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 .
Specification
The following guidelines illustrate the preferred layout for the specification of a utility application. These guidelines are suggested for the applicant’s use.
Arrangement of the Specification
As provided in 37 CFR 1.77(b), the specification of a utility application should include the following sections in order. Each of the lettered items should appear in upper case, without underlining or bold type, as a section heading. If no text follows the section heading, the phrase “Not Applicable” should follow the section heading:
(a) TITLE OF THE INVENTION.
(b) CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS.
(c) STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT.
(d) THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT.
(e) INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A READ-ONLY OPTICAL DISC, AS A TEXT FILE OR AN XML FILE VIA THE PATENT ELECTRONIC SYSTEM.
(f) STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR A JOINT INVENTOR.
(g) BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION.
(1) Field of the Invention.
(2) Description of Related Art including information disclosed under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98.
(h) BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION.
(i) BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S).
(j) DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION.
(k) CLAIM OR CLAIMS (commencing on a separate sheet).
(l) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE (commencing on a separate sheet).
(m) SEQUENCE LISTING. (See MPEP § 2422.03 and 37 CFR 1.821 - 1.825). A “Sequence Listing” is required on paper if the application discloses a nucleotide or amino acid sequence as defined in 37 CFR 1.821(a) and if the required “Sequence Listing” is not submitted as an electronic document either on read-only optical disc or as a text file via the patent electronic system.
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
On page 15, lines 30 & 32, change “suspend” to –suspended--.
Appropriate correction is required.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they do not include the following reference sign(s) mentioned in the description: air outlet 18. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description: 22 (SEE Figure 4). Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference character “7” has been used to designate both temperature adjustment zone and temperature adjustment system. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the (in re claims 25-27) “the device comprises two kilns, a first kiln and a second kiln, which are arranged adjacent to each other sharing a common wall, and wherein the device comprises at least two gas temperature adjustment systems, and wherein the first step of a first of the at least two gas temperature adjustment systems is one of said at least one step inside the first kiln and wherein the first step of the second of the at least two gas temperature adjustment systems is one of said at least one step inside the second kiln” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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 16-30 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.
Claims 16 & 28 recite “a temperature adjustment zone” which is part of temperature adjustment system (7), however it is unclear what would structurally be regarded as the zone as the disclosure describes a gas outlet through which a hot gas is extracted from the second step and a gas inlet which is located in the first step and a temperature adjustment zone which is to receive hot gas from the gas outlet and adjust the temperature of the gas by the external heat source but there is no teaching that the temperature adjustment zone is in a location to interact with the external heat source.
Claim 20 is 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 20 recites “a compartment” which is arranged below the sloped sliding surface of the first step, however the original disclosure does not provide any support for this limitation.
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) 16-24 and 28-30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by FØNS et al (EP38228488). FØNS et al discloses a device for heat-treating a solid material (SEE Figures 1 & 4), in particular in granular form, wherein the device comprises a kiln (3) and an external heat source (5), wherein said device comprises at least two, preferably more than two, steps (7) arranged above each other (SEE Figure 4), wherein each step comprises a gas permeable sloped sliding surface (SEE [0004]) on which a bed of said solid material (6) slides down within said device due to gravity and wherein said sloped sliding surfaces of said steps directly consecutive to each other slope in opposite directions (Figure 4), wherein the kiln comprises at least one, preferably at least two, of said steps (7) and the kiln is configured such that a hot gas generated by the external heat source is led through said solid material inside the kiln to heat said solid material to a desired temperature in order to change the substance properties of said solid material (SEE [0035]), wherein said device comprises at least one gas temperature adjustment system (8, 15-17 and Figure 3) comprising a gas outlet (16) in a second step of said steps, a temperature adjustment zone (interpreted as the structure 18 connecting the gas outlet to the gas inlet) and a gas inlet (17) in a first step of said steps, preferably the first step being arranged directly consecutive and above the second step (SEE Figure 4), wherein at least the first step is one of said at least one step inside the kiln (3) and wherein said gas temperature adjustment system is adapted such that hot gas is extracted from said second step through the gas outlet, directed into the temperature adjustment zone (18) where a hot gas temperature is adjusted to an adjusted temperature by the external heat source and reintroduced into said first step at said adjusted temperature (SEE Figure 14). In re claim 17, FØNS et al discloses a cooler section (4), wherein the kiln is arranged above the cooler section (Figure 4) and wherein the cooler section comprises at least one, preferably at least two, of said steps (7), wherein the device comprises one of said gas temperature adjustment systems of which the second step is formed by an uppermost step of the at least one step inside the cooler section and the first step is formed by a lowermost step of the at least one step inside the kiln. In re claim 18, With regards to “said gas temperature adjustment system is adapted such that at least 50%, preferably at least 70%, more preferably at least 90%, of the hot gas that leaves said second step leaves said second step through the gas outlet” is not inventive over FØNS et al since determining where in a disclosed set of percentage ranges the optimum combination of percentages lies is prima facie obvious.” In re Peterson, 315 F.3d 1325, 1330, 65 USPQ2d 1379, 1382-83 (Fed. Cir. 2003); see also In re Geisler, 116 F.3d 1465, 1470, 43 USPQ2d 1362, 1365 (Fed. Cir. 1997) (“’[I]t is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine
experimentation.’” (quoting In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235
(CCPA 1995)). In re claim 19, FØNS et al discloses that the gas temperature adjustment system is adapted such that said adjusted temperature of the hot gas is such that said solid material in the first step is heated to said desired temperature (SEE Claim 1 of FØNS et al). In re claim 20, as best understood by the examiner, FØNS et al discloses “a compartment” arranged below said sloped sliding surface, which is part of said first step comprising said sliding surface above and to which said gas inlet of said gas temperature adjustment system is connected, and wherein the device is adapted such that said hot gas, which is extracted via said gas outlet of the gas temperature adjustment system from the second step and which temperature is adjusted in the temperature adjustment zone of the gas temperature adjustment system, is introduced into said compartment of said first step and then passes through openings in said sloped sliding surface of said first step (SEE Figures 4, 15 and 16). In re claim 21, FØNS et al discloses that sloped sliding surface comprises a plurality of gas permeable grate plates through which said hot gas passes (SEE [0013]-[0014]), and wherein said grate plates are suspended at their upper end from a support and their lower ends only rest on a further support or on the upper end of a further grate plate which is suspended from said further support (as per Figures 7 & 8). In re claim 22, FØNS et al discloses that the grate plates overlap in a direction along the sloped sliding surface and preferably also in a horizontal direction, and wherein preferably said grate plates are only suspended from said support on one edge of the upper end (SEE Figures 8 & 9). In re claims 23-24, FØNS et al discloses that vertical plates are suspended at the lowest support of said sloped sliding surface to form a channel in interaction with a wall of the kiln (as per Figure 4). In re claim 28, FØNS et al discloses structure capable of carrying out the method for producing supplementary cementitious material of the claimed invention including a step of heat-treating the supplementary cementitious material by calcining a raw material of the supplementary cementitious material that preferably contains clay minerals with a device that comprises a kiln, wherein the supplementary cementitious material is led through the kiln on at least one grate plate and a hot gas at a gas temperature is led through said supplementary cementitious material inside the kiln, wherein the hot gas is introduced into said supplementary cementitious material from below and through said at least one grate plate and in that the gas temperature is controlled to be inside a range of 400 to 800 C, preferably in the range of 450 to 775 C, more preferably in the range of 550 to 725 C (SEE Figures 1-9 and [0007]), and a kiln (3) and an external heat source (5), wherein said device comprises at least two, preferably more than two, steps (7) arranged above each other (SEE Figure 4), wherein each step comprises a gas permeable sloped sliding surface (SEE [0004]) on which a bed of said solid material (6) slides down within said device due to gravity and wherein said sloped sliding surfaces of said steps directly consecutive to each other slope in opposite directions (Figure 4), wherein the kiln comprises at least one, preferably at least two, of said steps (7) and the kiln is configured such that a hot gas generated by the external heat source is led through said solid material inside the kiln to heat said solid material to a desired temperature in order to change the substance properties of said solid material (SEE [0035]), wherein said device comprises at least one gas temperature adjustment system (8, 15-17 and Figure 3) comprising a gas outlet (16) in a second step of said steps, a temperature adjustment zone (interpreted as the structure 18 connecting the gas outlet to the gas inlet) and a gas inlet (17) in a first step of said steps, preferably the first step being arranged directly consecutive and above the second step (SEE Figure 4), wherein at least the first step is one of said at least one step inside the kiln (3) and wherein said gas temperature adjustment system is adapted such that hot gas is extracted from said second step through the gas outlet, directed into the temperature adjustment zone (18) where a hot gas temperature is adjusted to an adjusted temperature by the external heat source and reintroduced into said first step at said adjusted temperature (SEE Figure 14) In re claim 29. FØNS et al discloses that the gas temperature is controlled to be in the range of 400 to 800 degrees C when heat-treating supplementary cementitious material with more than 40 weight percent clay minerals pertaining to kaolin group, in the range of 500 to 775 when heat-treating supplementary cementitious material with more than 40 weight percent clay minerals pertaining to smectite group, and in the Range of 600 to 800 C, when heat-treating supplementary cementitious material with more than 40 weight percent clay minerals pertaining to illite group (implicitly disclosed in [0007]). In re claim 30, FØNS et al implicitly discloses that the gas temperature can be controlled such that the gas temperature stays inside a temperature range of +/- 40 C, preferably of +/- 20 around a set point, when heat-treating the supplementary cementitious material (the temperature of hot gas being precisely controlled, SEE [0007] & [0031].
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY A WILSON whose telephone number is (571)272-4882. The examiner can normally be reached M-F; 7:00am-4:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Helena Kosanovic can be reached at 571-272-9059. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GREGORY A WILSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762 September 24, 2026
