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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Status of Application
1. This application was filed on 07/24/2023.
Claims 1-20 were originally presented in this application for examination.
Claims 1-20 are currently pending and under consideration.
Specification
2. The examiner has not checked the specification to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors (grammatical, typographical, and idiomatic). Cooperation of the applicant(s) is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant(s) may become aware of in the specification, in the claims and in any further amendment(s) that applicant(s) may file.
Applicant(s) is also requested to complete the status of the copending applications referred to in the specification by their Attorney Docket Number or Application Serial Number, if any.
The status of the parent application(s) and/or any other application(s) cross-referenced to this application, if any, should be updated in a timely manner.
Claim Objections
3. Claims 1 & 7-10 are objected to because of the following informalities:
A. In claim 1, line 1, “ion exchanger” should change to --ion-exchanger--.
B. In claim 1, line 2, “ion exchanger” should change to --ion-exchanger--.
C. In claim 1, line 2, “being” should change to --is--.
D. In claim 1, “2,5” and ‘0,5” in the chemical formula should change to --2.5-- and --0.5--.
E. In claim 7, line 2, --and-- should be inserted before “Fe(CH3COO)3”.
F. In claim 8, line 2, --and-- should be inserted before “Fe(CH3COO)3”.
G. In claim 9, line 2, --and-- should be inserted before “Fe(CH3COO)3”.
H. In claim 10, line 2, --and-- should be inserted before “Fe(CH3COO)3”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(b)(Second Paragraph)
4. 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 3-10, 13-15, 17-18, & 20 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.
A. Claim 3 recites the limitation "the polymeric aqua-oxo-hydroxo complex" in line 1-2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
B. Claims 4-6 recite the limitation "the soluble niobium compounds" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
C. Claims 7-10 recite the limitation "the soluble iron(III) compounds" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
*Claims 13-15, 17-18, & 20 are rejected because they depend on rejected claims 3-10 and they do not cure the indefiniteness.
Allowable Subject Matter
5. Claims 1-20 are allowable over the prior art made of record. The claims would be allowed if the claims are amended or rewritten to overcome the rejections under 35 U.S.C 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The claimed invention relates to a method of manufacturing an inorganic ion-exchanger for selective extraction of lithium from lithium-containing natural and technological brines, the inorganic ion-exchanger is represented by the formula (as recited in the instant claim 1).
Kudryavtsev et al. (US 10,434,497) is found to be the closest prior art teaches the claimed method (col. 12- col. 14, claims 1-18). However, the disclosed method teaches to produce an inorganic ion-exchanger comprising lithium, niobium, and zirconium oxide as opposed to lithium, niobium, and iron oxide. There would be no motivation to combine the teachings of the prior art references to substitute the zirconium compound of the reference for the iron compound to arrive to the inorganic ion-exchanger claimed.
Citations
6. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. All references are cited for related art. See PTO-892 Form prepared.
Conclusion
7. Claims 1-20 are pending. Claims 1 & 7-10 are objected. Claims 3-10, 13-15, 17-18, & 20 are rejected. Claims 2, 11-12, 16, & 19 are allowed.
Contacts
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Primary Examiner CAM N. NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-1357. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F (8:30 am – 5:00 pm) at alternative worksite or at cam.nguyen@uspto.gov.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anthony Zimmer, can be reached at 571-270-3591. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Cam N. Nguyen/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1736
/CNN/
March 12, 2026