent terephthalic acid concentration in the liquid phase of the reaction medium is between 5 g/kg and 110 g/kg and wherein the main depolymerization step is implemented at a pH between 5 and 5.5 since WO2020094661A1 discloses regulating pH to maintain terephthalate salts in solution while targeting terephthalic acid concentrations. (page 3, 9-28) and USP10385183B2 teaches pretreating mixed PET plastic articles including chemical pretreatment to modify the structure and increase contact between polymers and enzymes. See col. 14 lines 7-9, 20-38.
With regard to claim 35, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use two enzymes since WO2020094661A1 discloses the use of multiple enzymes and combinations during depolymerization. See page 8 lines 37- through col. 8 lines 10, note particularly page 8 line 1.
With regard to claim 36, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to contact simultaneously with one or more PETase and one or more MHETase, since the use of multiple complementary depolymerizing enzymes to increase polyester convention is known in the art. See also WO2020094661A1 page 8 lines 37- through col. 8 lines 10, note particularly page 8 line 1.
With regard to claim 37, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the PETase and the MHETase in a multienzyme system since they are recognized as beneficial for improving polyester degradation.
With regard to claim 38, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to contact the plastic product first with the PETase, and the MHETase is introduced in the reaction medium after the PETase since the order of enzyme addition is obvious to the skilled artisan for modification for improving depolymerization efficiency.
With regard to claim 39, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a plastic product comprising at least one polyester comprising at least a terephthalic acid monomer (TA) according to claim 32, comprising the steps as claimed since WO2020094661A1 discloses enzymatic depolymerization win overlapping pH and temperature ranges and teaches controlling the conditions to optimize depolymerization and terephthalic acid recovery. See page 3.
With regard to claim 40, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to perform the preliminary depolymerization step as claims since polyester degrading cutinase and PET degrading enzymes are taught for PET depolymerization. See WO2020094661A1 page 8.
With regard to claim 41, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to perform the depolymerization steps as claims since the use of multiple enzymes are known to enhance polyester degradation. WO2020094661A1 page 8 lines 37- through col. 8 lines 10, note particularly page 8 line 1.
With regard to claim 42, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add one or more additional amounts of PETase or MHETase since replenishing enzyme during depolymerization constitutes routine optimization to maintaining reaction process.
With regard to claim 43, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to obtain the equivalent concentrations by adding salts since WO2020094661A1 discloses such on pages 11-13.
With regard to claim 44, see WO2020094661A1 page 3 and pages 6-7.
With regard to claim 45, see WO2020094661A1 pages 2-4 and 6.
With regard to claim 46, see WO2020094661A1 pages 6-7, 12-13.
With regard to claim 47, see WO2020094661A1 pages 7 lines 37-44.
With regard to claim 48, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ an MHETase in the preliminary or main depolymerization step because enzymes capable of converting pollster depolymerization intermediates into monomers were known similar enzymes in PET depolymerization.
With regard to claim 49, the claim is directed to a method for producing TA from a plastic article containing at least one polyester having at least one TA monomer comprising submitting the plastic article to a main enzymatic depolymerization step performed at a pH between 4 and 6, and recovering and optionally purifying the monomers and/or oligomers, wherein said enzymatic depolymerization step is implemented in a reaction medium wherein the equivalent TA concentration in the liquid phase of said reaction medium is of at least 10 g/kg based on the total weight of the liquid phase of the reaction medium and wherein at least 90% of the equivalent TA in the liquid phase of said reaction medium is in the form of salts.
. WO2020094661A1 discloses a process for enzymatic depolymerization of polyester plastic materials to produce terephthalic acid and salts. The reference discloses recovering terephthalic acid salts in solubilized form and terephthalic acid concentrations great than 40kg/t in the liquid phase of the reaction medium. See abstract and page 2.
WO2020094661A1 does not discloses performing the depolymerization at a pH between 4 and 6.
USP10385183B2 discloses enzymatic depolymerization of mixed PET plastic articles and disclosing that the pH of the medium may be within the range of 4 to 10 and is adjusted according to the targeted polymer/enzyme couple and the solubility of the targeted monomer for improving the process efficiency. More particularly , the pH is adjusted to be maintained at the optimal pH of the enzyme. See col. 14 lines 65-67 and col. 15 lines 1-5.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to perform the process of WO2020094661A1 at a pH between 4 and 6 in view of USP10385183B2 since the pH was recognized in the art to be a parameter which affects the depolymerization performance and selecting value with the disclosed range would have been an obvious routine optimization.
With regard to claim 50, the claim is directed to a reaction medium suitable to be used in a degradation process of a plastic product comprising at least one polyester comprising at least one monomer of terephthalic acid (TA), comprising at least 10 g/kg of equivalent TA in the liquid phase of the reaction medium based on the total weight of the liquid phase of the reaction medium with at least 90% of said equivalent TA in the form of salts, and optionally at least one enzyme able to degrade a polyester.
WO2020094661A1 discloses a process for enzymatic depolymerization of polyester plastic materials to produce terephthalic acid and salts. The reference discloses recovering terephthalic acid stats in solubilized form and terephthalic acid concentrations great than 40kg/t in the liquid phase of the reaction medium. See abstract and page 2.
WO2020094661A1 does not discloses performing the depolymerization at a pH between 4 and 6 or the particular product comprising at least one polyester comprising at least one monomer of terephthalic acid (TA), comprising at least 10 g/kg of equivalent TA in the liquid phase of the reaction medium based on the total weight of the liquid phase of the reaction medium with at least 90% of said equivalent TA in the form of salts, and optionally at least one enzyme able to degrade a polyester.
USP10385183B2 discloses enzymatic depolymerization of mixed PET plastic articles and disclosing that the pH of the medium may be within the range of 4 to 10 and is adjusted according to the targeted polymer/enzyme couple and the solubility of the targeted monomer for improving the process efficiency. More particularly, the pH is adjusted to be maintained at the optimal pH of the enzyme. See col. 14 lines 65-67 and col. 15 lines 1-5.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to produce the reaction medium of WO2020094661A1 at a pH between 4 and 6 in view of USP10385183B2 since the pH was recognized in the art to be a parameter which affects the depolymerization performance and selecting value with the disclosed range would have been an obvious routine optimization.
In conclusion, in view of the above, there appears to be no significant difference between the reference(s) and that which is claimed by applicant(s). Any differences not specifically mentioned appear to be conventional. Consequently, the claimed invention cannot be deemed as unobvious and accordingly is unpatentable.
Information Disclosure Statement
Note that any future and/or present information disclosure statements must comply with 37 CFR § 1.98(b), which requires a list of the publications to include: the author (if any), title, relevant pages of the publication, date and place of publication to be submitted for consideration by the Office.
Improper Claim Dependency
Prior to allowance, any dependent claims should be rechecked for proper dependency if independent claims are cancelled.
Correspondence
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TERRESSA M BOYKIN whose telephone number is (571)272-1069. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7-5:30. 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
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/Terressa Boykin/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1765
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