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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Response to Election/Restrictions
1. Applicant’s election of Group I, claims 1-6 & 11-12, in the reply filed on 09/03/2025 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
2. Claims 7-10 & 13-14 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention(s), there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 09/03/2025.
Status of Application
3. This application is a 371 of PCT/RU21/50037, which was filed on 02/16/2021.
Claims 1-14 were originally presented in this application for examination.
Claims 1-14 are currently pending in this application.
Specification
4. The examiner has not checked the specification to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors (grammatical, typographical, and idiomatic). Cooperation of the applicant(s) is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant(s) may become aware of in the specification, in the claims and in any further amendment(s) that applicant(s) may file.
Applicant(s) is also requested to complete the status of the copending applications referred to in the specification by their Attorney Docket Number or Application Serial Number, if any.
The status of the parent application(s) and/or any other application(s) cross-referenced to this application, if any, should be updated in a timely manner.
Claim Objections
5. Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 1, line 1, “to obtain” should be changed to --for preparing--.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 (Second Paragraph)
6. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 1-6 & 11-12 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.
It would appear the instant claim 1 is not positively reciting the process steps for the claimed method. Below is suggested.
--A method for preparing a product containing amorphous silicon dioxide and amorphous carbon, comprising the steps of drying a carbon-containing raw material at a temperature of 150 – 200oC and subjecting the dried carbon-containing raw material to a heat treatment at a temperature of 400 – 600oC, wherein the heat treatment is conducted in the presence of an activator made of fusible alloy.--
*Claims 2-6 & 11-12 are being rejected because they depend on claim 1 and they do not appear to cure the indefiniteness.
Allowable Subject Matter
7. Claims 1-6 & 11-12 are allowable over the prior art made of record. The claims would be allowed if the claim is amended to overcome the rejection under U.S.C. 112(b) (second paragraph). The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The claimed invention relates to a method for preparing a product containing amorphous silicon dioxide and amorphous carbon, comprising the steps of drying a carbon-containing raw material at a temperature of 150 – 200oC and subjecting the dried carbon-containing raw material to a heat treatment at a temperature of 400 – 600oC, wherein the heat treatment is conducted in the presence of an activator made of fusible alloy.
Chen et al. (US 2017/0001871 A1) is identified as the closest prior art teaches the claimed method. The reference discloses a method of preparing nanoscale silica materials by heating and drying the biomass (rice hull) using overheated steam at a temperature of 120oC and 150oC; pyrolyzing the biomass material under anaerobic conditions to yield combustible gas, wherein a pyrolysis temperature ranges between 600oC and 800oC; etc. (p. 3, claim 5 and Example 2).
The method disclosed by Chen et al. differs from the claimed method in the use of “an activator made of fusible alloy” during the heat treatment step.
Tanba et al. (US 2019/0275498 A1) is in a related field of art, which discloses a method for producing porous carbon material from a similar raw material (plant-derived material, such as rice, barley, wheat, etc.) (p. 3, [0054]), and teaches that a chemical activation treatment can be performed using an activator, such as zinc chloride, iron chloride, calcium phosphate, etc. (p. 4, [0070]), however this reference does not teach to use an activator made of fusible alloy (alloy based on lead, zinc, or tin) as required in the instant claims.
There is no motivation to combine the teachings of the prior art references together to arrive to the claimed invention.
Citations
8. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. All references are cited for related art. See PTO-892 Form prepared.
Conclusion
9. Claims 1-16 are pending. Claims 1-6 & 11-12 are rejected. Claims 7-10 & 13-14 are withdrawn. No claims are allowed.
Contacts
10. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Primary Examiner CAM N. NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-1357. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F (8:30 am – 5:00 pm) at alternative worksite or at cam.nguyen@uspto.gov.
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, Anthony Zimmer, can be reached at 571-270-3591. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Cam N. Nguyen/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1736
/CNN/
March 03, 2026
Prosecution Insights