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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 01/08/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 5-8, filed 01/08/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-20 under 102/103 rejection, have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Bruno et al. (US 2001/0044566).
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) 1-4, 6-15, and 17-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bruno et al. (US 2001/0044566).
With regards to claim 1-3 and 12-14, Bruno et al. discloses a method of sequestering carbon-containing materials, the method comprising: obtaining a carbon-containing material comprising lignin pulp or a waste material from a paper mill (paragraph 0029; “pulp and paper mill sludges”), wherein the lignin pulp and the waste material from the paper mill have not been subjected to a pyrolysis process; and providing the material for injection into an underground well (paragraph 0030; figure 1).
As to claim 4 and 15, Bruno et al. discloses wherein the material comprises bio-oil (paragraph 0029).
As to claim 6, Bruno et al. discloses wherein providing the material for injection comprises injecting the material into the underground well (figure 1).
As to claim 7 and 17, Bruno et al. discloses wherein the underground well comprises at least one of a commercial disposal well, a salt cavern, a Class II cavern, a depleted mine, an abandoned mine, a purpose-constructed mine, or a natural cavern (figure 1).
As to claim 8-10 and 18, Bruno discloses further comprising subjecting the material to a test for compatibility with the underground well (paragraph 0025 and 0049)
As to claim 9, Bruno discloses wherein the test for compatibility comprises using a core sample for the underground well (NOTE: it is inherent, using core samples is old and well known in the art to study soil properties in order to know how the injected biosolid will create methane efficiently in the environment).
As to claim 10-11 and 19-20, Bruno discloses further comprising adjusting a property of the material to improve compatibility with the underground well and wherein the property comprises at least one of pH, microbial growth potential, tendency to auto-polymerize, or flash point (paragraph 0058 and 0063).
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.
Claim(s) 5 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bruno et al. (US 2001/0044566) in view of Cheiky et al. (US 8,430,937).
As to claim 5 and 16, wherein the material further comprises biochar. Cheiky et al. teaches the use of biochar mix with biosolids store underground (col. 5, line 63 to col. 6, line 4). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the biosolids of Bruno et al. to include biochar as taught by Cheiky et al., since it would provide a well-known soil amendment and carbon containing material.
Conclusion
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/CARIB A OQUENDO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3678