Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/284,707

EXHAUST GAS PURIFYING CATALYST COMPOSITION AND EXHAUST GAS PURIFYING CATALYST

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Sep 28, 2023
Examiner
CALDERON, DAVID ANDREW
Art Unit
1742
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co. Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 8m
To Grant

Examiner Intelligence

Grants only 0% of cases
0%
Career Allow Rate
0 granted / 0 resolved
-65.0% vs TC avg
Minimal +0% lift
Without
With
+0.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 8m
Avg Prosecution
10 currently pending
Career history
10
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§103
53.9%
+13.9% vs TC avg
§102
26.9%
-13.1% vs TC avg
§112
19.2%
-20.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 0 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 Objections Claim 5 is objected to because of the following informalities: “selected from Rh and Pt” should be “selected from Rh or Pt”. Appropriate correction is required. 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. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness . Claims 1- 5, 7, and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 10 3 as being obvious by Matsueda et al. (JP2014171971) . Regarding claim 1, Matsueda et al. discloses an exhaust purifying catalyst comprising crystallite A and B (paragraph 0020). An e xam ple in the patent is powder A8B3 (paragraph 0048) . B3 is a Ce-based particle which is 100% CeO2 (paragraph 0048). The mol % of crystallite A8 in terms of oxides is Zr/Ce/Y/La = 85/5/5/5. Converting these to mass % we get Zr/Ce/Y/La = 74/6/8/12. The amount of Ce in terms of CeO2 in the composite oxide is 6% by mass. Calculations are shown below. With a 100 mol basis, mol CeO2 = 5 Mass CeO2 = 5mol*(140.116g/mol+32g/mol) Total mass = 5(138.906(2)+48)+5(88.90585(2)+48)+ 5 (140.116+32)+85(91.224+32) Mass% CeO2 = 5*(140.116+32) 5 138.906 2 +48 +5 88.90585 2 +48 +5 140.116+32 +85(91.224+32) *100%=6% The crystallite support is loaded with a noble metal element Pt (paragraph 0048) . Matsueda et al. also teaches an average crystallite size of 5-50 nm which clearly meets the range of 10 nm or more claimed by the applicant. In addition to th e example in paragraph 0048, Matsueda et al. teaches a range of 75-99 mol% Zr in the composite oxide in terms of the Zr oxide and a range of 20-99 mol% Ce in terms of Ce oxide in the Ce-based oxide (paragraph 20). This has overlap of the applicant’s claims. The subject matter as a whole would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to select the portion of the prior art’s range which is within the range of the applicants’ claims because it has been held prima facie case of obviousness to select a value in a known range by optimization for the results. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233. Additionally, the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time invention was made to have selected the overlapping portion of the range disclosed by the reference because overlapping ranges have been held to be a prima facie case of obviousness. In re Malagari , 182 USPQ. R egarding claim 2, Matsueda et al. teaches a mass % of Zr in terms of ZrO2 in the Ce-Zr - based composite oxide particle of 76% (paragraph 0048). See claim one rejection for more details. Regarding claim 3, Matsueda et al. discloses that the platinum is supported by powder A8B3 which comprises both the Ce-based oxide particle and the Ce-Zr-based composite oxide particle (paragraph 0048). Regarding claim 4, Matsueda et al. discloses the use of X-ray diffraction but does not provide peak intensity measurements to find a ratio of peak intensity. However, according to claim 1 rejection, the reference discloses a crystallite size of ceria in the Ce-based oxide particle that is 5-50 nm. Additionally, paragraph 0020 of the specification discloses that X-ray diffraction measurements are a result of crystallite size. Therefore, it is the position of the examiner that the peak intensity would inherently be the same. When the examiner has reason to believe that the functional language asserted to be critical for establishing novelty in a claimed subject matter may in fact be an inherent characteristic of the prior art, the burden of proof is shifted to Applicants to prove that the subject matter shown in the prior art does not possess the characteristics relied upon. In re Fitzgerald et al. 205 USPQ 594. Regarding claim 5, Matsueda et al. discloses the use of platinum and rhodium as a catalyst metal (paragraph 0017). Regarding claim 7 , Matsueda et al. discloses 49.25 g of A8B3 powder in the catalyst but does not specify individual amounts (paragraph 0048) . Matsueda et al. discloses highly dispersed crystallites so that seven or more crystallites of the same kind do not exist in contact with each other (paragraph 0010). Thus, at a minimum, the powder is 1/7 Ce-based oxide particle . We use the molar mass of each particle to account for the differences in mass of the two oxide particles. A 15 g dinitrodiamine Pt nitric acid solution (5% my mass Pt) is added to the powder and 100% of the Pt is loaded. We get a mass % of the Ce-based oxide particle in the catalyst of at least 1 7 %. Calculations are shown below. Molar mass composite = 0. 85 (91.224+32)+0.0 5 ( 140.116+32)+0.05(88.90585(2)+48)+0.05(138.906(2)+48) = 141 g/mol CeO2 molar mass = 172 g/mol Ce-based oxide mass = (1/7)* (172/141) *49.25g = 8.6g Pt mass = 15g*0.05 = 0.75g Ce mass% = 8.6 g/(0.75g+49.25g)*100% = 1 7 % Regarding claim 8, Matsueda et al. discloses a catalyst layer formed on a substrate (paragraph 0014). The catalyst layer containing a catalyst metal and a carrier such as the one described in the example used above (paragraph 0014) (paragraph 0048). Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsueda et al. as applied to claims 1-5, 7, and 8, and further in view of Dettling et al. (CN1411394, translated copy provided) . Regarding claim 6, Matsueda et al. discloses the exhaust gas purifying catalyst but does not disclose a Ce-based oxide particle with an average particle size greater than 0.10 and less than 15 microns. Dettling et al. discloses a substrate in a gas purifying catalyst comprising an oxygen storage component that is cerium oxide with the particles having a size from 1-15 microns (paragraph 0099). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to use a ceria particle size with the range of 0.10 to 15 micron because it is a conventional particle size in the field of substrate coating in exhaust gas purifying catalysts as seen in Dettling et al. Because both compositions are useful in the purification of exhaust gas, one would have reasonable expectation of success from the combination. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT DAVID A CALDERON whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)272-9866 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT Monday-Friday 8-5PM . 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 Christina Johnson can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 5712721176 . 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. /DAVID ANDREW CALDERON/ Examiner, Art Unit 1742 /CHRISTINA A JOHNSON/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1742
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Prosecution Timeline

Sep 28, 2023
Application Filed
Mar 05, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12594547
PREPARATION METHOD OF METAL OXIDE LOADED NANO ZEOLITE PARTICLE CATALYST
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 1 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
Grant Probability
2y 8m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 0 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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