DETAILED ACTION
The following Office action concerns Patent Application Number 18/003,615. Claims 1-9 and 11-17 are pending in the application. Claims 2-8 and 11 have been withdrawn from consideration as being drawn to non-elected species.
The applicant’s amendment filed November 21, 2025 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. § 112 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
Claims 1, 9, 12-17 are rejected under 35 USC § 112(a) as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the art that the inventor had possession of the claimed invention at the time the application was filed. In particular, the terms:
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620
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which were added by amendment, are not supported by the specification. MPEP § 2163(II)(A)(3)(b). Ce4+ is not disclosed in the specification. Of the above species of R1, R2, and R3, only methyl, trifluoromethyl and tert-butyl are disclosed in the specification.
Response to Arguments
The applicant argues that the specification supports the above amendment. For example, the applicant argues that the species Ce4+ is supported by the teaching that metal M includes rare earth metals. However, Ce4+ is not disclosed. The disclosure of a broad genus does not support a claim to a species that is not disclosed in the application.
Examiner’s Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to William Young whose telephone number is (571) 270-5078. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 5 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Angela Brown-Pettigrew, can be reached at 571-272-2817. 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./WILLIAM D YOUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1761 March 12, 2026
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