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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 12/21/2023, 03/12/2025, 07/17/2025 and 09/18/2025 have been considered by the Examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species 1, claims 30-32, 45-47 and 52, with claims 29 and 44 being generic, in the reply filed on 06/22/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 33-43, 48-51 and 53-58 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 06/22/2026.
Status of Claims
Claims 29-32, 44-47 and 52, filed on 12/21/2023, are under consideration. Claims 33-43, 48-51 and 53-58 are withdrawn from consideration.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 29 and 44 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hazbun (US 4,791,079).
For claim 29, Hazbun teaches mixed ion and electron conducting catalytic ceramic membrane and to its use in hydrocarbon oxidation and or dehydrogenation processes, the membrane consists of two layers, layer 1 which is an impervious mixed ion and electron conducting ceramic layer and layer 2 which is a porous catalyst-containing ion conducting ceramic layer (Abstract, see figures below). The catalytic materials include those that catalyze reactions, especially oxidative conversion reactions for example in the oxidative coupling of methane (Col 4 lines 27-31).
Hazbun is considered to disclose an ethylene production apparatus for producing ethylene from a methane- containing gas comprising: a ceramic membrane having at least one of oxide ion conductivity and proton conductivity (Figure 1 label 1); a first catalyst layer that is disposed on a first face of the ceramic membrane and includes a catalyst for accelerating oxidative-coupling-of-methane reaction producing ethylene from methane (Fig. 1 label 2); a methane supply unit that supplies the methane-containing gas to a space that is one of two spaces separated from each other by the ceramic membrane and is located on the same side as the first face of the ceramic membrane (Figure-2A where hydrocarbon produces product on the inside of the ceramic membrane face that include the catalyst); and a charge transfer unit that transfers an electron from the first face to a second face of the ceramic membrane or transfers a hole from the second face to the first face of the ceramic membrane (the ceramic membrane as a whole).
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For claim 44, Hazbun is viewed to teach an ethylene production method from a methane comprising: supplying the methane-containing gas to a space that is one of two spaces separated from each other by a ceramic membrane having at least one of oxide ion conductivity and proton conductivity and is located on the same side as a first face of the ceramic membrane (Figure 2A), the first face bearing a first catalyst layer including a catalyst for accelerating oxidative-coupling-of- methane reaction producing ethylene from methane (Figure 1 label 2); performing charge transfer between the first face and a second face of the ceramic membrane by transferring an electron from the first face to the second face of the ceramic membrane or transferring a hole from the second face to the first face of the ceramic membrane (transfer of oxygen from air to the catalytic site for OCM); and producing ethylene from methane in the methane-containing gas on the first catalyst layer (Col 4).
For additional information about the movement of ions or protons (or both) in this type of reaction, please refer to Langguth (cited by Applicants) and US 6,281,403 (Figure 3).
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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.
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.
Claims 30-32, 45-47 and 52 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hazbun as applied to claims 29 and 44 above, and further in view of Sofranko (US 2014/0275679).
It is noted that Hazbun does not disclose details about external circuits connecting the first and second face of the ceramic membrane and that the second face comprises second catalyst layer for producing oxide from oxygen or reaction of oxygen and proton.
However, Sofranko teaches process capable of concurrently producing electric power and selectively oxidizing gaseous components in a feed stream, such as hydrocarbons to unsaturated products, wherein the reactor includes an oxidation membrane, a reduction membrane, an electron barrier, and a conductor. The electron barrier, located between the oxidation membrane and the reduction membrane, is configured to allow transmission of oxygen anions from the reduction membrane to the oxidation membrane and resist transmission of electrons from the oxidation membrane to the reduction membrane (i.e. reaction of oxygen and proton). The conductor conducts electrons from the oxidation membrane to the reduction membrane (Abstract), [0027], and [0059]. The electrolytic membrane promotes the transport of oxygen anion from the reduction membrane to the oxidation membrane. It functions primarily as an anion conductor and has low electronic conductivity, thereby forcing the electron flow from the oxidation membrane to the reduction membrane to occur primarily through a conductor which may be in the form of an external electronic circuit of the cell [0056].
This disclosure is considered to read on the claimed wherein the ethylene production apparatus further comprises an oxygen supply unit that supplies an oxygen-containing gas which contains oxygen to a space located on the same side as the second face of the ceramic membrane; and the charge transfer unit includes an external circuit that connects the first face and the second face of the ceramic membrane to each other, and the charge transfer unit transfers an electron from the first face to the second face of the ceramic membrane through the external circuit by utilizing an electric motive force stemming from an electric potential difference between the first face of the ceramic membrane and the second face of the ceramic membrane (as relating to claim 30). The disclosure of Sofranko also reads on the claims wherein the ceramic membrane has oxide ion conductivity; and the ethylene production apparatus further comprises a second catalyst layer that is disposed on the second face of the ceramic membrane and includes a catalyst for accelerating a reaction producing an oxide ion from oxygen (as relating to claim 31), and the claimed wherein the ceramic membrane has proton conductivity; and the ethylene production apparatus further comprises a second catalyst layer that is disposed on the second face of the ceramic membrane and includes a catalyst for accelerating a reaction using oxygen and a proton (oxygen reacts with hydrogen to make water; as relating to pending claim 32).
Therefore, and before the effective filing date of the instant invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the method of Hazbun with the disclosure of Sofranko to include benefit of generating electron flow (electricity) from the reaction of OCM over catalyzed ceramic membranes, and because this involves applying known techniques with predictable results and a reasonable expectation of success—see MPEP 2143 I, 2143 A, 2143 D, and 2143.02.
Claims 45-47 and 52 include the related method steps to the apparatus limitations of claims 30-32 and are rejected over Sofranko as discussed above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALI Z FADHEL whose telephone number is (571)270-0267. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-6pm PST.
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/ALI Z FADHEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1772
