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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 December 3, 2025 has been entered.
This is in response to the Amendment dated December 3, 2025. The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office Action.
Response to Arguments
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
I. Claims 8 and 26 have been rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was
filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
The rejection of claims 8 and 26 has been withdrawn in view of Applicant’s aemdnment.
II. Claims 1-4, 7-9 and 19-26 have been 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.
The rejection of claims 1-4, 7-9 and 19-26 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, has been withdrawn in view of Applicant’s amendment.
Response to Amendment
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 9, 19-22 and 25-26 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1
line 9, please amend “CO2” to -- CO2 --.
line 21, please amend “: and” to a -- . -- (period).
Claim 9
line 2, please amend “Ni-NixCu1-x-doped Nbu3(Tio.sMno.2)0.6704-o” to -- Ni-NixCu1-x-doped Nb1.33(Ti0.8Mn0.2)0.67O4-δ --.
Claim 19
line 9, please amend “CO2” to -- CO2 --.
lines 21-22, please amend “Ni-NixCu1-x-doped Nb1.33(Ti0.8Mn0.2)0.67O4-δ(NTMO)” to -- Ni-NixCu1-x-doped Nb1.33(Ti0.8Mn0.2)0.67O4-δ (NTMO) --.
Claim 20
line 1, please amend the number “10” to the number -- 19 --.
Claim 21
line 1, please amend the number “10” to the number -- 19 --.
Claim 22
line 1, please amend the number “10” to the number -- 19 --.
line 2, please insert the word -- to -- after the word “voltage”.
Claim 25
line 1, please amend the number “10” to the number -- 19 --.
Claim 26
line 1, please amend the number “10” to the number -- 19 --.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claim 24 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 24
lines 1-2, “the redox-reversible ceramic electrode comprises NbTiO” lacks antecedent basis.
Antecedent basis must be laid for each recited element in a claim, typically, by introducing each element with the indefinite article (“a” or “an”). See Slimfold Mfg. Co. v. Kincaid Properties, Inc., 626 F. Supp 493, 495 (N.D. Ga. 1985), aff'd, 810 F.2d 1113 (Fed. Cir. 1987) (citing P. Rosenberg, 2 Patent Law Fundamentals § 14.06 (2d. Ed. 1984)). Subsequent mention of an element is to be modified by the definite article “the”, “said” or “the said,”
thereby making the latter mention(s) of the element unequivocally referable to its earlier recitation.
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claims 1-4, 7 and 8-9 define over the prior art of record because the prior art does not contain any language that teaches or suggests a method for forming an improved fuel cell comprising the steps of configuring, converting, electrochemical pumping and feeding as presently claimed, esp., at least one anode comprising at least one alloy nanoparticle exsolved onto at least one backbone to grow an embedded metal-oxide interface structure, wherein the embedded metal-oxide interface structure facilitates dehydrogenation of ethane to ethylene wherein the said at least one anode further comprises NbTiO.
Claims 19-22 and 24-26 define over the prior art of record because the prior art does not contain any language that teaches or suggests a method for forming an improved fuel cell comprising the steps of configuring, converting, electrochemical pumping, feeding and forming as presently claimed, esp., forming the at least one electrode slurry to comprise Ni-NixCu1-x doped Nb1.33(Ti0.8Mn0.2)0.67O4-δ (NTMO) and at least one barium zirconate cerate electrolyte.
Therefore, a person skilled in the art would not have been motivated to adopt the above
conditions, and a prima facie case of obviousness cannot be established.
Claims 1, 9, 19-22 and 25-26 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the claim objection(s) set forth in this Office action.
Claim 24 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the
examiner should be directed to EDNA WONG whose telephone number is (571) 272-1349. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 7:00 AM- 3:30 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Luan Van can be reached at (571) 272-8521. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/EDNA WONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1795
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