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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicants’ election without traverse of Group I claims in the reply filed on 9/8/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 13-20 are cancelled as being drawn to a nonelected Group II claims, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 9/8/2026.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed 6/11/2025 fails to comply with 37 CFR 1.98(a)(3) because it does not include a concise explanation of the relevance, as it is presently understood by the individual designated in 37 CFR 1.56(c) most knowledgeable about the content of the information, of each patent listed that is not in the English language. It has been placed in the application file, but the information referred to therein has not been considered.
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.
Claims 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wiede, Jr. et al., US Patent No. 6,764,660 (hereinafter referred to as Wiede) in view of Wang et al., US Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0158678 (hereinafter referred to as Wang).
Regarding claim 1, Wiede discloses a channel reactor apparatus for contacting reactants with a particulate catalyst, said apparatus comprising: a plurality of reaction stacks with each reaction stack comprising a plurality of parallel plates extending vertically and horizontally and defining heating channels and reaction channels in each reaction stack; a distribution system for passing a reactant stream to the reaction channels of each reaction stack in parallel flow; a withdrawal system for collecting the parallel flow of reacted reactants from each reaction stack; a heating fluid delivery conduit for delivering a heating fluid to the heating channels of one of the reaction stacks located in a lead position; a plurality of intermediate conduits for passing the heating fluid in series flow from the reaction stack in the lead position, through the heating channels of reaction stacks located in an intermediate position, and to a reaction stack located in an end position; a heating fluid recovery conduit for recovering the heating fluid from the reaction stack in the end position; and a heater for reheating the heating fluid as it passes through an intermediate conduit (see Claim 1 of Wiede and Col. 6-7/L. 46-63 and see Figure 1).
Claim 1 differs from Wiede in a conduit having a longitudinal axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of a stack of reaction zones; and at least one electric heater being within the conduit.
However, the different features would be easily derived from D 1 considering an elongated heater 17 (see Figure 1) and Wang which discloses an apparatus for heating, reforming, or cracking hydrocarbon fluids or other fluids in a process having a process heat requirement for heating a process fluid in the process, comprising: an elongated shell having an inner wall; at least one elongated reaction chamber; a plurality of burners adjacent said inner wall; and transfer means adjacent the second end of said shell (see Claim 1 of Wang and Para. [0078][0080] and see Figures 3-7), and no unexpected effect has been achieved other than that expected from the combination of references.
Regarding claim 2, the limitations of claim 2 would be easily modified or optimized by a person skilled in the art through repeated experimentation which does not require a technical burden from Wiede considering that reactants flow horizontally across reaction stacks 28 through vertically extended reactant flow channels (Col. 6/L. 46-67).
Regarding claims 3 and 7 would be easily modified or optimized by a person skilled in the art through repeated experimentation which does not require a technical burden from Wang considering that multiple burners are fired in each pie-shaped sector at different elevations (see Para. [0079] and see Figures 7-10).
Regarding claims 4-6 would be easily derived from Wang considering that multiple burners are fired in each pie-shaped sector at different elevations (Para. [0079] and see Figures 7-10).
Regarding claims 8-9 are merely some of several straightforward possibilities from which a person skilled in the art would select, in accordance with circumstances, without the exercise of inventive skill, in order to solve the problem posed.
Regarding claims 10-12, see discussion above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VISHAL V VASISTH whose telephone number is (571)270-3716. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00-4:30 and 7:00-10:00p.
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/VISHAL V VASISTH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1771
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