DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Status of Application
1. This application has Provisional of 63404099, which was filed on 09/06/2022.
Claims 1-4 were originally presented in this application for examination.
Claims 1-4 are currently pending in this application 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 1-4 are objected to because of the following informalities:
A. In claim 1, line 1, the phrase “A graphene oxide reclamation and recycling process” should change to --A process for reclamation and recycling of graphene oxide--.
B. In claims 2-4, line 1, “graphene oxide” should be deleted.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 (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.
Claim 2 is 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.
In step i) of claim 2, the phrase "preferably" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Allowable Subject Matter
5. Claims 1-4 are allowable over the prior art made of record.
*Claims 1 & 3-4 would be allowed if they are amended to overcome the Claim Objections.
*Claim 2 would be allowed if the rejection under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) (Second Paragraph) is overcome.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The claimed invention relates to a process for reclamation and recycling of graphene oxide, comprising steps a) – n), as recited in the instant claim 1.
Kaner et al. (US 10,988,383 B2) is found to be the closest prior art teaches the claimed invention. Specifically, Kaner et al. ‘383 teaches a method for forming a purified graphene oxide (GO) material comprising: forming a GO suspension; dewatering the GO suspension with a first filter to form a dewatered GO suspension; forming a GO solution comprising the dewatered GO suspension and a solvent solution comprising a polar organic solvent; and filtering the GO solution through a second filter to form the purified GO material (col. 49, claim 1). The process further comprising drying the GO suspension and the solvent solution (col. 50, claim 16). Suitable polar organic solvents including alcohols, such as n-butanol, isopropanol, n-propanol, ethanol, and methanol (col. 50, claims 24-26).
Karer et al. ‘383, however does not teach step a), which is contacting graphene oxide with a nonpolar hydrocarbon solvent (hexane, heptane, pentane, butane, octane, etc.), and washing the graphene oxide with different solvents in multiple times (as required in steps b), c), e), f), g), h), l), and m)).
Li et al. “The effect of the ultrasonication pre-treatment of graphene oxide (GO) on the mechanical properties of GO/polyvinyl alcohol composites” teaches sonication of graphene oxide in water bath (see Abstract, p. 322, section 2.2), however it does not teach to wash the graphene oxide with a nonpolar hydrocarbon solvent (as required in step a)) and two more other solvents in multiple times (as required in steps b), c), e), f), g), h), l), and m)) of the instant claim 1.
Paredes et al. “Graphene Oxide Dispersions in Organic Solvents” discloses studies of dispersions behavior of graphene oxide in 13 different organic solvents and a bath ultrasonication treatment (see p. 10562, section 3.2), however it does not teach step-by-step process of washing the graphene oxide with a nonpolar hydrocarbon solvent (as required in step a)) and two more other solvents in multiple times (as required in steps b), c), e), f), g), h), l), and m)) of the instant claim 1.
There would be no motivation to combine the teachings of the prior art references together to arrive to the claimed invention.
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 1-4 are pending. Claims 1 & 3-4 are objected. Claim 2 is rejected. No claims 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 27, 2026
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