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 § 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) 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP 2003-081605 to Takatani et al. (Takatani).
In reference to claim 1, Takatani teaches a modular system for collecting and liquefying CO₂ (FIG. 1; par 0001), the modular system comprising a blue hydrogen reforming apparatus (12, FIG. 1) configured to extract hydrogen and CO₂ based on natural gas (par 0012-0013); a treatment module (18, FIG. 1) connected to the blue hydrogen reforming apparatus, and configured to perform predetermined treatment so that pressure of the extracted CO₂ is increased and temperature of the extracted CO₂ is decreased; and a recovery unit (unmarked in FIG. 1; underneath the treatment module 18, also described as tank 96 in par 0029) configured to store CO₂ liquefied by the treatment module (18, FIG. 1; par 0029).
Claim(s) 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by KR 10-2141970 to Choi et al. (Choi).
In reference to claim 1, Choi teaches a modular system for collecting and liquefying CO₂ (FIG. 1-3; abstract), the modular system comprising a blue hydrogen reforming apparatus (100, FIG. 1-3) configured to extract hydrogen and CO₂ based on natural gas (par 0023); a treatment module (20-30-21-22-2, FIG. 3) connected to the blue hydrogen reforming apparatus (100, FIG. 3), and configured to perform predetermined treatment so that pressure of the extracted CO₂ is increased and temperature of the extracted CO₂ is decreased (par 0028); and a recovery unit (2, FIG. 1-3) configured to store CO₂ liquefied by the treatment module (par 0026).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claim(s) 2-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Choi.
In reference to claim 2, Choi teaches the system as explained in the rejection of claim 1 above, and but does not explicitly teach wherein the treatment module performs the decreasing of the temperature through at least a plate heat exchanger.
However, the Examiner takes the Official Notice of facts not in the record by relying on “common knowledge” of cryogenic heat transfer systems employing plate heat exchangers to be obvious in order to provide maximum heat transfer surface for indirect heat exchange between two fluids.
In reference to claim 3, Choi teaches the system as explained in the rejection of claim 1 above, but does not teach wherein the treatment module is connected to a suction line accumulator configured to promote cooling.
However, the Examiner takes the Official Notice of facts not in the record by relying on “common knowledge” of cryogenic vapor compression systems employing suction side accumulators to be obvious in order to separate liquid and gas before entering the compressor, thus preventing liquid damage to the compressor.
In reference to claim 4, Choi teaches the system as explained in the rejection of claim 1 above, but does not teach wherein in the treatment module, at least one of coolers configured to perform the decreasing of the temperature performs cooling through an air cooling-type scheme.
However, the Examiner takes the Official Notice of facts not in the record by relying on “common knowledge” of cryogenic heat transfer systems employing air as the heat rejector cooler to be obvious in order to provide cost efficient heat transfer cryosystem.
In reference to claim 5, Choi teaches the system as explained in the rejection of claim 1 above, but does not teach wherein the treatment module performs the increasing of the pressure and the decreasing of the temperature through a plurality of stages.
However, the Examiner takes the Official Notice of facts not in the record by relying on “common knowledge” of any heat transfer systems employing a cascading scheme, in series, to be obvious in order to increase the capacity of the system, but also the quality of the resulting product.
In reference to claim 6, Choi teaches the system as explained in the rejection of claim 1 above, but does not teach wherein the treatment module is connected to be selectively separable from the blue hydrogen reforming apparatus and the recovery unit.
However, the Examiner takes the Official Notice of facts not in the record by relying on “common knowledge” of liquid natural gas production process involving carbon dioxide and utilizing control valves between heat transfer elements to be obvious in order to provide flow control and prevent backwash.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-15 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Specifically, the limitations claiming the structural manner in which carbon dioxide is stored are deemed novel.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
See attached PTO-892 for relevant prior art.
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/FILIP ZEC/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
6/3/2026
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