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 .
Priority
Applicant's claim of priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 as a continuation application of PCT/CN2022/122259 filed September 28, 2022, which claims priority to China application CN 202210836693.2 filed July 15, 2022, is hereby acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
Claims 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is drawn to non-statutory matter. This claim 14 is drawn to the use of an article/device, which is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim does not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter but instead are drawn to a “use” of an article. Therefore, the claimed invention lacks statutory patentable utility.
Correction/amendment of these claims is respectfully requested in a subsequent reply to this action.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1 and 5, and claims 2-4 and 6-13 that depend therefrom, have examined in the instant action and have been deemed allowable over the prior art of record.
The prior art of record does not teach or suggest the PLGlu-SS-lithium ion-sieve-composite, and a method of preparing thereof, as recited in present independent claims 1 and 5, wherein this lithium-ion sieve composite comprises a H3LiMnTi4O12 lithium ion-sieve that is compounded with a poly- γ glutamic acid, wherein a terminal amino group of the γ-PGA is linked to a disulfide bond-containing group, and wherein a terminal carboxyl group of the γ-PGA is bonded with Ti and Mn in the lithium ion-sieve, in accordance with present independent claims 1and 5.
The closest prior art is Lai (US 2012/0180307 A1 to Lai, published July 19, 2012).
Lai discloses a lithium-manganese-titanium-containing compound that can be used as an electrode material in a lithium-ion battery/composite, wherein the chemical formula of the compound is LiMn(2-x)TixO4, which can be in the form of a powder (abstract; paragraphs [0005] to [0014] of Lai).
However, Lai is distinct from the chemical formula of the composite of the present claims in that the chemical formula of the compound in Lai does not contain hydrogen and, further, its composite does not possess poly-glutamic, as recited in present independent claims 1 and 5.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN J FIGUEROA whose telephone number is (571)272-8916. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:30 am -6:00 pm. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, JOSEPH DEL SOLE can be reached on 571-272-1130. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/John J Figueroa/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1763
May 15, 2026
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