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 . This is a first action on the merits of the application. Claims 1-13 are pending.
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.
Claims 1-13 are 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 1 is indefinite for failing to set forth any active steps in the main body of claim that involved in “a method of treating an aqueous liquid medium contaminated by at least one per- or polyfluoroalkyl substance” whereas the preamble recites “A method for treating an aqueous liquid medium contaminated by at least one per- or polyfluoroalkyl substance” in lines 1-2.
In addition, it is understood that the ovalbumin and the liquid medium undergo composition changes before and after the step of placing and contacting the two substances which renders the recitation of “a step of placing said liquid medium in contact with ovalbumin then a removal step of removing said ovalbumin from said liquid medium” indefinite.
In view of the 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejections, set forth above, and for clarification purposes, it is respectfully suggested to amend the limitation of claim 1 as, for example, but not limited to:
Claim 1
A method for treating an aqueous liquid medium contaminated by at least one per- or polyfluoroalkyl substance, comprising:
a step of placing said liquid medium contaminated by at least one per- or polyfluoroalkyl substance in contact with ovalbumin; and
a enriched with the at least one per- or polyfluoroalkyl substance from said liquid medium depleted by the at least one per- or polyfluoroalkyl substance,
wherein said step of removing
In conjunction with the proposed amendment of claim 1, set forth above, it is respectfully suggested to amend the limitation of claims 2-7 and 10-13 as, for example, but not limited to:
Claim 2
The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of placing said liquid medium contaminated by at least one per- or polyfluoroalkyl substance in contact with ovalbumin is performed for a period between 5 and 60 minutes.
Claim 3
The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of placing said liquid medium contaminated by at least one per- or polyfluoroalkyl substance in contact with ovalbumin comprises introducing into said liquid medium contaminated by at least one per- or polyfluoroalkyl substance an amount of ovalbumin between 0.05 and 10 g/l.
Claim 4
The method according to claim 1, wherein, for the step of placing said liquid medium contaminated by at least one per- or polyfluoroalkyl substance in contact with ovalbumin, the ovalbumin is introduced into said liquid medium contaminated by at least one per- or polyfluoroalkyl substance contained in egg white.
Claim 5
The method according to claim 1, wherein said liquid medium contaminated by at least one per- or polyfluoroalkyl substance has a pH between 6 and 6.8.
Claim 6
The method according to claim 1, wherein said step of removing contaminated by at least one per- or polyfluoroalkyl substance for a period between 5 and 60 minutes so as to form a foam at the surface of said liquid medium, and collecting the foam thus formed.
Claim 7
The method according to claim 1, said liquid medium contaminated by at least one per- or polyfluoroalkyl substance contains 0.1 to 2,000 μg/l of per- or polyfluoroalkyl substance(s).
Claim 10
The method according to claim 1, wherein said liquid medium contaminated by at least one per- or polyfluoroalkyl substance is ground water.
Claim 11
The method according to claim 1, wherein said liquid medium contaminated by at least one per- or polyfluoroalkyl substance is surface water.
Claim 12
The method according to claim 1, wherein said liquid medium contaminated by at least one per- or polyfluoroalkyl substance is water from soil washing.
Claim 13
The method according to claim 1, wherein said liquid medium contaminated by at least one per- or polyfluoroalkyl substance is wastewater.
Claims 2-13 are also rejected under 35 U.S. §112 by virtue of its dependence on claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matters and Allowed claims
Claims 1-13 in the instant application are allowed if previously presented 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejections to claims 1-13 are resolved.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: A thorough search for pertinent prior art did not locate any prior art that discloses or suggests the invention recited in claims 1-13. A method for treating an aqueous liquid medium contaminated by at least one per- or polyfluoroalkyl substance, comprising a step of placing said liquid medium in contact with ovalbumin then a removal step of removing said ovalbumin from said liquid medium, wherein said removal step is performed by flotation (claim 1), is considered novel.
A closest prior art to Hernandez et al. (Proteins as adsorbents for PFAS removal from Water, Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol., 2022, 8, 1188) discloses a method for depleting hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HPFO-DA), perfluorobutyric acid (PFBA), and perfluoro butane sulfonic acid (PFBS) from water by using bovine serum albumin (BSA) and lysozyme.
Other pertinent prior art to Turner et al. (Novel remediation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) from contaminated groundwater using Cannabis Sativa L. (hemp) protein powder, Chemosphere, Volume 229, August 2019, Pages 22-31) discloses a method for removing PFAS from contaminated groundwater using the proteins of Cannabis sativa L. and soy protein.
Other pertinent prior art to Woodard et al. (US 2024/0368003 Al) discloses a method for separating competing anions from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in a flow of water contaminated with PFAS and elevated levels of competing anions, the method comprising: (i) receiving the flow of water contaminated with PFAS and elevated levels of competing anions; (ii) separating competing anions from the PFAS and concentrating the PFAS to produce a treated flow of water having separated competing anions therein and a flow of water having a majority of the PFAS therein; (iii) receiving the flow of water having a majority of the PFAS therein; removing PFAS from the flow of water having a majority of the PFAS therein to produce a flow of treated water having a majority of the PFAS removed; and wherein the separation of competing anions from the PFAS increases a treatment capacity of an anion exchange resin to remove PFAS from the contaminated water.
Other pertinent prior art to Douglas (AU 2021200096 A1) discloses a process for removing silica and organic contaminants comprising per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and related moieties and reducing total hardness of a natural or waste water containing silica and scale-forming ions, the process comprising: adding (i) magnesium hydroxide or a precursor of magnesium hydroxide and (ii) a soluble aluminate compound or a precursor of aluminate to said water while maintaining the pH of said stream at pH > 8 to produce layered double hydroxide in situ, wherein the layered double hydroxide contains the scale-forming ions in a lattice of the layered double hydroxide and silica is incorporated in the lattice of the layered double hydroxide as an interlayer anion and/or bound by the layered double hydroxide via one or more binding modes.
Other pertinent prior art to Tomio et al. (JPS53142973 (A), please refer to the attached English translation document ) discloses a method of removing efficiently the heavy metal ions by adding the water-soluble protein of an amount capable of being dissolved to the aqueous solution containing the heavy metal ions, making it dissolve completely, generating bubbles by blowing-in air after having regulated pH of the solution to a specified value and then removing the generated bubbles, wherein the water-soluble protein is gelatin, ovalbumin, or soy protein and wherein the heavy metal ion is at least one selected from lead, copper, cadmium, zinc, cobalt, nickel, and magnesium.
Other pertinent prior art to Toshiaki et al. (JP H08257548A, please refer to the attached English translation document) discloses a method for removing pollutants from freshwater wastewater, characterized in that salt is added and mixed to a liquid concentration of 10 per mil or more and dissolved iron salt to an iron equivalent of1.0 mg/liter or more, air is introduced to generate bubbles in the liquid, and if the bubbles do not form a stable foam on the water surface, a protein substance is dissolved in the liquid to generate bubbles in the liquid to form a stable foam on the water surface, and the pollutants in the liquid are adsorbed onto the bubbles and the stable foam formed on the water surface is removed, wherein the protein substance is one or more selected from casein, gelatin, globulin, milk protein, egg protein and the dissolved iron salt is one or more selected from ferric polysulfate, iron sulfate, and iron(III) chloride.
The cited prior arts, alone or in combination, do not teach or suggest a method for treating an aqueous liquid medium contaminated by at least one per- or polyfluoroalkyl substance, comprising a step of placing said liquid medium in contact with ovalbumin then a removal step of removing said ovalbumin from said liquid medium, wherein said removal step is performed by flotation, as recited in claim 1 of claimed invention.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YOUNGSUL JEONG whose telephone number is (571)270-1494. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 9AM-5PM.
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/YOUNGSUL JEONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1772
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