DETAILED ACTION
Status of Claims:
Claims 1-35 are pending.
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 § 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 10 and 23-35 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.
Regarding Claim 10:
Claim 10 refers to the “system of claim 1”. Claim 1 is directed to a method. It is not clear if claim 10 is intended to be a system claim or not.
The claim refers to “the reactor 12”. It’s not clear if the “12” is a typographical error or if the claim is intended to refer to a specific reactor.
Regarding Claim 23:
The claim states “a controller configured to continually decrease a dissolved oxygen target…to a reduced dissolved oxygen target…” It is not clear how the dissolved oxygen target can be continually reduced to a reduced dissolved oxygen target. If the dissolved oxygen target is decreased to the reduced dissolved oxygen target the targets would be the same and it is not clear how the process could be continuous. It is not clear if the “reduced dissolved oxygen target” is a changing value or a preset value.
The claim refers to “the oxygen demand”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation within the claim.
The claim states “a controller configured to continually…increase a dissolved oxygen target…to an increased dissolved oxygen target…” It is not clear how the dissolved oxygen target can be continually increased to an increased dissolved oxygen target. It is not clear if the “increased dissolved oxygen target” is a changing value or a preset value.
The remaining claims are indefinite as they depend from an indefinite claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-15 and 17-22 are allowed.
Claims 16 and 23-35 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: After a thorough review of the prior art, it is the examiner opinion, that the claims contain limitations not disclosed, or rendered obvious by the prior art. Hu et al (CN 115421525, English machine translation provided), Duffy et al (US 2020/0102235), and Applegate et al (US 2005/0133443) are considered to be representative of the closest prior art. The prior art teaches a method and control system for a wastewater treatment process (aeration amount intelligent control method) (see Hu, Abstract). The prior art further teaches adjusting a target dissolved oxygen value in response to a measured oxygen demand (according to the carbonization oxygen demand…obtaining oxygen demand aeration treatment) (see Hu pg. 2: contents of invention). The prior art further teaches incremental adjustment of the dissolved oxygen set point (DO is increased or decrease over time) (see Duffy para. 0006) and reactors with a first zone and a plurality of second zones upstream of the first zone (see Applegate para. 0012, fig. 1).
The prior art does not disclose incrementally increasing or decreasing the target dissolved oxygen value of one or more of a plurality of upstream second zones in response to a measured oxygen demand in the first zone, as required by claim 1. The prior art also does not disclose a controller configured to continually increase or decrease a dissolved oxygen target to a reduced or increased dissolved oxygen target in response to the oxygen demand of a substance in the first zone. One skilled in the art would not have found it obvious to modify the prior art to include the incrementally increasing or decreasing of the target dissolved oxygen demand or the controller configured to continuously increase or decrease the dissolved oxygen target in the plurality of second zones based on the oxygen demand of the first zone because it is not known in this or related prior arts to adjust the dissolved oxygen set point in an upstream zone based on the measured oxygen demand of a downstream zone.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CLAIRE A NORRIS whose telephone number is (571)272-5133. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 7:30-5 F: 8-12.
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/CLAIRE A NORRIS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1779 10/6/2026
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