DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1-20 are pending in the instant application.
Priority
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/388,085 filed July 11, 2022.
Information Disclosure Statements
Applicants’ Information Disclosure Statement, filed on 06/18/2024, has been considered. Please refer to Applicant’s copy of the PTO-1449 submitted herewith.
Response to Restriction Requirement
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I (i.e. claims 1-9) in the reply filed by Applicant’s representative Molly L. Sauter on 02/11/2026 is acknowledged.
Status of the Claims
Claims 10-20 are withdrawn from further consideration by Examiner as being drawn to non-elected inventions under 37 CFR 1.142(b) due to the restriction requirement. Claims 1-9 are under examination on the merits.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-9 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Specifically, claims 1-9 contains a term “a high-entropy alloy catalyst”, wherein “high-entropy” is not defined in either the claims or Applicant’s specification. The term is subject to subjective interpretation. Therefore, claims 1-9 are indefinite. To overcome the rejection, the term “a high-entropy alloy catalyst” is replaced with “an alloy catalyst”.
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 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.
Claims 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US2011/0124499 (“the `499 publication”) to Fang et al.
Applicant’s claim 1 is drawn to a high-entropy alloy catalyst, the high-entropy alloy catalyst comprising: at least one metal acetylacetonate, wherein the at least one metal acetylacetonate is metallically bonded with at least one alternative metal acetylacetonate, forming a metal acetylacetonate-metal acetylacetonate ("HEA") compound; at least one carbon atom, wherein the HEA compound is chemically bonded to the at least one carbon atom, forming a metal acetylacetonate-carbon ("HEA/C") construct; wherein the HEA compound is disposed evenly upon at least one portion of a surface of the at least one carbon atom; and wherein at least one portion of a surface of the HEA/C construct comprises at least one metal oxide configured to resist CO poisoning.
The `499 publication (Abstract) discloses platinum (Pt)-based alloys as catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), and the platinum (Pt)-based alloys catalysts are monodispersed Pt3Ni, Pt3Co and Pt3Fe nanocubes (NCbs). Said monodisperse Pt3Ni, Pt3Co and Pt3Fe nanoscaled electrocatalysts supported on carbon black with controlled shape, and a method of preparing the alloy catalysts. Specifically, the `499 publication [0013, and 0055-0056] discloses the alloy nanocube (NCbs) catalyst Pt3Ni is prepared by reacting nickel (II) acetylacetonate [Ni(acac)2] and platinum (II) acetylacetonate [Pt(acac)2] in a mixture of oleic acid and oleylamine at about 200 °C in the presence of tungsten hexacarbonyl [W(CO)6]. The `499 publication [0022] discloses the resulting product of a metal acetylacetonate-metal acetylacetonate ("HEA") compound is platinum (II) acetylacetonate-transition metal nickel (II) acetylacetonate compound. In addition, the `499 publication [00148] discloses high-quality and {100}-facet-terminated Pt3Co and Pt3CoNCbs were prepared. A comparative study on their electrocatalytic activities towards methanol oxidation shows that Pt3CoNCbs are much more active. The enhanced catalytic activity is attributed to weaker and slower CO adsorption. This suggests that the Pt3CoNCbs and other platinum alloy NCbs could be promising anode electrocatalysts for direct methanol fuel cells with high activity, low cost, and CO poisoning resistance. Therefore, the `499 publication teaches the limitation “at least one portion of a surface of the HEA/C construct comprises at least one metal oxide configured to resist CO poisoning.”. Therefore, the `499 publication anticipates claim 1.
In terms of claim 2, the `499 publication [0013 and 0019] discloses the high-entropy alloy catalyst of claim 1, wherein the at least one metal acetylacetonate comprises at least one precious metal chemical element, at least one non-precious metal chemical element, or both (the metal acetylacetonate comprises platinum and nickel).
In terms of claim 3, the `499 publication [0022] discloses the high-entropy alloy catalyst of claim 2, wherein, when the at least one non-precious metal chemical element interacts with the at least one precious metal chemical element, the at least one non-precious metal chemical element comprises a positive electron shift (the platinum and the nickel metallically bond in a manner that causes a positive electron shift from one of the metal atoms to another).
In terms of claim 4, the `499 publication [0147] discloses the high-entropy alloy catalyst of claim 3, wherein the HEA/C construct comprises strong metal-oxide bonds (the metal oxidation on the surface comprises a relatively strong bond).
In terms of claim 5, the `499 publication [0012] discloses the high-entropy alloy catalyst of claim 1, wherein the at least one metal acetylacetonate is selected from a group consisting of platinum, palladium, iron, cobalt, nickel, tin bis"acetylacetonate" dichloride, and manganese (the metal comprises platinum).
In terms of claim 6, the `499 publication [0004] discloses the high-entropy alloy catalyst of claim 1, wherein the HEA/C construct is electrochemically stable (the resulting Pt3Ni particles are energetically stable).
In terms of claim 7, the `499 publication [0147] discloses the high-entropy alloy catalyst of claim 1, wherein the HEA/C construct comprises a direct 12e pathway (a direct pathway where methanol oxidation produces CO2).
In terms of claim 8, the `499 publication [0001 and 0147] discloses the high-entropy alloy catalyst of claim 7, wherein when the HEA/C construct is incorporated with the electrochemical cell, the HEA/C construct is configured to produce CO2 byproducts (the PT3Ni particles are incorporated within an electrochemical cell to produce CO2).
In terms of claim 9, the `499 publication [0022 and 0147] discloses the high-entropy alloy catalyst of claim 8, wherein the HEA/C construct produces negligible acetate byproducts (the reaction produces a negligible amount of acetate byproducts).
Conclusions
Claims 1-9 are rejected.
Claims 10-20 are withdrawn.
Telephone Inquiry
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Yong L. Chu, whose telephone number is (571)272-5759. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8:30am-5:00pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Amber R. Orlando can be reached on 571-270-3149. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
/YONG L CHU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1731
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