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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statement filed 07/23/2024 has been considered.
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 1-10 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.
Claim 1, lines 10-11, recite "a cremation crystal". It is unclear if this is the same as the cremation crystal of claim 1, line 1. This limitation is interpreted as requiring forming the cremation crystal.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the cremation crystal finally formed" in line 15. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. This limitation is interpreted as requiring the cremation crystal, as it is unclear what is meant by “the cremation crystal finally formed”.
Claim 5 recites the limitation "the cremation crystal finally formed" in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. This limitation is interpreted as requiring the cremation crystal, as it is unclear what is meant by “the cremation crystal finally formed”.
Claim 8 recites the limitation "the cremation crystal finally formed" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. This limitation is interpreted as requiring the cremation crystal, as it is unclear what is meant by “the cremation crystal finally formed”.
Claims 2-4, 6-7, and 9-10 are indefinite as they depend from an indefinite base and fail to cure the deficiencies of the base claim.
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 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR '786 (KR 20120128786) in view of Hwang (KR 20180059214) and Mizrah (“Color and Transparency”).
Regarding Claim 1, KR ‘786 discloses a method for preparing a crystal of cremated remains (Title, [0001]), the method comprising: mixing an inorganic fluxing agent with bone powder [0006], wherein the inorganic flux is selected from phosphorus compounds [0007], wherein the phosphorus compound may be selected from orthophosphoric acid (H3PO4) (orthophosphoric acid meets the limitation of a catalyst, wherein the catalyst is a phosphoric acid; [0008]), such that KR ‘786 meets the limitation of a mixing step of mixing bone powder with a catalyst to form a mixture.
KR ‘786 further discloses in order to produce a bone crystal using a liquid composition that contains a large amount of moisture after mixing, a solid bone crystal composition must be prepared by adding a drying process [0019], such that KR ‘786 meets the limitation of a drying step of drying the mixture to form a dried product.
KR ‘786 further discloses crushing the foamed foam (aka a dried product) into powder or granules [0010], such that KR ‘786 meets the limitation of a subdividing step of pulverizing the dried product to form a pulverized product.
KR ‘786 further discloses a heat treatment step of melting the crushed powder (the heat treatment of KR ‘786 meets the limitation of a heat treatment process; [0010], [0025]), thus forming a melt.
KR ‘786 further discloses cooling to room temperature to form bone crystals (aka the cremation crystal) ([0036], [0038]), meeting the limitation of a crystallizing step.
KR ‘786 is silent to adjusting a phosphorus content to control the transparency of the cremation crystal.
KR ‘786, however, discloses the bone crystal composition is characterized by containing 50 to 200 parts by weight of a flux composed solely of inorganic materials in 100 parts by weight of bone powder crushed after cremation, and the inorganic flux is characterized by being selected from phosphorus compounds [0007].
Therefore, the phosphorus content of KR ‘786 is adjusted, as KR ‘786 teaches 50 to 200 parts by weight of a flux [0007].
Hwang discloses a method of manufacturing artificial gemstones (aka a cremation crystal) from bone components contained in humans or animals [0004]. Hwang further discloses at more than 1ppm, calcium phosphate may affect the color and crystal structure of artificial gemstones [0042], such that Hwang suggests adjusting the calcium phosphate content (and therefore, adjusting the phosphorus content) to control the color.
Mizrah discloses transparent objects are colorless (Abstract).
Therefore, the calcium phosphate, which affects the color of the cremation crystals, necessarily affects the transparency of the cremation crystals.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify KR ‘786 to incorporate the teachings of Hwang and Mizrah to adjust a phosphorus content to control the transparency of the cremation crystal in order to produce a crystal having the desired transparency.
Regarding Claim 10, KR ‘786 discloses the heat treatment process comprises melting the pulverized product by heat treatment for 5 minutes to 2 hours at a temperature in a range of 800 to 1200°C (800 to 1200°C meets the limitation of 800 to 1250°C; [0011], [0025]).
Regarding the time in claim 10, it appears that 5 minutes to 2 hours taught by KR ‘786 overlaps the claimed range of 10 minutes to 2 hours such that the range taught by KR ‘786 obviates the claimed range. See MPEP 2144.05 (I).
Claims 2-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR '786 (KR 20120128786) in view of Hwang (KR 20180059214) and Mizrah (“Color and Transparency”) and Klose (US 2012/0288425; US PG Pub of IDS Doc KR 20120129879) as evidenced by Sum Chemicals (“Food Grade Sulfuric Acid”).
Regarding Claim 2, KR ‘786, Hwang, and Mizrah teach the elements as described above with regards to claim 1.
KR ‘786 is silent to classifying the bone powder into raw bone powder and phosphorus-extracted bone powder; and obtaining a phosphoric acid from the phosphorus-extracted bone powder, wherein the phosphoric acid is used as the catalyst.
Klose discloses a method for producing phosphoric acid from bones ([0013]-[0015]), by extracting P2O5 (aka phosphorus pentoxide) from bone [0028] and treating the recovered alkaline earth phosphates with food grade sulfuric acid to produce a nearly chemically pure phosphoric acid [0029].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify KR ‘786 to incorporate the teachings of Klose to classify the bone powder into raw bone powder and phosphorus-extracted bone powder; and obtain a phosphoric acid from the phosphorus-extracted bone powder, wherein the phosphoric acid is used as the catalyst in order to reduce the need for an external source of phosphoric acid.
Regarding Claim 3, KR ‘786 is silent to extracting phosphorus pentoxide from the bone powder and hydrating the extracted phosphorus pentoxide in water to obtain the phosphoric acid.
Klose discloses a method for producing phosphoric acid from bones ([0013]-[0015]), by extracting P2O5 (aka phosphorus pentoxide) from bone [0028] and treating the recovered alkaline earth phosphates with food grade sulfuric acid to produce a nearly chemically pure phosphoric acid [0029].
Food grade sulfuric acid is 92-98% H2SO4 (Sum Chemicals) in solution, that is, in water.
Therefore, the phosphorus pentoxide of Klose is necessarily hydrated in water.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify KR ‘786 to incorporate the teachings of Klose to extract phosphorus pentoxide from the phosphorus-extracted bone powder and hydrating the extracted phosphorus pentoxide in water to obtain the phosphoric acid in order to reduce the need for an external source of phosphoric acid.
Regarding Claim 4, KR ‘786 discloses mixing an inorganic fluxing agent with bone powder [0006], wherein the inorganic flux is selected from phosphorus compounds [0007], wherein the phosphorus compound may be selected from orthophosphoric acid (H3PO4) (orthophosphoric acid meets the limitation of a catalyst, wherein the catalyst is a phosphoric acid; [0008]).
KR ‘786 is silent to classifying the bone powder into raw bone powder and phosphorus-extracted bone powder, obtaining a phosphoric acid from the phosphorus-extracted bone powder, and mixing the raw bone powder with the phosphoric acid.
Klose discloses a method for producing phosphoric acid from bones ([0013]-[0015]), by extracting P2O5 (aka phosphorus pentoxide) from bone [0028] and treating the recovered alkaline earth phosphates with food grade sulfuric acid to produce a nearly chemically pure phosphoric acid [0029].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify KR ‘786 to incorporate the teachings of Klose to classify the bone powder into raw bone powder and phosphorus-extracted bone powder, obtain a phosphoric acid from the phosphorus-extracted bone powder, and mix the raw bone powder with the phosphoric acid to form the mixture in order to reduce the need for an external source of phosphoric acid.
Regarding Claim 5, KR ‘786 discloses the main component in the bone powder is calcium phosphate.
Hwang discloses a method of manufacturing artificial gemstones (aka a cremation crystal) from bone components contained in humans or animals [0004]. Hwang further discloses at more than 1ppm, calcium phosphate may affect the color and crystal structure of artificial gemstones [0042], such that Hwang suggests adjusting the calcium phosphate content (and therefore, adjusting the phosphorus content) to control the color.
Mizrah discloses transparent objects are colorless (Abstract).
Therefore, the calcium phosphate, which affects the color of the cremation crystals, necessarily affects the transparency of the cremation crystals.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify KR ‘786 to incorporate the teachings of Hwang and Mizrah to adjust a phosphorus content in the crystal by adjusted the classification ratio of the raw bone powder to the phosphorus-extracted powder when the mixture is formed, thereby controlling the transparency of the cremation crystal, in order to produce a crystal having the desired transparency.
Claims 6-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR '786 (KR 20120128786) in view of Hwang (KR 20180059214) and Mizrah (“Color and Transparency”) and Yoshida (JP H11342379).
Regarding Claim 6, KR ‘786, Hwang, and Mizrah teach the elements as described above with regards to claim 1.
KR ‘786 is silent to obtaining phosphoric acid from bone powder and recovering a residual bone powder remaining after the phosphoric acid acquisition step, wherein the mixing step involves forming a mixture by mixing the residual bone powder recovered in the recovering step by using the phosphoric acid as the catalyst.
KR ‘786, however, discloses mixing an inorganic fluxing agent with bone powder [0006], wherein the inorganic flux is selected from phosphorus compounds [0007], wherein the phosphorus compound may be selected from orthophosphoric acid (H3PO4) [0008].
Yoshida discloses a method of producing phosphoric acid from bone (pg. 3, par. 9-11). Yoshida further discloses after the treatment (that is, producing phosphoric acid from bone), residual bones are separated (Abstract). Therefore, residual bone powder remains after producing phosphoric acid from bone.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify KR ‘783 to incorporate the teachings of Yoshida to obtain phosphoric acid from bone powder and recover a residual bone powder remaining after the phosphoric acid acquisition step, wherein the mixing step involves forming a mixture by mixing the residual bone powder recovered in the recovering step by using the phosphoric acid as the catalyst, because recycling (the residual bone powder) is a well-known beneficial process which conserves resources.
Regarding Claim 7, KR ‘786 is silent to mixing the phosphoric acid obtained in the phosphoric acid acquisition step with the residual bone powder.
Yoshida discloses a method of producing phosphoric acid from bone (pg. 3, par. 9-11).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify KR ‘786 to incorporate the teachings of Yoshida to mix the phosphoric acid obtained in the phosphoric acid acquisition step with the residual bone powder in order to reduce the need for an external source of phosphoric acid.
Regarding Claim 8, KR ‘786 is silent to adjusting the residual phosphorus content of the residual bone powder to control the transparency of the cremation crystal.
KR ‘786, however, discloses the bone crystal composition is characterized by containing 50 to 200 parts by weight of a flux composed solely of inorganic materials in 100 parts by weight of bone powder crushed after cremation, and the inorganic flux is characterized by being selected from phosphorus compounds [0007].
Therefore, the phosphorus content of KR ‘786 is adjusted, as KR ‘786 teaches 50 to 200 parts by weight of a flux [0007].
Hwang discloses a method of manufacturing artificial gemstones (aka a cremation crystal) from bone components contained in humans or animals [0004]. Hwang further discloses at more than 1ppm, calcium phosphate may affect the color and crystal structure of artificial gemstones [0042], such that Hwang suggests adjusting the calcium phosphate content (and therefore, adjusting the phosphorus content) to control the color.
Mizrah discloses transparent objects are colorless (Abstract).
Therefore, the calcium phosphate, which affects the color of the cremation crystals, necessarily affects the transparency of the cremation crystals.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify KR ‘786 to incorporate the teachings of Hwang and Mizrah to adjust a residual phosphorus content of the residual bone powder to control the transparency of the cremation crystal in order to produce a crystal having the desired transparency.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR '786 (KR 20120128786) in view of Hwang (KR 20180059214) and Mizrah (“Color and Transparency”) and Yoshida (JP H11342379) and Cannon (US 4,154,800).
Regarding Claim 9, KR ‘786, Hwang, Mizrah, and Yoshida teach the elements as described above with regards to claim 8.
KR ‘786 is silent to a phosphoric acquisition step.
Cannon discloses a method for producing phosphoric acid from bone phosphate (Abstract). Cannon further discloses reacting calcium phosphate with silica and carbon in an electric arc furnace to produce elemental phosphorus (Col. 1, lines 23-29), such that the phosphorus is extracted from bone powder, thereby meeting the limitation of a phosphorus reduction step. Cannon further discloses the phosphorus is burned to form phosphorus oxides (burning to form an oxide meets the limitation of a combustion step of burning and oxidizing) and adding water (adding water meets the limitation of a hydration step) to the phosphorus oxides to produce phosphoric acid (Col. 1, lines 23-29).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify KR ‘786 to incorporate the teachings of Cannon wherein the phosphoric acid acquisition step comprises: a phosphorus reduction step of reducing phosphorus contained in the bone powder to extract the phosphorus from the bone powder; a combustion step of burning and oxidizing the extracted phosphorus to form an oxide; and a hydration step of reacting the oxide with water to obtain the phosphoric acid in order to reduce the need for an external source of phosphoric acid, as Cannon’s method of producing phosphoric acid is well-known in the art of producing phosphoric acid from bone.
Conclusion
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/S.E.S./Examiner, Art Unit 1735
/PAUL A WARTALOWICZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1735
