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 Status
The Amendment filed on 12 August 2024 has been entered; claims 1-5, 8-17, 21, 29, 32, 38, and 54 remain pending.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because Fig. 12 contains text and chemical structures which are blurry and difficult to read. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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 3 and 29 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
With respect to claim 3, the limitation “the nanofiber” renders the claim indefinite, as it is unclear to the Examiner whether this limitation refers to the nanofiber composition or to a different nanofiber. Applicant may wish to amend “the nanofiber” to “the nanofiber composition” to overcome this rejection.
With respect to claim 29, “the salt” renders the claim indefinite, as it is unclear to which salts recited in claim 21 the limitations of claim 29 pertain to.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends. Regarding claim 15, the limitations “(3-glycidyloxypropyl) trimethoxysilane (GPTMS) functionalized cellulose nanofibers” appear to broaden the scope of claim 12 (and intervening claim 14), as claim 12 specifies that the nanofibrous composition comprises cellulose acetate nanofibers. Applicant may wish to amend the dependency of claim 15 to align with claim 13, which recites “cellulose nanofibers”. Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
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.
Claim 38 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhong et al. (U.S. Patent Publication # 2018/0311599), hereinafter “Zhong”.
With respect to claim 38, Zhong teaches a soy protein isolate/polyvinyl alcohol (“further comprising a polymer”) nanofiber mat (“nanofiber composition”) (see Paragraph [0112]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-5, 8-17, 21, 29, 32, and 54 are allowed pending resolution of the 112(b) and 112(d) rejections set forth above, as none of the prior art teaches the method of removing a PFAS from water by contacting the water including PFAS with a nanofibrous composition as recited in claim 1, or the method of claim 54 which applies the nanofibrous composition of claim 38 to water comprising PFAS to remove PFAS therefrom.
The following references are considered to be relevant to the claimed invention, but which fall short of disclosing the same:
Wen et al. (Environmental Pollution, 2016, 216, 682-688) teaches accumulation of perfluorooctane sulfonate and perfluorooctanoate with plants including ground soybean roots and shoots (Abstract; Section 2.4).
Jiang et al. (Science of the Total Environment, 2022, 838, 156640) teaches uptake of PFAS substances by soybean plants (see Abstract; Section 3.1).
Xia et al. (Environmental Science & Technology, 2013, 47, 10955-1063) teaches bioaccumulation of PFAS within Daphnia magna in water in the presence of soy peptone (see Abstract; Section 2.3).
Mantripragada et al. (Chemosphere, 2021, 283, 131235) teaches remediation of GenX (a short-chain PFAS) from water by amidoxime surface-functionalized electrospun polyacrylonitrile nanofibers via adsorption (see Title; Abstract; Section 3.3; Fig. 7).
Yu et al. (Water Research, 2008, 42, 3089-3097) teaches removal of perfluorooctane sulfonate from aqueous solution using chitosan-based molecularly imprinted polymer adsorbents (Abstract; Sections 2.2; 2.4; 2.5).
Ateia et al. (Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett., 2018, 5, 764-769) teaches removal of poly- and perfluorinated alkyl substances by poly(ethylenimine)-functionalized cellulose microcrystals (Abstract; “Materials and Methods” section spanning Pages 765-766).
Turner et al. (Chemosphere, 2019, 229, 22-31) teaches remediation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances from contaminated groundwater using Cannabis sativa (hemp), pea, soy protein plant powders (Abstract; Sections 2.2-2.4).
Wu et al. (Environmental Pollution, 2022, 314, 120266) teaches removal of PFAS in a bacteria-algae ecosystem (see Abstract; Sections 2.1-2.3).
Das (WO 2023/177909 A1) teaches removing PFAS from water by passing the water through a filter media comprising hemp fibers (see Abstract; Paragraphs [0013, 0086]).
Donovan (U.S. Patent Publication # 2020/0368717) teaches modified clay sorbents comprising additives which may include soy protein for the removal of PFAS from water (see Paragraph [0044] and Abstract).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CLARE M PERRIN whose telephone number is (571)270-5952. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-6PM EST M-F.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Bob Ramdhanie can be reached at (571) 270-3240. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CLARE M. PERRIN/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1779
/CLARE M PERRIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1779 08 June 2026
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