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 .
Applicants’ remarks and amendments, filed on January 20, 2026, have been carefully considered. Claims 1, 3, 6, 12, 15, 16, and 19 have been amended.
No claims have been canceled or added; claims 1-20 remain pending in this application.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Applicants’ Priority Document was filed on April 13, 2023.
Withdrawn Rejections
The following rejections of record, stated in the previous Office Action, have been withdrawn in view of Applicants’ claim amendments and persuasive traversing arguments:
The 35 U.S.C. 112(b)/pre-AIA , second paragraph, rejection of claim 12;
The 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) rejection of claims 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, and 11 as being anticipated by “Single-atom Pt promoted Mo2C for electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction,” Shanshan Niu et al. (“Niu et al.”); and
The 35 U.S.C. 103 rejection of claims 2, 5, 8, 10, and 12 as being unpatentable over “Single-atom Pt promoted Mo2C for electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction,” Shanshan Niu et al. (“Niu et al.”).
As convincingly argued by Applicants, Niu et al. do not teach or suggest the limitations of Applicants’ claims 1-12 in their present form, regarding the molybdenum carbide nanoparticles having a modified valence structure formed after bonding to the porous carbon support, or regarding the noble metal catalyst being in metallic form and selectively bonded only on the surface of the molybdenum carbon nanoparticles as said noble metal catalyst is dynamically arranged in atomic scale.
New Objection and Ground of Rejection
The following new objection and ground of rejection are both being made in view of Applicants’ amendments to claim 1.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 1-12 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.
Claim 1 is (and claims 2-12 depending directly or indirectly therefrom are) indefinite because there is a discrepancy between the claim limitation “noble metal single atom or cluster” in line of claim 1 and the claim limitation “noble metal…dispersed as a mixture of single atoms and clusters”, as recited in lines 7 and 8 of claim 1.
In view of this discrepancy, it cannot be determined if the noble metal catalyst is present in the claimed nanocomposite in the form of (a) single atoms or (b) clusters of said single atoms.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-20 remain allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claims 13-20 are allowed, as the prior art does not teach or suggest Applicants’ claimed methods for preparing a noble metal single atom or cluster-porous molybdenum carbide/carbon nanocomposite. For example, Niu et al. prepare the single-atom Pt promoted Mo2C catalyst with copper (II) acetate monohydrate, L-glutamic acid, phosphomolybdic acid hydrate, tetraammineplatinum (II) hydroxide (Pt(NH3)4(OH)2, and an ethanol solution of 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid. See Section 2.1 of Niu et al.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment to claim 1, resulting in the claim limitation “noble metal catalyst…as being dispersed as a mixture of single atoms and clusters”, 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 PATRICIA L HAILEY whose telephone number is (571)272-1369. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
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/Patricia L. Hailey/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1732 February 20, 2026