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
This is a first action on the merits for this continuous application filed on 10/16/2024
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ozaki et al. (US 2016/0129432 A1).
Regarding claims 1 and 15, Ozaki et al. discloses an air filtration system [0001] and a method for removing contaminants from a fluid, comprising:
a reactive layer (Fig.30:202A), wherein the reactive layer is configured to react with contaminants in air;
a particle-trapping layer (Fig.30:216B), wherein the particle-trapping layer is configured to trap a subset of the contaminants in the air, wherein the particle-trapping layer is upstream of and in contact with the reactive layer;
a sorbent layer (Fig.30:216A), wherein the sorbent layer is configured to sorb a second subset of
the contaminants in the air, wherein the sorbent layer is upstream of and in contact with the particle-trapping layer;
a frame (unlabeled black enclosure surrounding all the filters and the radiation sources as shown in Fig.30), wherein the reactive layer, the particle-trapping layer, and the sorbent
layer are connected to the frame;
sorbing [0176-019] a first subset of the contaminants from the fluid at a sorbent layer;
after sorbing the first subset of the contaminants, trapping a second subset of the
contaminants [0176-019] from the fluid at a particle-trapping layer;
illuminating a photocatalytic layer [0176-019] with optical radiation to generate an activated
photocatalytic layer;
after trapping the second subset of the contaminants, reacting a third subset of the
contaminants [0176-019] proximal the activated photocatalytic layer; and
releasing byproducts produced from the reaction [0176-019] between the third subset of the
contaminants and the activated photocatalytic layer;
wherein the sorbent layer [0176-019] is in contact with and upstream of the particle-trapping
layer relative to a fluid flow direction, and wherein the particle-trapping layer is in contact with and upstream of the photocatalytic layer relative to the fluid flow direction.
Regarding claim 2, Ozaki et al. discloses that the reactive layer comprises a fibrous
substrate [0142] and a photocatalytic material [0120] comprising photocatalytic nanostructures deposited on the fibrous substrate.
Regarding claim 3, Ozaki et al. discloses that the fibers of the fibrous substrate are coated with a barrier coating [0194].
Regarding claim 4, Ozaki et al. discloses a second reactive layer, wherein the second reactive layer is downstream of the reactive layer, wherein the second reactive layer is configured to react with byproducts after the reactive layer reacts with the contaminants in the air, wherein the second reactive layer does not comprise photocatalytic material.
Regarding claim 5, Ozaki et al. discloses a second reactive layer (Fig.30:202B), wherein the second reactive layer is capable of being configured to react with inorganic contaminants in the air.
Regarding claim 6, Ozaki et al. discloses a support layer [0174], wherein the support layer is upstream of the reactive layer, wherein the support layer is capable of being configured to provide structural support for the air filtration system, and wherein the support layer comprises a metallic mesh.
Regarding claim 7, Ozaki et al. discloses that the sorbent layer comprises activated
Carbon [0060], wherein the activated carbon is configured to adsorb the second subset of contaminants from the air.
Regarding claim 8, Ozaki et al. discloses that the sorbent layer (Fig.30:216A) is optically opaque [0176].
Regarding claim 9, Ozaki et al. discloses that the sorbent layer (Fig.30:216A) further comprises a
first scrim layer and a second scrim layer [0157-0158], wherein the sorbent layer forms a structure wherein the activated carbon is located between the first and the second scrim layer.
Regarding claim 10, the filters in Ozaki et al. are capable of capturing subset of contaminants from the air that comprises inorganic contaminants.
Regarding claims 11 and 18, Ozaki et al. discloses that the particle-trapping layer meets at
least MERV 12 standard [0176].
Regarding claim 12, Ozaki et al. discloses that the particle-trapping layer is a passive, mechanical filter (Fig.30:216A).
Regarding claim 13, Ozaki et al. discloses that the particle-trapping layer comprises
a reflective material [0081].
Regarding claim 14, Ozaki et al. discloses that the reactive layer comprises a photocatalytic material [0120], wherein a degradation efficiency of the reactive layer is enhanced by the particle-trapping layer.
Regarding claim 16, Ozaki et al. discloses releasing the byproducts from the reaction
further comprises capturing the byproducts (Fig.30:202B; [0179]).
Regarding claim 17, Ozaki et al. discloses that the sorbent layer comprises activated carbon [0159-0160] and wherein sorbing the first subset of the contaminants comprises reversibly adsorbing the first subset of the contaminants.
Regarding claim 19, Ozaki et al. discloses that the photocatalytic layer, the particle-trapping
layer, and the sorbent layer are coupled to a frame [0194].
Regarding claim 20, Ozaki et al. discloses illuminating [0175] the photocatalytic layer comprises
illuminating the photocatalytic layer with a light source [0106], wherein the optical radiation emitted by the light source has a minimum wavelength greater than 280 nanometers.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MONZER R CHORBAJI whose telephone number is (571)272-1271. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 5:30-12:00 and 6:00-9:00.
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/MONZER R CHORBAJI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1799
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