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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's traversal of claim 8 in the reply filed on 5/11/2026 is acknowledged. See Remarks p. 6 fn. 1. The traversal is not found persuasive because claim 8’s round transitions are found only for the embodiment of fig. 3. See App. Spec. [0069]-[0070], fig. 3. However, none of the other embodiments have these round transitions. See See App. Spec. figs. 2A-2D. For instance, the elected embodiment of claim 6 is depicted in fig. 2D has sharp transitions. See App. Spec. fig. 2D.
The requirement of claim 8 is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL. Thus claim 8 is withdrawn.
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-2, 6, and 9-10 in the reply filed on 5/11/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 4-5, 7, 11-19, and 24 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), there being no allowable generic or linking claim. This election was made without traverse.
Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. § 102
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.
Claims 1-2, 6, and 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Varda, U.S. Patent No. 3,730,859 as evidenced by Liu, U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 2020/0010967 A1.
The body of the claim is generally written with parentheses following the limitations indicating the prior art's teachings and/or examiner notes.
1. An electrode plate for the electrolytic production of a metal using an electrolytic cell (trapezoidal terminal cathode 3 for the electrolytic production of aluminum in a cell; Varda col. 3 ll. 60-75, fig.) … .
The remainder of the claim is intended use:
comprising a plurality of said electrodes plates defining anode and cathode plates vertically aligned and arranged in alternating rows of said anode and cathode plates, the electrode plate defining:
a connecting region adjacent a first end of the electrode plate for connecting the electrode plate to the electrolytic cell;
a middle region extending from the connecting region without overlapping adjacent electrode plates; and
an anode-cathode overlapping (ACO) region extending from the middle region to a second end of the electrode plate opposite to the first end, and configured for overlapping adjacent electrode plate(s);
wherein the electrode plate comprises two opposite surfaces for facing surfaces of electrode plates of adjacent rows; and
wherein a ratio of the ACO region's surface area to the middle region's surface area is superior to one in order to maximize current density in the ACO region.
The remainder of the claim specifies how the claimed electrode is intended to be used and set up in an electrolytic cell. Because Varda’s terminal electrode 3 is also of a trapezoidal shape, it is also capable of being used and set up in the intended manner. Factual reference Liu shows how an electrode may be adjusted to achieve an intended anode cathode overlap. See Liu [0087].
A claim containing a “recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus” if the prior art apparatus teaches all the structural limitations of the claim. MPEP § 2114. Because the cited prior art teaches the structural limitations of the claim, the prior art is also structurally capable of performing the claimed intentions and therefore reads on the claimed language. See id.
2. The electrode plate of claim 1, wherein the ACO/middle surface ratio is equal or superior to 2 (this is intended use and thus rejected for similar reasons stated in the claim 1 rejection).
6. The electrode plate of claim 1, wherein the electrode plate has a trapezoid shape wherein a width of the electrode plate constantly decreases from the second end to the first end of the electrode plate (trapezoid shape). See Varda fig.
9. The electrode plate of claim 1, wherein the metal to produce is aluminum (aluminum; Varda title, abstract), the electrode plate being wettable by liquid aluminum metal (since the cathode produces aluminum, it is also capable of being wettable by liquid aluminum; Varda title, abstract, col. 3 ll. 60-75, fig.).
10. The electrode plate of claim 1, wherein the electrode plate is a cathode plate (terminal cathode 3). Id.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Hosung Chung whose telephone number is (571) 270-7578. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Wednesday, 9 AM - 6 PM CT.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, James Lin can be reached on (571) 272-8902. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/HOSUNG CHUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1794
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