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 .
Applicant’s Submission of a Response
Applicant’s submission of a response was received on 7/16/2026.
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) 4-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishikawa et al. (US 2017/02399625 in IDS) in view of Ishikawa et al. (JP 2014-188446 in IDS hereinafter `446).
Regarding claim 4, Ishikawa teaches membrane cartridge manufacturing method for manufacturing a membrane cartridge in which a filtration membrane is joined to a support plate that comprises a reference surface (surface between areas 231 and 232), a first joint portion (portion inside of (232)), and a second joint portion(232) retreated from the reference surface, the membrane cartridge manufacturing method comprising: placing the filtration membrane on a pre-joining support plate (21); and joining between the filtration membrane and the support plate at the first joint portion and the second joint portion through forming the second joint portion by pressing a pressing member (51) against the filtration membrane placed on the pre-joining support plate, from above the filtration membrane, so that a portion of the reference surface is retreated, wherein, in the pressing member, a first portion that faces the first joint portion is retreated from a second portion that forms the second joint portion (Figs. 2 and 5-8).
Ishikawa fails to teach the first joint portion extending out from the reference surface and the first joint portion that extends out from the reference surface provided in advance on a pre-joining support plate.
`446 teaches that for attaching a filter to a support plate it is beneficial to provide protrusions (Figs. 4-5) extending out from a reference surface so that no great stress is applied to the inner edge of the joint portion thereby preventing the filtration membrane from peeling or breaking off at the joint portion due to fatigue ([0036]-[0054] and Figs. 4-5). Further, `446 teaches that the protrusion extending from the surface can be provided on a pre-joining support plate in advance (Figs. 4-5) or the protrusion can be made during the forming process (Fig. 6). As such, one skilled in the art would have found it obvious to provide a protrusion extending from the references surface provided in advance on a pre-joining support plate in order to reduce stress on the outer joint and prevent breakage and peeling of the membrane from the support plate as providing such a protrusion extending from the reference surface is a known, equivalent way to provide a joint/protrusion rather than having a protrusion/joint formed solely during the manufacturing process.
Regarding claim 5, as can be seen in Fig. 8 the first portion of the retreated in comparison to the height of the second portion in a distance smaller than the height of first joint portion from the reference surface.
Regarding claim 6, Ishikawa teaches that the pressing member is heated (hot plate) ([0038]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 4 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. It is noted that the above rejection has been modified to address the first joint extending out from the reference surface limitations.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PETER KEYWORTH whose telephone number is (571)270-3479. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5 MT (11-7 ET).
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/PETER KEYWORTH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1776
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