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 .
Response to Amendment/Arguments
The Amendment filed 8/10/2026 has been entered. Claims 1-2, 4, 6, 9-11, 13, 15, 17, and 20-23 remain pending on the application. Claims 1-2, 4, 6, and 9 are withdrawn. New claim 21 is provisionally withdrawn.
Applicant argues that the new claim amendments overcome the rejections of record. In particular, with regard to claim 10, Applicant argues that the prior art does not teach wherein the enclosed space consists of any portion of an HVAC system, an indoor room, a transportation vehicle, and a super- or sub-terranean passageway.
Examiner disagrees. As stated in the updated claim rejection, Starkweather explicitly states wherein the system can be used in the claimed spaces (par. 40: it should be appreciated that such systems and methods may be used to disinfect a variety of items used or contacted by the public (e.g., shopping carts, shopping baskets, strollers, railings, door knobs, etc.) and a variety of enclosures (e.g., kitchens, public or private bathrooms, cafeterias, airplanes, buses, etc.)).
Applicant also argues that Starkweather does not teach a system capable of administering UV light after introducing hydrogen peroxide into the enclosed space.
The rejection to claim 10 has been updated with new prior art, DE 102009060025 A1, to read on this new claim limitation. It should also be noted that Starkweather itself teaches wherein the order of its process steps can be varied (par. 134: Also, various concepts may be embodied as one or more methods, of which an example has been provided. The acts performed as part of the method may be ordered in any suitable way. Accordingly, embodiments may be constructed in which acts are performed in an order different than illustrated). While Examiner appreciates the technical significance of the ordering of these steps (the hydrogen peroxide is preferably given enough time to be distributed onto the sterilization target before being decomposed by UV light), the advantage of decomposing previously introduced hydrogen peroxide with subsequent UV light irradiation is one that is well known in the art of sterilization.
Election/Restrictions
Newly submitted claim 21 is directed to an invention that is independent or distinct from the invention originally claimed for the following reasons: claim 21 is dependent on a previously withdrawn claim.
Since applicant has received an action on the merits for the originally presented invention, this invention has been constructively elected by original presentation for prosecution on the merits. Accordingly, claim 21 is withdrawn from consideration as being directed to a non-elected invention. See 37 CFR 1.142(b) and MPEP § 821.03.
To preserve a right to petition, the reply to this action must distinctly and specifically point out supposed errors in the restriction requirement. Otherwise, the election shall be treated as a final election without traverse. Traversal must be timely. Failure to timely traverse the requirement will result in the loss of right to petition under 37 CFR 1.144. If claims are subsequently added, applicant must indicate which of the subsequently added claims are readable upon the elected invention.
Should applicant traverse on the ground that the inventions are not patentably distinct, applicant should submit evidence or identify such evidence now of record showing the inventions to be obvious variants or clearly admit on the record that this is the case. In either instance, if the examiner finds one of the inventions unpatentable over the prior art, the evidence or admission may be used in a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) of the other invention.
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 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 10, 13, 15, 17, 20, and 22-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Starkweather (WO 2019246394 A1) in view of DE 102009060025 A1 (hereinafter referred to as ‘025).
Regarding claim 10, Starkweather teaches a system for treatment of contaminants comprising:
an enclosed space, the enclosed space selected from the group consisting of any portion of an HVAC system, an indoor room, a transportation vehicle, and a super- or sub-terranean passageway (par. 40: it should be appreciated that such systems and methods may be used to disinfect a variety of items used or contacted by the public (e.g., shopping carts, shopping baskets, strollers, railings, door knobs, etc.) and a variety of enclosures (e.g., kitchens, public or private bathrooms, cafeterias, airplanes, buses, etc.));
a source of hydrogen peroxide configured to introduce hydrogen peroxide vapor directly into and throughout the an enclosed space; (par. 65: Modular unit 212a can include fluid connection(s) 227 that are coupled to spray unit(s) 260 and can provide fluid communication between spray unit(s) 260 and a source of an agent (e.g., a fluid reservoir); par. 9: and assembling the plurality of modular units to form a structure that defines a chamber sized to receive an object; par. 40: it should be appreciated that such systems and methods may be used to disinfect a variety of items used or contacted by the public (e.g., shopping carts, shopping baskets, strollers, railings, door knobs, etc.) and a variety of enclosures (e.g., kitchens, public or private bathrooms, cafeterias, airplanes, buses, etc.))
wherein the hydrogen peroxide is provided in the form of a vapor, an aerosol, or a combination thereof; (par. 49: For example, spray unit(s) 160 can include one or more nozzles with openings that can be adjusted to vary an amount of liquid and/or vapor that is sprayed)
and at least one ultraviolet light source located within the enclosed space and configured to project ultraviolet light in multiple directions to thereby irradiate the hydrogen peroxide vapor and form reactive oxygen-containing species (par. 50: Disinfection system 100 may run a first disinfection cycle using energy source(s) 122 that emit UV-C light (e.g., a UV-C cycle) and a second disinfection cycle using the disinfecting agents 190 (e.g., a vapor cycle), sequentially or simultaneously; par. 51: Disinfecting agent 190 can include, for example, hydrogen peroxide; NOTE: administering UV light and hydrogen peroxide within the same space would form oxygen-containing radicals; par. 43: For example, reflective unit(s) 120 can have a curved reflective surface (e.g., a hyperbolic reflective surface) that directs energy emitted from the energy source(s) 122 in multiple directions into the disinfecting area 125; par. 106: For example, disinfection system 1700 can include light sources that are excimer lamps that emit far UV-C light; NOTE: light emitted from an excimer lamp, as opposed to a laser, would project in multiple directions) but does not explicitly teach
wherein the UV light is administered following introduction of the hydrogen peroxide into and throughout the enclosed space.
However, Starkweather teaches wherein the order of the steps can be changed in any suitable way (par. 134: Also, various concepts may be embodied as one or more methods, of which an example has been provided. The acts performed as part of the method may be ordered in any suitable way. Accordingly, embodiments may be constructed in which acts are performed in an order different than illustrated).
‘025 teaches a similar device for disinfecting a shopping cart using UV light (abstract: The device (1) has a treatment station formed by an interior (3) of a housing (2) for parking or stopping multiple shopping trolleys (4). A dispensing unit (6) i.e. UV lamp, dispenses disinfecting medium to a handle and to areas of the parked shopping trolleys adjacent to the handle). ‘025 teaches wherein the UV light is administered after administering hydrogen peroxide so that sterilizing radicals can be generated, for a particularly effective sterilization process (pg. 3 par. 4: Preferably, however, the shopping carts are disinfected in such a way that the shopping carts are sprayed with the finely atomized, hydrogen peroxide-containing disinfecting medium and subsequently treated with UV radiation, thereby releasing germ-killing oxygen radicals from the hydrogen peroxide, thereby producing a particularly effective Sterilization or disinfection, for example, a 100% or almost 100% disinfection or disinfection of the shopping cart 4 is reached). This provides the additional benefits of allowing the items to covered with hydrogen peroxide first before the hydrogen peroxide decomposes and then decomposing residual hydrogen peroxide so that the sterilization targets have less harmful hydrogen peroxide when exiting the device.
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Starkweather to be capable of administering UV light to the sterilization target after spraying hydrogen peroxide, as taught by ‘025, in order to provide a particularly effective sterilization process that also helps decompose hydrogen peroxide before the sterilization treatment is finished.
Regarding claim 13, Starkweather modified by ‘025 teaches the system of claim 10, as set forth above, and teaches wherein the ultraviolet light source comprises one or more ultraviolet light emitting diodes (par. 42: Each energy source 122 can include one or more mercury vapor bulbs or tubes, xenon gas bulbs or tubes, excimer bulbs or tubes, light emitting diodes (LED)).
Regarding claim 15, Starkweather modified by ‘025 teaches the system of claim 10, as set forth above, and teaches wherein the ultraviolet light source is configured to emit ultraviolet light at a wavelength in the range of from about 200 nm to about 280 nm (par. 50: Disinfection system 100 may run a first disinfection cycle using energy source(s) 122 that emit UV-C light (e.g., a UV-C cycle); par. 42: UV light at a wavelength of approximately 200-280 nm (i.e., UV-C light)).
Regarding claim 17, Starkweather modified by ‘025 teaches the system of claim 10, as set forth above, and teaches wherein the ultraviolet light source comprises a first ultraviolet light source configured to emit ultraviolet light at a first wavelength and a second ultraviolet light source configured to emit ultraviolet light at a second wavelength different from the first wavelength concurrently with or following the first ultraviolet light source emitting the ultraviolet light at the first wavelength (par. 42: In some embodiments, a first set of energy source(s) 122 can be configured to emit a first type of energy (e.g., UV-B light) and a second set of energy source(s) 122 can be configured to emit a second type of energy (e.g., UV-C light); par. 44: Each surface of an object disposed within disinfecting area 125 can receive a collective amount of energy from various beams of energy).
Regarding claim 20, Starkweather modified by ‘025 teaches the system of claim 10, as set forth above, and teaches further comprising means for moving the hydrogen peroxide within the enclosed space and for encouraging interaction between reactive hydrogen-containing species formed from the hydrogen peroxide and contaminants located within the enclosed space (par. 49: In some embodiments, disinfection system 100 includes spray unit(s) 160 (e.g. fluid dispensers) for applying one or more agents (e.g., disinfecting agent 190, neutralizing agent 192) to objects within disinfecting area 125; NOTE: radical species formed from the reaction of hydrogen peroxide of UV light would necessarily contain hydrogen).
Regarding claim 22, Starkweather modified by ‘025 teaches the system of claim 10, as set forth above, and teaches wherein at least a portion of the interior walls of the enclosed space are reflective of ultraviolet light (par. 43: One or more energy source(s) 122 can be disposed within (e.g., removably or permanently) or near a reflective unit 120, such that energy emitted from the energy source(s) 122 can be directed into a disinfecting area 125 and/or an object disposed within the disinfecting area 125. Each reflective unit 120 can be formed of one or more reflective surface(s) capable of reflecting energy emitted from the energy source(s) 122; NOTE: the reflective units 720 as shown in Fig. 5A are attached to the walls and are therefore interpreted to be a portion of the interior walls).
Regarding claim 23, Starkweather modified by ‘025 teaches the system of claim 10, as set forth above, and teaches wherein the ultraviolet light source is configured to emit a broad band of ultraviolet wavelengths from a single source (par. 42: Each energy source 122 can be configured to emit light, such as, for example, UV light at a wavelength of approximately 320-400 nanometers (nm) (i.e., UV-A light), UV light at a wavelength of approximately 290-320 nm (i.e., UV-B light), UV light at a wavelength of approximately 200-280 nm (i.e., UV-C light), and/or high- intensity narrow-spectrum (FUNS) light (e.g., light at a wavelength of 405 nm); NOTE: absent a recitation a specific wavelength range that is considered broad, the prior art ranges are interpreted to be broad).
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Starkweather modified by ‘025 in view of Erickson (WO 2015139075 A1).
Regarding claim 11, Starkweather modified by ‘025 teaches the system of claim 10, as set forth above, but does not teach wherein the source of hydrogen peroxide is configured to control the amount of hydrogen peroxide introduced into the enclosed space to thereby maintain the concentration hydrogen peroxide at less than or equal to a preselected concentration threshold.
Starkweather teaches a fluid reservoir for the hydrogen peroxide (par. 65: Modular unit 212a can include fluid connection(s) 227 that are coupled to spray unit(s) 260 and can provide fluid communication between spray unit(s) 260 and a source of an agent (e.g., a fluid reservoir)) but does not teach a specific concentration of the introduced hydrogen peroxide.
Erickson teaches a sterilization device for treating various products (abstract: A device and method for the provision of antimicrobial activity and/or moisture protection for goods and other items prone to damage caused by microbes and/or water, such as, for example, foodstuffs and other putrescible items, pharmaceuticals and other medical/veterinary products, paper and paper/fibre-board products, timber and wood products, electrical/electronic devices, clothes and fabrics, is disclosed). Eriskon teaches wherein vaporized hydrogen peroxide that is used for sterilization is administered at a concentration of less than 1 ppm in order to be safe for humans while still providing sterilization (par. 43: When employed in the method of the first aspect, the device is intended to generate an atmosphere within the storage space comprising a concentration of the antimicrobial vapour that, in some embodiments, is non-hazardous to users but still effective in treating the storage space (ie the concentration of the antimicrobial vapour is very low but still sufficient to exert an antimicrobial effect). As will be understood by those skilled in the art, such a concentration may be temperature-dependent (ie the concentration will vary with the temperature within the storage space), but will preferably be < 1 ppm. For hydrogen peroxide vapour, the recommended safe limit (TLV-TWA 8 hours) in the workplace is 1.4 mg/kg air (1 ppm) (Hydrogen Peroxide - US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/idlh/772841. html) and, accordingly, in embodiments of the present invention wherein hydrogen peroxide vapour is generated from the antimicrobial vapour-generating material, the method is preferably conducted such that the maximum concentration of hydrogen peroxide in the storage space is < 1 ppm.).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Starkweather modified by ‘025 to spray hydrogen peroxide such that the concentration in the enclosed space of less than 1 ppm, as taught by Erickson, in order to provide sterilization without harming humans.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 CHANGRU CHEN whose telephone number is (571)272-1201. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:30-5:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Marcheschi can be reached at (572)-272-1374. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/C.C./Examiner, Art Unit 1796
/KEVIN JOYNER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1799
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