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 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) 1, 3, 5, 7 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP 2011-143347 A.
JP ‘347 teaches a hollow fiber membrane module comprising a tubular inner case (15), a tubular outer case (10) covering the inner case to define a space, a bypass pipe (30) connected to and extending from the inner case in the space, a plurality of hollow fiber membranes in the space, an introduction portion (12) on one end of the inner case to communicate between the inside and outside of the inner case, a discharge portion (13) on the outer case on an opposite side from the introduction portion to provide communication between inside of the outer case and outside of the outer case, a bypass port in the inner case at the opposite side to feed the bypass pipe, an inner case sealing portion (40) opposite the introduction portion, and outer case sealing portions (14) closing both sides of the outer case except for where the hollow fibers pass through, wherein the bypass pipe communicates with the bypass port and forms a fluid path that connects the port and the discharge portion via the space (see figures 5, 6, paragraphs 22-28 of the machine-generated English translation). Note that figures 5 and 6 depict the bypass pipe (30) extending perpendicularly from the inner case into the space between the cases in a vicinity of the discharge portion (13).
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) 4 and 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP ‘347 in view of JP 2007-212076 A.
JP ‘347 discloses all of the limitations of the claims except that the inner case has a portion with decreasing diameter on the introduction portion end, and that the introduction portion openings include at least one large port and at least one small port. JP ‘076 disclose a hollow fiber membrane module having an inner case (26) with an introduction portion that includes a decreasing diameter and introduction ports (35a-d) that become larger towards the introduction end (see abstract, figure 4, paragraphs 45-46 of the machine-generated English translation). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify the inner case of JP ‘347 by using the decreasing diameter and introduction port sizes of JP ‘076 in order to provide for a balance of gas introduction to the entire membrane.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art of record fails to disclose or suggest a motivation for the bypass pipe to connect to the outer case in the space between the inner case and the outer case in combination with the other recited structural limitations. For examination, “bypass pipe connects to the outer case” it taken to mean that it physically connects to the outer case and not fluidly or indirectly connecting. This is clear from the instant specification and Figure 1.
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 hollow fiber membrane modules.
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/FRANK M LAWRENCE JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1776
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