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 § 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 2-4, 14-15, 17, and 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.
The term “credit-based” recycled content is unclear, at least relating to what type of credit. Further, the difference between physical and credit-based recycled content is unclear.
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) 1-9, and 12-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Scates (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2013/0137820). Regarding Claim 1, Scates shows a process for producing polyvinyl alcohol having recycled content (r-PVOH) (Abstract), the process comprising: (a) synthesizing vinyl acetate by reacting a first ethylene and a first acetic acid/anhydride with oxygen (0029); (b) polymerizing at least a portion of the vinyl acetate to thereby produce a polyvinyl acetate (0040); (c) reacting at least a portion of the polyvinyl acetate with a first alcohol to thereby produce a polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) (0052), wherein the PVOH comprises recycled content from one or more of the following source materials - (i) a waste plastic, (ii) a recycled content ethylene (r-ethylene), (iii) a recycled content alcohol (r-alcohol), and/or (iv) a recycled content acetic acid/anhydride (r-acetic acid/anhydride) (0007, 0016).
Regarding Claim 2, Scates shows the process of claim 1 above, including one wherein the PVOH comprises physical and credit-based recycled content from one or more of the source materials (0007).
Regarding Claim 3, Scates shows the process of claim 1 above, including one wherein the PVOH comprises physical recycled content from the r-ethylene and/or the r-acetic acid/anhydride (0007).
Regarding Claim 4, Scates shows the process of claim 2 above, including one wherein
the PVOH comprises credit-based recycled content from the r-alcohol and/or the r-CO (0064).
Regarding Claim 5, Scates shows the process of claim 1 above, including one wherein at least a portion of the r-ethylene is made from a waste plastic and wherein the first ethylene comprises at least a portion of the r-ethylene (0007).
Regarding Claim 6, Scates shows the process of claim 5 above, including one further comprising reacting at least a portion of the r-ethylene to form recycled content ethanol (r-ethanol) and wherein said first alcohol comprises at least a portion of said r-ethanol (0064).
Regarding Claim 7, Scates shows the process of claim 1 above, including one further comprising carbon reforming a recycled content hydrocarbon-containing feedstock to thereby produce an r-syngas stream (r-syngas) and subjecting at least a portion of the r-syngas to methanol synthesis to form a recycled content methanol (r-methanol), wherein said first alcohol comprises at least a portion of the r-methanol (0084-0085).
Regarding Claim 8, Scates shows the process of claim 1 above, including one wherein the carbon reforming comprises partial oxidation gasification of the hydrocarbon-containing feedstock and wherein the first acetic acid/anhydride is formed from at least a portion of the r-syngas (0085).
Regarding Claim 9, Scates shows the process of claim 8 above, including one wherein at least a portion of the first acetic acid/anhydride is produced by converting a second syngas into a first methanol and then subjecting at least a portion of the methanol to carbonylation with carbon monoxide to thereby produce acetic acid/anhydride, wherein the second syngas comprises at least a portion of the r-syngas from the carbon reforming and/or wherein the carbon monoxide comprises a recycled content carbon monoxide (r-CO) produced during the making of the r-syngas (0084-0085).
Regarding Claim 12, Scates shows the process of claim 1 above, including one further comprising acetalizing at least a portion of the recycled PVOH with at least one aldehyde to form a recycled content polyvinyl acetal (0056).
Regarding Claim 13, Scates shows the process of claim 12 above, including one wherein the aldehyde is a C3 to C6 aldehyde (0056).
Regarding Claim 14, Scates shows the process of claim 1 above, including one further comprising applying credit-based recycled content to the PVOH from the one or more source materials (0007, 0016).
Regarding Claim 15, Scates shows the process of claim 14 above, including one wherein the applying includes (i) attributing recycled content from at least one of the source materials having physical recycled content to at least one target material via recycled content credits, (ii) tracing recycled content along at least one chemical pathway from the at least one target material to the PVOH, and (iii) allocating recycled content to the PVOH based at least in part on the tracing of recycled content along the chemical pathway (0007, 0016).
Regarding Claim 16, Scates shows the process of claim 15 above, including one wherein at least one of the following criterial is met (i) the source material and the target material both comprise ethylene, (ii) the source material and the target material both comprise acetic acid/anhydride, (iii) the source material and the target material both comprise methanol, and/or (iv) the source material and the target material both comprise carbon monoxide (0007).
Regarding Claim 17, Scates shows the process of claim 15 above, including one wherein the attributing includes (i) booking recycled content credits attributable to the at least one source material into a digital inventory and (ii) assigning recycled content credits from the digital inventory to the target material, and wherein the tracing includes determining one or more conversion factors for one or more chemical reactions along the chemical pathway, wherein the attributing includes assigning credit-based recycled content from a digital inventory to the target material, wherein the conversion factors determine how much of the credit-based recycled content applied to the target material is allocated to the PVOH (0007).
Regarding Claim 18, Scates shows a process for producing polyvinyl alcohol having recycled content (r-PVOH) (Abstract), the process comprising: (a) synthesizing vinyl acetate by reacting a first ethylene and a first acetic acid/anhydride with oxygen (0029); (b) polymerizing at least a portion of the vinyl acetate to thereby produce a polyvinyl acetate (0040); (c) reacting at least a portion of the polyvinyl acetate with a first alcohol to thereby produce a polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) (0052), acetalizing at least a portion of the recycled PVOH with at least one aldehyde to form a recycled content polyvinyl acetal (0056), wherein the PVOH comprises recycled content from one or more of the following source materials - (i) a waste plastic, (ii) a recycled content ethylene (r-ethylene), (iii) a recycled content alcohol (r-alcohol), and/or (iv) a recycled content acetic acid/anhydride (r-acetic acid/anhydride) (0007, 0016).
Regarding Claim 19, Scates shows the process of claim 18 above, including one further comprising hydroformylating an olefin with a first syngas to provide the first aldehyde, wherein said first syngas comprises at least a portion of the r-syngas SO that the aldehyde is a recycled content aldehyde (r-aldehyde). (0084-0085).
Regarding Claim 20, Scates shows the process of claim 18 above, including one further comprising applying credit-based recycled content to the PVOH from the one or more source materials, wherein the applying includes (i) attributing recycled content from at least one of the source materials having physical recycled content to at least one target material via recycled content credits, (ii) tracing recycled content along at least one chemical pathway from the at least one target material to the PVOH, and (iii) allocating recycled content to the PVOH based at least in part on the tracing of recycled content along the chemical pathway (0007, 0016).
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) 10-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Scates. Scates shows the method of claim 1 above, including one wherein the synthesizing, polymerizing, and reacting are carried out in a PVOH production facility (0019-0020). Scates does not specifically describe the mileage between source material facilities, although he does discuss reuse of plants based on economic considerations (0084-0085). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use any available facilities at various mileage ranges, such as those which are claimed because where the general conditions of claim are disclosed by the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable values (such as mileage away) (MPEP 2144.05 (II)(A).
Conclusion
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MONICA ANNE HUSON
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1742
/MONICA A HUSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1742
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