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 in response to the Amendment dated February 9, 2026. 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
Election/Restrictions
This application contains claims 8-10, 12-14, 16, 18 (method claims) and 11, 15, 17, 19 (product claims) drawn to an invention nonelected without traverse in the reply filed on November 4, 2023.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
I. Claim(s) 1-4 have been rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsui et al. (US Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0170507 A1).
The rejection of claims 1-4 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsui et al. has been withdrawn in view of Applicant’s amendment.1
II. Claim(s) 21 has been rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsui et al. (US Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0170507 A1) as applied to claims 1-4 above.
The rejection of claim 21 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsui et al. as applied to claims 1-4 above has been withdrawn in view of Applicant’s amendment.
III. Claim(s) 22 and 23 have been rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Matsui et al. (US Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0170507 A1) as applied to claims 1-4
above.
The rejection of claims 22 and 23 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Matsui et al. as applied to claims 1-4 above has been withdrawn in view of Applicant’s amendment.
Response to Amendment
Claim Objections
Claims 9, 10 and 13 would be objected to because of the following informalities:2
Claim 9 (Withdrawn)
line 2, please insert the word -- the -- before the word “magnesium”.
This is an instance where the article should be added to ensure proper antecedent basis for the claim terminology.
line 2, please amend “mA/cm2” to -- mA/cm2 --.
Claim 10 (Withdrawn)
line 2, please insert the word -- the -- before the word “magnesium”.
This is an instance where the article should be added to ensure proper antecedent basis for the claim terminology.
Claim 13 (Withdrawn)
line 2, please amend “mA/cm2” to -- mA/cm2 --.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
I. Claims 1, 4, 22 and 24 are 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.
Claim 1
lines 13-14, “a case where the electrolytic solution is a supersaturated solution at the
room temperature is excluded” is new matter.
The Examiner has carefully considered the entire specification as originally filed, however, there is found no literal support in the specification for the newly added limitation in
amended claim 1. Applicant has not provided the page number and line numbers from the specification as to where the newly added limitations are coming from. Ex parte Grasselli, 231 USPQ 393 (Bd. App. 1983) aff’d mem. 738 F.2d 453 (Fed. Cir. 1984).
II. Claims 1, 4, 22 and 24 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.
Claim 1
lines 13-14, “a case where the electrolytic solution is a supersaturated solution at the room temperature is excluded” is indefinite because this suggests one example among many, rather than a specific, known, or previously mentioned case.
Citations
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
JP 2002068746 is cited to teach that the manganese halide aqueous solution is 0.1 to 2 mol/l and the lithium compound aqueous solution is 0.05 to 1 mol/l (ρ [0042]).
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this
Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is
reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final 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.
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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
1 Applicant has shown that the region in which the electrolyte concentration specified in the present application is 0.08 mol or more exhibits a greater increase in current density in response to an increase in electrolyte concentration (Fig. 2).
2 Possible rejoinder of method claims 8-10 and 12-14.