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 .
Priority
The instant application was filed 6/11/2024. This application claims benefit to U.S. Provisional Application Serial Number 63/472,497, filed 6/12/2023. Claims 1-20 are pending.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-11, in the reply filed on 6/30/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 12-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to nonelected inventions, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Claims 1-11 have been examined on the merits.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements submitted on 2/4/2025 and 8/24/2026 have been considered by the examiner.
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 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Hazlebeck et al., US 2020/0299636 (US Patent Application Publication cite 1, IDS, 2/4/2025; herein “Hazlebeck”).
Note: Claims 1-11 are composition claims drawn to a system, i.e., device; hence, limitations of the claims drawn to an intended use are met if the device of the prior art COULD be used for the intended uses or method steps regardless of whether the prior art discloses the method or intended use.
Claims 1-2 and 10-11 are drawn to an algae cultivation system comprising: 1) a first unit, 2) a second unit and 3) a conduit; wherein the first unit is a unit suitable for producing an algae slurry in a cultivation fluid; wherein the second unit is suitable for producing a microorganism slurry in a growth media under conditions in which one or more microorganisms produce and excrete carbonic anhydrase into the growth media, wherein the microorganism is one of an algae, a bacteria, or a fungi or is from one or more genera selected from Chlamydomonas, Methanosarcina, Porphyridium, Dunaliella, Saccharomyces, Schizosaccharomyces, Nitzschia, Escherichia, Coccomyxa, and any combination thereof; and wherein the conduit is suitable for transferring at least a portion of a microorganism slurry from the second unit to the first unit.
Hazlebeck discloses, in Fig. 10, an algae cultivation system comprising an algae cultivation unit (60a) configured to produce an algae slurry in a cultivation fluid ([0074], [0152-156]); comprising a microorganism cultivation unit (60b) configured to produce a microorganism slurry in a growth media under conditions in which one or more microorganisms produce and excrete carbonic anhydrase into the growth media, wherein the microorganism is one of an algae, a bacteria, or a fungi or is from one or more genera selected from Chlamydomonas, Methanosarcina, Porphyridium, Dunaliella, Saccharomyces, Schizosaccharomyces, Nitzschia, Escherichia, Coccomyxa, and any combination thereof because 60b is configured to grow algae which can excrete carbonic anhydrase; and comprises a conduit suitable for transferring at least a portion of a microorganism slurry, i.e., any component from 60b, from the second unit, i.e., 60b, to the first unit, i.e., 60a, because the outflow of 60b on the right, through pump 61, through harvester 51, past contactor 66, through pump 62 and in to 60a on the left side of the figure, anticipating claims 1-2 and 10-11.
Hazlebeck discloses that the algae cultivation system can comprise the system of Fig. 6 for the harvester 50 in Fig. 10 [0152]. Said system would comprise a harvest system configured to produce a concentrated algae product from the algae slurry, i.e., exits pump 16 in Fig. 6, a recycled cultivation fluid, i.e., leaving tanks 10 though valve 21 ([0015], [0123-126]); a holding reservoir (41), conduit suitable to transfer algae slurry from algae cultivation unit 60a to the harvest system (10) (19 in Fig. 6; [0115]), conduit suitable to transfer recycled cultivation fluid from the harvest system (10) to the holding reservoir (41) (through valve 21 in Fig. 6), conduit from holding reservoir (63 in Fig. 10) to algae cultivation unit 60a and conduit from holding reservoir to microorganism cultivation unit 60b (from 63 through contactor 66, pump 62 and into left side of algae cultivator 60a and microorganism cultivation unit 60b in Fig. 10) anticipating claims 3-4 and 6.
Hazlebeck teaches that the recycled media reservoir 63 can be used to add media to algae cultivator 60 (including 60b) in Fig. 10. The conduit between recycled media reservoir 63 and microorganism cultivation unit 60b is suitable for transferring make-up water into 60b anticipating claim 7.
Hazlebeck teaches that the algae cultivation system comprises a gas/liquid contactor 66 connected to the holding reservoir 63 in Fig. 10 for contacting the recycled cultivation fluid with carbon dioxide-containing gas [0157] anticipating claims 5 and 8-9.
Conclusion
No claims are allowed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Trent R Clarke whose telephone number is (571)272-2904. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10-7 MST.
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/TRENT R CLARKE/ Examiner, Art Unit 1651
/DAVID W BERKE-SCHLESSEL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1651
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