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 .
Summary
Claims 1-20 are pending. Claims 11-18 are withdrawn due to a Restriction Requirement. Claims 1-10, 19, and 20 are rejected herein. This is a First Action on the Merits.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 11-18 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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 21 Jan 2026.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because FIG. 5 is not clear. Please submit drawings in a format that is easily reproducible. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 7: Claim 7 recites “a second insulating layer,” but no “first insulating layer” is recited in claim 1, from which claim 7 depends. The first insulating layer is introduced in claim 6. Therefore it is indefinite as to whether claim 7 was meant to depend from claim 6 or claim 1. Claim 7 is assumed to depend from claim 1.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 4-6, 8-10, 19, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1 and a2) as being anticipated by HAN et al. (US 2006/0263255).
Regarding claim 1: HAN discloses: A hydrogen sensor (FIG. 1B) for detecting hydrogen gas (abstract), the hydrogen sensor comprising: a substrate (74); a sensing layer (72; para. 87) formed on the substrate (FIG. 1B) and containing semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (para. 54, 87); and electrodes (75 on the left and unlabeled on the right. The right electrode is analogous to 3b in FIG. 1A.) spaced from each other (FIG. 1B), the electrodes formed on a first surface of the sensing layer (FIG. 1B), the first surface being a surface opposite to and not facing the substrate (FIG. 1B), or formed between the sensing layer and the substrate.
Regarding claim 4: HAN discloses: the surface of the hydrogen sensor is treated with one or more selected from the group consisting of ozone, ultraviolet, a surfactant, a self-assembled monolayer, a polymer coating (permeable polymer layer 78 in FIG. 1B), and a plasma.
Regarding claim 5: HAN discloses: a catalyst layer (palladium particles 7 in FIG. 1A) positioned on the sensing layer and the electrodes (FIG. 1A), the catalyst layer comprising a catalyst (specific to gas to be analyzed in para. 64).
Regarding claim 6: HAN discloses: a first insulating layer (polymer layer 78 in FIG. 1B) positioned on the sensing layer and the electrodes (FIG. 1B), the first insulating layer comprising a first insulator (Not conducting because it would short the electrodes in FIG. 1B).
Regarding claim 8: HAN discloses: the substrate comprises one or more selected from the group consisting of a silicon (Si) substrate, a silicon/silicon dioxide (Si/SiO.sub.2) substrate (74 dielectric SiO2 in FIG. 1B), a silicon/silicon nitride (Si/SiN.sub.x) substrate, a glass substrate, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyimide (PI), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), polyethersulfone (PES), polyacrylate, and polyetherimide.
Regarding claim 9: HAN discloses: the electrodes comprise one or more selected from the group consisting of a metal (“metal electrodes” in para. 38), an oxide, a conductive polymer, and a carbon compound.
Regarding claim 10: HAN discloses: the hydrogen sensor is a resistive hydrogen sensor in which a resistance value of the sensing layer changes in the presence of hydrogen gas (para. 83).
Regarding claim 19: HAN discloses: A method of detecting hydrogen, the method comprising: (1) bringing a gas from which hydrogen is required to be detected into contact with a sensing layer of the hydrogen sensor of claim 1 (“measurement of…molecular hydrogen as a constituent of air” in para. 9); and (2) detecting hydrogen gas by confirming a change in resistance or current value of the hydrogen sensor (para. 83; FIG. 5 shows sensor output upon repeated exposures to hydrogen as discussed in para. 115.).
Regarding claim 20: HAN discloses: the (1) bringing is performed in the air (para. 9).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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) 2 and 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HAN in view of NOH et al. (KR 101735207). Please note that a machine translation of NOH has been included with this office action. All references to text in NOH are to the attached machine translation.
Regarding claims 2 and 3: HAN does not disclose that the sensing layer further comprises a conjugated polymer, and the surface of the semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes is partially or entirely wrapped with the conjugated polymer.
NOH however does teach wrapping a single-walled carbon nanotube with a conjugated polymer (para. 18) as shown in FIG. 3. NOH also teaches at least two of the polymers listed in claim 3 (para. 8).
One skilled in the art at the time the application was effectively filed would be motivated to wrap the SWCNT of HAN in a conjugated polymer as taught by NOH to improve performance of the device and increase uniformity of the layer of SWCNT (para. 6-7 of NOH). Please note that the devices of both HAN and NOH are transistors.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HAN in view of PARK et al. (US 2019/0097067).
Regarding claim 7: HAN discloses a heating element (para. 46), but does not specify where it is located on the device.
PARK however teaches a second insulating layer (substrate 10 in FIG. 5) and a microheater (20), wherein the second insulating layer comprises a second insulator and is positioned on the substrate and under the sensing layer and the electrodes (FIG. 5), and the microheater is positioned between the substrate (barrier layer) and the second insulating layer (FIG. 5).
One skilled in the art at the time the application was effectively filed would be motivated to situate the heating element of HAN under the substrate as taught by PARK so that it will be far enough away from the sensor not to interfere with the functioning of the sensor, but close enough to supply the needed heat. Please note that heating semiconductor sensing elements so that they operate at their optimal sensing temperature is well known in the art, which is why HAN did not need to elaborate on how such a heating element would be situated in the device.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Several references have been added to the Notice of References Cited for teaching hydrogen sensors using carbon nanotubes.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHANIEL J KOLB whose telephone number is (571)270-7601. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5 EST.
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, JESSICA HAN can be reached at (571) 272-2078. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NATHANIEL J KOLB/Examiner, Art Unit 2896