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 § 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 (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 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 1-3, 7, 9, 19, 24, 27, and 29-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dooley (US 2018/0355256) in view of Xing (WO 01/05908).
Regarding claim 1-3, 7, 9, 19, 24, 27, and 29-30, Dooley teaches pyrolysis of waste plastic followed by fractionation in a distillation column [0012], [0024-0027], [0077]. Dooley sends the products to fractionation column including condensers and reflux for diesel, petrol (naphtha), and LPG range products [0037-0042], [0100].
Dooley does not explicitly disclose preheating or cracking the pyrolysis oil with a catalyst.
However, Xing teaches a similar process for producing gasoline and diesel products from waste plastics (page 2). Xing teaches pyrolysis of waste plastic followed by a second catalytic cracking step performed at a temperature of 300-600°C to produce gasoline and diesel range products (pages 4-5).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to the person having ordinary skill in the art to have performed the Xing catalytic cracking step following the pyrolysis of Dooley, for the benefit of further obtaining the desired gasoline and diesel products. Further, it would have been obvious to the person having ordinary skill in the art to have included appropriate preheating steps, so that the pyrolysis oil is at the desired temperature conditions for the Xing cracking step.
Claims 5, 11-16, and 21-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dooley (US 2018/0355256) in view of Xing (WO 01/05908) as applied to claim 1 above, alone, or further in view of Siegel (US 3,926,785).
Regarding claims 5, 11-16, and 21-22, the previous combination teaches the limitations of claim 1, as discussed above.
The previous combination does not disclose all of the fractionation conditions as claimed.
However, Examiner notes that fractionation of hydrocarbons into useable fractions including gasoline and diesel, is well-known in the art. Examiner notes Siegel disclosure of crude oil distillation (See figure, column 1, lines 1-65).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to the person having ordinary skill in the art to have appropriately selected the conditions of the distillation, as is well known in the art, and described in Siegel, for the benefit of recovering the desired fractions. It is not seen where such conditions would result in any new or unexpected results.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHELLE STEIN whose telephone number is (571)270-1680. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30 AM-5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Prem C Singh can be reached at 571-272-6381. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHELLE STEIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1771