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 .
Claims 1-17 are pending.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of claims 1-4 in the reply filed on 09/22/2025 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that there is no evidence that the product of group I can be made by a process other than that of group II, such as the proposed solvothermal synthesis, that it has not been established that the proposed alternative process that product of group I can be used for is materially different than the process of group III, and that it has not been asserted that the combination does not require the particulars of the subcombinations of groups II and III for patentability. This is not found persuasive because the alternative example of a process of making the product acts as support for distinction of groups I and II. MPEP § 806.05(f) states that “Allegations of different processes or products need not be documented”. Furthermore, Chen, cited in the rejection below, describes a solvothermal synthesis method of the NiVO3 nanostructures on nickel foam (see e.g. Chen Section 2.1 and Fig. S1). Secondly, the degradation of organic compounds proposed as an alternative process of using the product of group I is materially different from the process of group III which is directed toward water oxidation, as the reactants, reactions and products involved in the two processes differ. Lastly, regarding the combination not requiring the particulars of the subcombination, as stated above, the product of group I used in the process of group III can be made by a process other than that of group II, or the product of group I made by the process of group II can be used in a process other than that of group III, indicating that the combination does not require the particulars of each of the subcombinations.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claims 5-17 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to nonelected inventions, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Claims 1-4 are under consideration in this Office action.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chen et al. (“Interfacial engineering of Ni/V2O3 for hydrogen evolution reaction” and Electronic Supplementary Material, Nano Res., 2020).
Regarding claim 1, Chen discloses an electrocatalyst (see e.g. Abstract) comprising:
a porous foam substrate (see e.g. Page 2407, Col. 1, last line, nickel foam (NF));
a catalytically active layer comprising first NiVOx nanostructures, the catalytically active layer being disposed on an exterior surface and an interior pore surface of the porous foam substrate (see e.g. Fig. S1, NiVO3/NiO nanosheets deposited on and in the porous NF; Page 2408, Col. 1, lines 2-11, and Page 2409, Col. 1, lines 11-13);
wherein “x” is 3 (see e.g. Page 2408, Col. 1, lines 9-11, NiVO3/NiO).
Regarding claim 2, Chen discloses the first NiVOx nanostructured being in the form of overlapping NiVOx nanosheets (see e.g. Fig. S1, NiVO3/NiO nanosheets overlapping to form microflowers; Page 2409, Col. 1, lines 11-13).
Regarding claim 3, Chen discloses second NiVOx nanostructures comprising NiVOx nanoparticles distributed on a surface of the first NiVOx nanostructures (see e.g. Figs. S1c and S1f, nanoparticle structures shown on surfaces of the nanosheets).
Regarding claim 4, Chen discloses third NiVOx nanostructures in a form of NiVOx nanosheets overlapping the second NiVOx nanostructures (see e.g. Figs. S1c and S1f, as the nanoparticles are formed on the surfaces of the nanosheets which are assembled together into flowers, adjacent nanosheets overlap the nanoparticles formed on other nanosheets).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Zhao et al. (U.S. 2022/0010440) discloses an electrocatalyst comprising NiVOx nanocrystals on a nickel foam substrate.
Loh et al. (WO 2018013055 A1) discloses a composite catalyst comprising nanoparticles sandwiched between layers of nanosheets.
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/M.S.J./Examiner, Art Unit 1795
/LUAN V VAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1795