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 Objections
Applicant is advised that should claims 13,15 be found allowable, claims 14,16 will be objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as being a substantial duplicate thereof. When two claims in an application are duplicates or else are so close in content that they both cover the same thing, despite a slight difference in wording, it is proper after allowing one claim to object to the other as being a substantial duplicate of the allowed claim. See MPEP § 608.01(m).
Claims 18,20 are objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as being a substantial duplicate of claims 17,19. When two claims in an application are duplicates or else are so close in content that they both cover the same thing, despite a slight difference in wording, it is proper after allowing one claim to object to the other as being a substantial duplicate of the allowed claim. See MPEP § 608.01(m).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 1-4,7,8,11,13-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chinese reference(CN112144177A) taken together with Chinese reference(CN1528500A).
Chinese reference(CN112144177A) teaches a preparation method for a recyclable filtering membrane, comprising following steps: dissolving fluorine-containing polymer particles(para 0053 stating “a 60% polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) dispersion was obtained”) and polyoxyethylene particles in deionized water(para 0053 stating “and a 3% aqueous solution of polyoxyethylene (PE)”) to prepare a spinning solution, and performing electrostatic spinning(para 0053 stating “a 50 um thick nanofiber sheet membrane was then prepared by needleless dynamic linear electrode electrospinning technology”) for the spinning solution to obtain a fiber membrane, performing calcining(para 0053 stating “the tubular membrane was sintered at 370o C for 60 minutes), cooling and drying(para 0053 stating “followed by natural cooling inside the furnace”) for the fiber membrane to obtain a porous fiber membrane. Chinese reference(CN112144177A) is silent as to subsequently performing corona charging for the porous fiber membrane to obtain the recyclable electret filtering membrane.
Chinese reference(CN1528500A) teaches a method for preparing a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane , including rolling and stretching a polytetrafluoroethylene film to form a porous PTFE film, and para 0009 stating “a needle-shaped metal electrode is placed above the center of the membrane. The upper end of the needle-shaped electrode is connected to a DC high-voltage power supply. Corona charging is used to obtain the porous membrane electret”. It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide a step of subsequently performing corona charging for the porous fiber membrane of Chinese reference(CN112144177A) to obtain a recyclable electret filtering membrane, the electret filtering membrane providing a membrane with good lateral uniform permeability(para 0015 of Chinese reference(CN1528500A)).
With regards to claim 2, Chinese reference(CN112144177A) taken together with Chinese reference(CN1528500A) further teaches wherein the fluorine-containing polymer particles comprise one or more of polytetrafluoroethylene and a perfluoroethylene propylene copolymer; mass ratio of the fluorine- containing polymer particles to the polyoxyethylene particles ranges from 15:1 to 25:1(PE being 5% of the mass of PTFE); and mass fraction of polyoxyethylene in the spinning solution ranges from 3%-7% (3% aqueous solution of polyoxyethylene).
With regards to claim 3, Chinese reference(CN112144177A) taken together with Chinese reference(CN1528500A) further teaches wherein the calcining is performed at a temperature of 350°C-400°C(para 0053 stating 370o C) ; and the corona charging is performed under following charging conditions: a voltage is (- 10)-(-15) kV (para 0009 of Chinese reference(CN1528500A) stating “the conditions for corona charging are voltage of +-5 to +- 50 kV”) , a distance between a needle and a ground plate is 3 cm-5 cm (para 0009 of Chinese reference(CN1528500A) stating “electrode film distance of 3 to 50 cm”), and a charging time is 5 min-10 min( para 0009 of Chinese reference(CN1528500A) stating “energizing time of 1 min to 1 hr). Chinese reference(CN112144177A) taken together with Chinese reference(CN1528500A) is silent as to calcining performed for 5 min – 10 min. Examiner respectfully submits that calcining time range is a result effective variable, wherein it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art, through routine experimentation, to adjust a calcining time from 60 min to 5-10 minutes in order to provide for a fiber membrane which is calcined for an optimal temperature and time range to obtain a porous fiber membrane.
With regards to claim 4, Chinese reference(CN112144177A) taken together with Chinese reference(CN1528500A) is silent as to wherein the electrostatic spinning is performed at a spinning voltage of 15-25 kV, an injection speed of 0.06 mm/min-0.12 mm/min, a roller speed of 80 r/min-120 r/min, and an ambient relative humidity of 40% RH-60% RH. Examiner respectfully submits that spinning voltage, injection speed, roller speed, and ambient relative humidity are result effective variables, wherein it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art, through routine experimentation, to adjust each of the stated variables to provide for electrostatic spinning performed within the claimed ranges.
With regards to claim 7, Chinese reference(CN112144177A) taken together with Chinese reference(CN1528500A) further teaches wherein the recyclable electret filtering membrane is an electrostatic spinning fiber membrane with a surface containing C-F bond.
With regards to claim 8, Chinese reference(CN112144177A) taken together with Chinese reference(CN1528500A) is silent as to wherein the recyclable electret filtering membrane has a fiber diameter of 1 µm-15 µm, a gram weight of 50 g/m²-150 g/m², a water contact angle of 140°-160°, an initial surface potential of -600V to -950 V, and an initial pressure drop of 60 Pa-150 Pa; and after cleaning and regeneration, a charge recovery rate is 90%-125%, a dust removal rate is 90%-100%, and a filtering efficiency for PM₂.5 is equal to or greater than 94%. Examiner respectfully submits that Chinese reference(CN112144177A) taken together with Chinese reference(CN1528500A) teaches producing a recyclable electret filtering membrane with equivalent components and processing steps , therefore it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art, through routine experimentation, to provide a recyclable electret filtering membrane with the claimed characteristics for filtration with the claimed filtering efficiency.
With regards to claim 11, Chinese reference(CN112144177A) taken together with Chinese reference(CN1528500A) further teaches wherein the recyclable electret filtering membrane is an electrostatic spinning fiber membrane with a surface containing C-F bond.
With regards to claim 13 and 14, Chinese reference(CN112144177A) taken together with Chinese reference(CN1528500A) further teaches wherein the recyclable electret filtering membrane is an electrostatic spinning fiber membrane with a surface containing C-F bond.
With regards to claim 15 and 16, Chinese reference(CN112144177A) taken together with Chinese reference(CN1528500A) further teaches wherein the recyclable electret filtering membrane is an electrostatic spinning fiber membrane with a surface containing C-F bond.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5,6,9,10,12, 17-20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claim 5 recites “wherein the recyclable electret filtering membrane further comprises further fluorination improvement; and a substance used for the fluorination improvement comprises one or more of perfluorooctyltriethoxysilane and perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane.”. Chinese reference(CN112144177A) taken together with Chinese reference(CN1528500A) teaches a recyclable electret filtering membrane, however Chinese reference(CN112144177A) taken together with Chinese reference(CN1528500A) does not teach or suggest wherein the recyclable electret filtering membrane further comprises further fluorination improvement; and a substance used for the fluorination improvement comprises one or more of perfluorooctyltriethoxysilane and perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane. Claims 6,17-20 depends on claim 5 and hence would also be allowable upon incorporation of claim 5 into claim 1.
Claim 9,12 recites “subjecting a surface of the recyclable electret filtering membrane to water drop rolling cleaning and friction electrification after dust holding, and then performing drying to realize charge regeneration and reuse.”. Chinese reference(CN112144177A) taken together with Chinese reference(CN1528500A) teaches a recyclable electret filtering membrane, however Chinese reference(CN112144177A) taken together with Chinese reference(CN1528500A) does not teach or suggest subjecting a surface of the recyclable electret filtering membrane to water drop rolling cleaning and friction electrification after dust holding, and then performing drying to realize charge regeneration and reuse. Claim 10 depends on claim 9 and hence would also be allowable upon incorporation of claims 7 and 9 into claim 1.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT A HOPKINS whose telephone number is (571)272-1159. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thurs 6am-4pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jennifer Dieterle can be reached at 5712707872. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ROBERT A HOPKINS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1776
June 17, 2026
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