DETAILED ACTION
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.
Regarding claim 3, the limitation “wherein an area rate of a through hole penetrating the separation layer is more than 0% and 0.05% or less” is indefinite. Applicant appears to define “area rate of a through hole” by reciting that the “area rate of the through hole 31 is determined as a ratio of an area of a penetrating region to an area of an observation region by observing a cross section of the separation layer 3 with an electron microscope” in paragraph 42 of the Specification. It is unclear what the “area of a penetrating region” is referring to. It is unclear whether this is the area of the opening, the area of the interior of the penetrating region, or something else. It is also unclear what the “area of an observation region” is referring to. It is unclear what particular region the “observation region” is referring to. It is also unclear what “area” this is referring to (e.g. the cross section, the surface area, etc.) It appears that any region could be considered an “observation region”. It is also unclear how observing a cross section of the separation layer 3 with an electron microscope would yield an “area of an observation region”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 1, 2 and 4-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ho USPA 2020/0398229 A1.
Regarding claim 1, Ho discloses a gas separation membrane for separating carbon dioxide from a mixed gas containing the carbon dioxide and a non-target component (claims 1-4), the gas separation membrane comprising: a porous layer (paragraph 104; claim 1; figure 9); and a separation layer formed of a polymer material (claims 1-8) and in close contact with one surface of the porous layer (figure 9), wherein a gas selectivity ratio R.sub.CO2/R.sub.0 is 8 or more and less than 100, where R.sub.0 is a gas permeability of the non-target component in the gas separation membrane and R.sub.CO2 is a gas permeability of the carbon dioxide in the gas separation membrane (claims 52-54), and a gas permeability ratio B.sub.CO2/A.sub.CO2 is 4.0 or more and 128.0 or less, where A.sub.CO2 is a gas permeability of the carbon dioxide in the separation layer and B.sub.CO2 is a gas permeability of the carbon dioxide in the porous layer (claim 32 discloses the CO2 porous layer permeability and Table 13 discloses the CO2 separation layer permeability).
It is noted that since claim 1 does not recite what the non-target component is, the claimed ratios would vary greatly depending on a selected non-target component. Therefore, even if Applicant claimed ratios that Ho did not disclose, the limitations would be met when calculated with some hypothetical non-target component.
Regarding claim 2, Ho discloses that the polymer material contains an organopolysiloxane (claim 81), and an average thickness of the separation layer is 10 nm or more and 800 nm or less (paragraph 101).
Regarding claims 4-11, the various gas selectivity ratios (see Ho claims 52-54) and gas permeability ratios (claim 32 and Table 13) are taught by Ho. It is noted that since claims 4-10 do not recite what the non-target component is, the claimed ratios would vary greatly depending on a selected non-target component. Therefore, even if Applicant claimed ratios that Ho did not disclose, the limitations would be met when calculated with some hypothetical non-target component.
Regarding claim 12, Ho discloses that the non-target component is nitrogen (claims 52-54).
Conclusion
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/CHRISTOPHER P JONES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1776
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