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 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.
Claim(s) 8 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Borden (2011/0139695).
With regard to claim 8, Borden discloses a method of mobilizing contaminants sorbed on naturally occurring Al(OH)3 solids comprising: adding alkaline solution onto or into the soil (eg. para 0133) in order to raise the pH of the soil to a range of 9 to 10 (eg. table 5; para 0138), thereby neutralizing the positive electrostatic surface charge on the Al(OH)3 solids in the soil, thus eliminating the ionic immobilization of the anionic contaminants on the Al(OH)3 and freeing the anionic organic contaminants (eg para 0145-0146), and subsequently removing and recovering the anionic contaminant by pumping-and-treating the groundwater (eg. paras 0134, 0151).
With regard to claim 10, Borden further discloses calcium hydroxide (para 0017).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Borden (2011/0139695) in view of Jones et al. (2023/0113100).
With regard to claim 9, Borden discloses the invention substantially as claimed however is silent regarding the contaminants are poly- or perfluoro alkyl substances (PFAS).
Jones discloses utilizing high alkaline treatment for PFAS contaminants in soil (eg. para 0031).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Borden and utilize the alkaline treatment with PFAS as taught in Borden, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to remove additional contaminants from the soil.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-7 and 11-13 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the cited prior art, either alone or in any reasonable combination, fails to teach or suggest all the limitations of the independent claim(s). The use of aluminum hydroxide to remediate soil contaminated by PFAS is known such as those taught by Jones et al. (2023/0113100) and RemBond (“PFAS Soil Remediation”). However, the cited prior art lacks adding a soluble aluminum salt to the soil proceeded by adding an alkaline solution onto the soil to precipitate the aluminum hydroxide as required by the independent claim(s) and it would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the prior art to achieve applicant’s invention without the benefit of hindsight and applicant’s own disclosure.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BENJAMIN F FIORELLO whose telephone number is (571)270-7012. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8:00AM-4:30PM EST.
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/BENJAMIN F FIORELLO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3678
BF
02/17/2026