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 .
Claims 1-4 are pending.
Specification
Applicant is reminded of the proper content of an abstract of the disclosure.
A patent abstract is a concise statement of the technical disclosure of the patent and should include that which is new in the art to which the invention pertains. The abstract should not refer to purported merits or speculative applications of the invention and should not compare the invention with the prior art.
If the patent is of a basic nature, the entire technical disclosure may be new in the art, and the abstract should be directed to the entire disclosure. If the patent is in the nature of an improvement in an old apparatus, process, product, or composition, the abstract should include the technical disclosure of the improvement. The abstract should also mention by way of example any preferred modifications or alternatives.
Where applicable, the abstract should include the following: (1) if a machine or apparatus, its organization and operation; (2) if an article, its method of making; (3) if a chemical compound, its identity and use; (4) if a mixture, its ingredients; (5) if a process, the steps.
Extensive mechanical and design details of an apparatus should not be included in the abstract. The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph within the range of 50 to 150 words in length.
See MPEP § 608.01(b) for guidelines for the preparation of patent abstracts.
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because the first sentence refers to purported merits. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
Claim Objections
Claims 2-3 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 2, line 1, “to Claim 1” should read “to claim 1”.
In claim 3, line 1, “to Claim 1” should read “to claim 1”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim 3 is 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.
Claim 3 recites the limitation "the dissolved carbon dioxide" in lines 4-5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. There is no previous explicit mention of “dissolved carbon dioxide” in claim 3 or claim 1 upon which it depends. For examination purposes, this has been interpreted to refer to the carbon dioxide absorbed by the absorption device and contained in the electrolytic solution as described in claim 1.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Huang et al. (U.S. 2016/0362801).
Regarding claim 1, Huang discloses a carbon dioxide treatment device (see e.g. Fig. 1, photoelectrochemical reaction system 100 in which CO2 is processed; Paragraph 0018), including an absorption device that absorbs carbon dioxide (see e.g. Fig. 1, CO2 conversion part 102 in which CO2 absorbed as a carbonate into an aqueous solution; Paragraph 0020), a removal device that removes air components from an electrolytic solution containing the carbon dioxide absorbed by the absorption device (see e.g. Fig. 1, impurity removal part 101 which may be arranged between the CO2 conversion part 102 and the reaction solution transfer part 103 or CO2 reduction part 104 removing impurities from an exhaust gas such as sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides, i.e. air components, remaining in the reaction solution; Paragraph 0019), an electrochemical reaction part having an electrolysis cell that electrochemically reduces the carbon dioxide absorbed by the absorption device to carbon monoxide (see e.g. Figs. 1-2 and 8, CO2 reduction part 104 including photoelectrochemical module 1A in which CO2 as carbonate in the reaction solution 2 is reduced to CO; Paragraph 0025, lines 1-6, and Paragraphs 0046-0047), and a solar power generation device that supplied electric power to the electrochemical reaction part (see e.g. Figs. 2 and 8, photoelectric conversion element 6 electrically connected to oxidation electrode 4 and reduction electrode 5 of photoelectrochemical module 1A to provide the energy for the respective reactions; Paragraph 0026, lines 1-8, and Paragraph 0035).
Regarding claim 2, Huang discloses the absorption device including a carbon dioxide absorption part that dissolves and absorbs carbon dioxide in a strong alkaline electrolytic solution (see e.g. Paragraphs 0020-0022, CO2 reacted with strong alkaline metal hydroxide aqueous solution to be converted into a carbonate contained in the solution, i.e. dissolved and absorbed), and the carbon dioxide dissolved in the electrolytic solution in the carbon dioxide absorption part being supplied to the electrochemical reaction part (see e.g. Fig. 1, reaction solution containing CO2 dissolved as carbonate transferred to CO2 reduction part 104 by reaction solution transfer part 103; Paragraph 0024, lines 1-5).
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 3-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang in view of Berlinguette et al. (U.S. 2021/0123146).
Regarding claim 3, Huang teaches all the elements of the device of claim 1 as stated above. Huang further teaches the electrolysis cell including a cathode and an anode (see e.g. Fig. 2, photoelectrochemical module 1A including reduction electrode 5, i.e. cathode, and oxidation electrode 4, i.e. anode; Paragraph 0026, lines 1-5).
Huang does not teach the electrolysis cell including an ion exchange membrane provided between the cathode and the anode, a cathode-side liquid flow path that is provided adjacent to the cathode and through which the electrolytic solution containing the dissolved carbon dioxide flows, and an anode-side liquid flow path that is provided adjacent to the anode and through which the electrolytic solution flows. Huang does however teach both the anode and cathode being exposed to the flow of electrolytic solution in the cell (see e.g. Fig. 2, oxidation electrode 4 and reduction electrode 5 immersed in reaction solution 2 which flows through the reaction vessel 3 via pipes 7a/7c/7d; Paragraph 0026).
Berlinguette teaches an apparatus for electrocatalytically converting carbon dioxide emissions (see e.g. Abstract) comprising an electrochemical reactor in which CO2 absorbed into an aqueous solution as carbonate ions is flowed through to undergo electrochemical reduction into products such as CO (see e.g. Paragraphs 0087-0088 and 0090), wherein the electrochemical reactor comprises an anode and cathode separated by an ion exchange membrane (see e.g. Figs. 4A-4B, anode 414 and cathode 412 separated by membrane 416; Paragraphs 0082-0083, 0166 and 0170), with anode side and cathode side flowplates through which the aqueous solution is flowed (see e.g. Figs. 4A-4B, respective anode and cathode flowplates 443 and 423 for KOH or NaOH solution; Paragraphs 0084, 0087-0088, 0100 and 0171-0172)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the electrolysis cell of Huang to comprise an ion exchange membrane provided between the anode and cathode with anode-side and cathode-side flowplates through which the electrolytic solution flows as taught by Berlinguette as an alternate suitable cell configuration for electrochemical reduction of CO2 absorbed as a carbonate in an aqueous solution. MPEP § 2143(I)(A) states that “combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results” may be obvious. The claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would yield nothing more than predictable results. Further, MPEP § 2143(I)(B) states that “simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results” may be obvious.
Regarding claim 4, Huang teaches a carbon dioxide treatment method for electrochemically reducing carbon dioxide (see e.g. Fig. 1, operation of photoelectrochemical reaction system 100 in which CO2 is reduced; Paragraph 0018), the method including:
a first step of collecting carbon dioxide at all times using electric power transmitted from power plants, including nighttime electric power (see e.g. Fig. 1, gas containing CO2 transferred to CO2 conversion part 103 continuously, including at night, from CO2 generation part 100X such as a power station, thereby using the electric power thereof; Paragraph 0019, lines 1-6, and Paragraph 0024, lines 7-12);
a second step of bringing the carbon dioxide collected in the first step into contact with an electrolytic solution containing a strong alkaline aqueous solution, and dissolving and absorbing the carbon dioxide in the electrolytic solution (see e.g. Fig. 1, CO2 conversion part 102 in which CO2 dissolved and absorbed as a carbonate into a strong alkaline metal hydroxide aqueous solution; Paragraphs 0020-0022);
a third step of removing air components contained in the electrolytic solution containing carbon dioxide absorbed in the second step (see e.g. Fig. 1, impurity removal part 101 which may be arranged between the CO2 conversion part 102 and the reaction solution transfer part 103 or CO2 reduction part 104 removing impurities from an exhaust gas such as sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides, i.e. air components, remaining in the reaction solution; Paragraph 0019); and
a fourth step of electrochemically reducing the carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide using an electrolysis cell using electric power generated by a solar power generation device (see e.g. Figs. 1-2 and 8, photoelectrochemical module 1A in which CO2 as carbonate in the reaction solution 2 is reduced to CO using energy provided by photoelectric conversion element 6; Paragraph 0025, lines 1-6, and Paragraphs 0035 and 0046-0047).
Huang does not explicitly teach the electrochemical reduction also using daytime electric power. Huang does however teach the source of carbon dioxide may be exhaust gas from a power station (see e.g. Paragraph 0019, lines 1-3), and the electrolysis cell only operating during the day (see e.g. Paragraph 0024, lines 7-9).
Berlinguette teaches a process for electrocatalytically converting carbon dioxide emissions (see e.g. Abstract) wherein CO2 from a gaseous source is absorbed in an aqueous solution as carbonates and electrochemically reduced into products such as CO in an electrochemical flow cell (see e.g. Paragraphs 0094, 0099 and 0101), wherein the power for the electrochemical reduction may be supplied by any suitable source including solar cells, and, when the gaseous source of CO2 is flue gas from an electrical power generator, electrical power for the electrochemical cell may also be provided from the power generator (see e.g. Paragraphs 0087, 0089 and 0104).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the method of Huang to have the electrochemical cell, while operating in daytime, also use electric power from a power station from which gas containing CO2 is collected as taught by Berlinguette as an additional suitable power source for electrochemical reduction of CO2 absorbed in an aqueous solution. MPEP § 2143(I)(A) states that “combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results” may be obvious. The claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would yield nothing more than predictable results.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Bouwman et al. (WO 2020136211 A1) discloses a method and device for capturing carbon dioxide with a liquid alkaline solution as a (bi)carbonate and electrochemical conversion into a valuable chemical compound such as carbon monoxide, wherein the capture may be operated continuously using a fan to draw in carbon dioxide containing gas.
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/MOFOLUWASO S JEBUTU/Examiner, Art Unit 1795
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