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/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-5 in the reply filed on April 3rd, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 6-10 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on April 3rd, 2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lu ("The application of microwave digestion in decomposing some refractory ore samples with solid fusion agent", 2018).
Regarding claim 1, Lu teaches a method for producing an inorganic substance solution (Lu, Figs. 1-4 and 6; Tables 1-3; Page 540, Col. 1, Paragraph 1 - Col. 2, Paragraph 1), said method comprising:
a heating step of dielectrically heating a powdery mixture to obtain a liquid mixture containing an inorganic substance (Lu, Page 540 Col. 1, Paragraph 2), the powdery mixture having been obtained by mixing powder of the inorganic substance and hydroxide (Lu, Fig. 2, Page 540, Col. 1, Paragraphs 1-2, ball-milled ore with NaOH, ball-milled ore with KOH).
Regarding claim 2, Lu teaches the method as set forth in claim 1, as discussed above, wherein:
the inorganic substance contains beryllium (Lu, Figs. 3-4 and 6, Tables 1-3).
Regarding claim 3, Lu teaches the method as set forth in claim 1, as discussed above, wherein:
the hydroxide is at least one of sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide (Lu, Page 540, Col. 1, Paragraph 3, the procedure was performed using NaOH and KOH as fusion agents in respective microwave digestions).
Regarding claim 4, Lu teaches the method as set forth in claim 1, as discussed above, further comprising:
a dissolving step of dissolving the liquid mixture which has been obtained in the heating step in an acid solution or water to obtain an acid solution of the inorganic substance (Lu, Page 540, Col. 1, Paragraph 2, dissolved in hot aqueous HNO3 solution).
Regarding claim 5, Lu teaches the method as set forth in claim 1, as discussed above, wherein:
the heating step is a step of dielectrically heating the powdery mixture under normal pressure (Lu, Page 543, Col. 2, Paragraph 1, “In conclusion, this microwave digestion technique with solid fusion agent under atmosphere pressure is a high-efficiency and practical ore sample pre-treatment technology, which is more energy-saving, time-saving and cost-saving than the traditional fusion decomposition method.”).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZACHARY J. BAUM whose telephone number is (571)270-0895. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30-5:00.
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/ZACHARY JOHN BAUM/Examiner, Art Unit 1736
/ANTHONY J ZIMMER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1736
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