Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/251,009

PROCESSES TO IMPROVE CATALYTIC METAL ACCOUNTABILITY IN HYDROFORMYLATION PROCESSES

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Apr 28, 2023
Examiner
WITHERSPOON, SIKARL A
Art Unit
1692
Tech Center
1600 — Biotechnology & Organic Chemistry
Assignee
Dow Technology Investments LLC
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
86%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 11m
To Grant
65%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 86% — above average
86%
Career Allow Rate
1403 granted / 1630 resolved
+26.1% vs TC avg
Minimal -21% lift
Without
With
+-21.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
1y 11m
Avg Prosecution
36 currently pending
Career history
1666
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.6%
-39.4% vs TC avg
§103
44.6%
+4.6% vs TC avg
§102
19.1%
-20.9% vs TC avg
§112
17.5%
-22.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1630 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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 ( i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action: A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made. Claim (s) 1-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brammer et al. (WO 2020/112373) . The claims are drawn to a process to improve rhodium accountability in a hydroformylation process comprising contacting C7-C20 olefins, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide in the presence of a catalyst comprising rhodium and an organ o phosphite ligand to form a reaction fluid, wherein the feed rate of olefins to the reaction zone is greater than 100 kg/h; sending the reaction fluid to a strip gas vaporizer to produce a product stream and a vapor tails stream; measuring the C7-C20 olefin content in the vaporizer tails stream; and adding a C7-C20 olefins stream comprising at least 50 wt% C7-C20 olefins to the vaporizer tails stream to maintain the C7-C20 content in the vapor tails stream above 2 percent by weight. Brammer et al. teach a hydroformylation process, wherein mixed C8 olefins or mixed C9 olefins are hydroformylation in a reaction zone comprising a catalyst comprising rhodium and an organophosphite ligand to form a reaction fluid. According to the reference, rhodium accountability may be improved by introducing the reaction fluid to a strip gas vaporizer to produce a product stream and a vaporizer tails stream, wherein the vaporizer tail stream comprises at least 1.2 percent by weight of C8 olefins or at least 1.3 percent by weight of C9 olefins, in the continuous liquid recycle hydroformylation process taught therein (abstract). The reference further teaches that the C8 or C9 olefins may be added to the vapor tails stream by increasing the olefin concentration in the reaction fluid entering the strip gas vaporizer. This may be done by decreasing the hydroformylation rate in the reaction zone; or lowering the heavies concentration in the reaction fluid entering the strip gas vaporizer; or lowering the ratio of the mass of reaction fluid fed to the strip gas vaporizer to the mass of the vapor tails stream; or raising the temperature of a strip gas condenser associated with the strip gas vaporizer (pages 20-23) . Aldehydes produced by the process include, inter alia, n-nonanal, 2-methyloctanal, and 7-methyloctanal (isononyl aldehyde). Brammer et al. do not expressly teach that the feed rate of olefins to the reaction zone is greater than 100 kg/hr., and does not expressly teach measuring the content of C7-C20 olefins in the vapor tails stream in order to maintain a content of above 2 percent by weight. With regard to feed rate of olefins to the reaction zone, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to adjust the feed rate, which would ultimately modify the hydroformylation rate in the reaction zone. As taught by Brammer et al., such a step may be used to adjust the concentration of olefin (C8 or C9) in the vapor tails stream (page 21, lines 3-6). As far as not expressly teaching a step wherein the olefin content in the vapor tails stream is measured, such as step is implied, or would be obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, since the reference teaches that the content of olefin(s) in the vapor tails stream needs to be maintained at least at 1.2 percent by weight. A measurement of the olefin content in the vapor tails stream would need to be made to ensure such a parameter. The instant claims are therefore rendered obvious by Brammer et al. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT SIKARL A WITHERSPOON whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)272-0649 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT M-F 9am-9pm IFP . 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, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT Scarlett Goon can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 571-270-5241 . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /SIKARL A WITHERSPOON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1692
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Prosecution Timeline

Apr 28, 2023
Application Filed
Sep 03, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12599897
DIRECT CATALYTIC CONVERSION OF ALCOHOLS TO OLEFINS OF HIGHER CARBON NUMBER WITH REDUCED ETHYLENE PRODUCTION
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12600690
METHOD OF ETHANOL CONVERSION TO HIGHER CARBON COMPOUNDS
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12595219
CONTINUOS FLOW SYNTHESIS OF CANNABIDIOL
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Patent 12595222
CURCUMINOIDS, ANALOGS THEREOF, AND METHODS OF MAKING THE SAME
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Patent 12595221
HYDROFORMYLATION PROCESSES
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
86%
Grant Probability
65%
With Interview (-21.0%)
1y 11m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1630 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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