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 and 103
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.
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) 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Clough (US 6,767,460.)
Clough teaches removing metal ions from waste streams in col. 1 lines 12-37. The filter media used is ion-binding filter media made of polyol ligands as in claim 1, with specific polyol being N-alkylglucamine (penta-hydroxyalkylamines) N-methyl glucamine or trihydroxyalkylamines as in claim 2. Additionally, the filter material in Clough can have diphosphonic acid ligands as in claims 3-5 and 12-14 – see col. 4 lines 11-36.
Regarding claim 2, N-methyl glucamine (structure below) is included in claim 2. The other structures recited in claim 2 are similar and obvious equivalents.
PNG
media_image1.png
320
429
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Claims 6-11 and 15-20 are directed to the specific streams that are to be treated, which are basic, acidic or having organic solvents. While Clough does not explicitly teach what are in such streams, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that waste streams are often either acidic or basic, and contain organic solvents. The filter media taught by Clough would also be capable of removing the metal ions from any of such streams.
Under the principles of inherency, if a prior art device, in its normal and usual operation, would necessarily perform the method claimed, then the method claimed will be considered to be anticipated by the prior art device. When the prior art device is the same as a device described in the specification for carrying out the claimed method, it can be assumed the device will inherently perform the claimed process. In re King, 801 F.2d 1324, 231 USPQ 136 (Fed. Cir. 1986)
Further evidence of the filter media working in acidic or basic solutions is provided by Bruening below in rejection 2.
Claim(s) 12-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Bruening et al (US 5,182251.)
Bruening teaches in the background of the invention removing a variety of metal ions from acidic or basic solutions (like industrial waste streams) using filter material or media having aminoalkyldiphosphonic acids as recited in the claims claim 12-18. The specific phosphonic acids recited in claim 14 can be seen in the reference as the various structures in columns 2-4 and examples. Regarding claims 19 and 20, organic solvents are often present in waste streams and industrial effluents. According to Breuning, the media taught can effectively remove the ions overcoming virtually any difficulties - see the paragraph linking columns 1 and 2. In re King as cited above applies.
It is noted that the reference does not explicitly state filter or filter media, but then the claims require only “contacting a filter material…”
Claim(s) 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over Bruening et al (US 5,182251) in view of Clough as applied in rejection 1 above.
Claims 1-11 add filter material comprising polyol ligands in addition to the aminoalkyl phosphonic acids, which Bruening does not teach. Clough teaches having this feature in col. 5 lines 27-47 for the express purpose of removing boron and borate ions. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use the teaching of Clough in the teaching of Bruening to have this feature as well.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KRISHNAN S MENON whose telephone number is (571)272-1143. The examiner can normally be reached Flexible, but generally Monday-Friday: 8:00AM-4:30PM.
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, Vickie Kim can be reached at 5712720579. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/KRISHNAN S MENON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1771
Prosecution Insights