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 .
Election/Restriction
Applicant’s election, without traverse, of Group I (claims 1-7 and 13) in the reply filed on February 25, 2026, to the restriction requirement dated January 5, 2026, is hereby acknowledged.
Accordingly, claims 1-7 and 13 have been examined in the instant Office action, whereas claims 8-10 have been withdrawn from consideration as drawn to a nonelected invention but remain pending with the present application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
Claims 1-7 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §102(a)(1) as unpatentable over Honma (US 2016/0190594 A1 to Honma, published June 30, 2016) and Speck (USPN 3,494,740 A to Speck, issued July 1, 1968).
Honma discloses a carbon black composition, and an electricity storage device containing thereof, wherein the carbon black has a specified peak intensity of a main peak derived from an iron carbide and a peak intensity of a main peak derived from FeO(OH) in a radial distribution function, wherein the production method for the carbon black includes subjecting raw material of carbon black to a heat treatment at a temperature of 900°C to 1500°C for a specified period of time under a specified atmosphere, wherein the carbon black has excellent dispersibility, and wherein elution issues regarding the metal component is reduced during production (abstract; [0001]; [0016] to [0018]; [0024] to [0027]). The carbon black has a Di-Butyl Phthalate (DBP) oil absorption in an amount of 100 to 600 cm3 /100g ([0018] to [0020]; [0047]; [0048] and Table 1of Honma. The specific surface area ranges from 50 to 1600 m2/g ([0049];[0050]; Table 1 of Honma).
Honma further discloses that its carbon black can also comprise acetylene black in the raw material ([0054]), and further that it can be used as a secondary battery ([0004]; [0070]; [0071]).
Honma does not disclose the metal component containing cobalt.
However, Speck teaches iron, nickel, vanadium and cobalt as metal additives metals used in carbon black production that are included in an amount of 1 to 80 ppm of the reactants, which serve to prevent/remove deposits of carbonaceous and coke materials and, further, to decrease the structure of the carbon black produced in the furnace and thus provide an enhanced carbon black material having a reduced structure, (col. 1, lines 13-24; col. 2, line 64 to col. 3, line 53; col. 4, lines 29-51 of Speck).
Therefore, it would been obvious at the time of filing to include a content of cobalt in Honma’s raw carbon black material to provide a resultant carbon black having an enhanced structure for future use, in accordance with the teachings in Speck
Although Honma may not expressly disclose all the concentration/ratios disclosed in the dependent claims 4-6, however, it would have been within the purview of one skilled in the art at the time of the filing of the present application to select optimal concentration/ratios of the various components used in production process to provide an enhanced carbon black product having a reduced structure, in accordance with the teachings in Honma and Speck. Therefore, the resultant concentrations/ratios recited in the present claims can be arrived by routine optimization of these component variable (See MPEP §2144.05 II A.
Thus, the instant claims are unpatentable over Honma and Speck.
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. 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
March 31, 2026
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