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 § 112
Claims 3-5, 8-9, 11 and 20 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 claims 3, 4, 5, 8 and 11, the phrase "preferentially" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Claim 20 recites the limitation "the carbon dioxide" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-2, 6-7, 10, 12-19 and 21 are allowed.
Claims 3-5, 8-9, 11 and 20 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.
Reasons for Allowance
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: WO 2015/078972 (Spittael et al.) (Spittael) is the closest known prior art. In the written opinion for PCT/EP2023/059702 mailed 05 July 2023 (this application is the national stage of PCT/EP2023/059702), the written opinion considers document D1 (WO 2015/078972) and states that the claims of the PCT are either not novel or do not include an inventive step over D1. Helium and argon are considered main chemical species (gases) as elements of the replacement gas phase used in the method of claim 1 and used in the steps of replacing a gas phase (by injecting the replacement gas phase into the intermediate space), lowering the pressure in the intermediate space and applying cold by injecting a fluid into the internal space. However, the written opinion does not meet the claim 1 limitation which states “wherein the pressure threshold is below the triple point of said or each main chemical species, in order to condense said or each main chemical species into a solid phase.” The written opinion states that this condition is met by stating “(implicit because helium or argon).” Helium has no triple point. Argon has a triple point at 83.80 degree K. However, there is no evidence of argon reaching the triple point or a temperature below 83.80 degree K. The written opinion only speculating that filling the tank with LNG is at a temperature below 273 degree K or 0 degree C. It is not understood how filling the internal space with LNG at 273 degrees K will drop the temperature of the intermediate vacuum space to a temperature below 83.80 degree K.
Furthermore, there is a difference in the claim language of PCT/EP2023/059702 which states that the gas phase “consists of … optionally one or more residual chemical species” whereas claim 1 of the present application states that the gas phase “being composed of … and one or more residual chemical species.” There is no suggestion or evidence of a residual chemical species within Spittael. The written opinion did not need to show evidence of a residual chemical species whereas the residual chemical species is required by claim 1 of the present invention.
Conclusion
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sjc/STEPHEN J CASTELLANO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3733