DETAILED ACTION
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 claims 1-6 in the reply filed on 12/26/2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 7-10 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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 12/26/2025.
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.
Claim(s) 1-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Banadaki et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2021/0184065).
Regarding claim 1, Banadaki et al. teaches metamaterials (MMs) are composed of nanostructures, called artificial atoms, which can give metamaterials extraordinary properties that cannot be found in natural materials (paragraphs 7 and 8). Banadaki et al. teaches structure of the present invention comprises alternating layers of graphene and hexagonal boron nitride which meets a broad and reasonable interpretation of metamaterial structure comprising: first metamaterial unit structures and second metamaterial unit structures, wherein the first metamaterial unit structures and the second metamaterial unit structures are arranged alternately (paragraph 18).
Regarding claim 2, Banadaki et al. teaches structure of the present invention comprises alternating layers of graphene and hexagonal boron nitride comprising n number of graphene layers and therefore meets a broad and reasonable interpretation of wherein the first metamaterial comprises hexagonal boron nitride, and the second metamaterial comprises graphite (paragraphs 18 and 25).
Regarding claim 3, Banadaki et al. teaches hBN layer has an atomic thickness of 0.33 nm which meets a broad and reasonable interpretation of wherein the first metamaterial unit structures comprise at least one of boron nitride nanoflakes and boron nitride nanosheets (paragraph 62). Banadaki et al. teaches n number of graphene layers includes a planar surface, wherein each of the n number of graphene layers includes a distinct thickness which meets a broad and reasonable interpretation of the second metamaterial unit structures comprise at least one of exfoliated graphite nanoflakes and few-layer graphene nanosheets.
Regarding claim 4, Banadaki et al. teaches the optimal thicknesses of layers included in graphene multilayer nanostructure obtained from the genetic algorithm and the refractive indices of the layers at the optimized wavelength are used in transfer matrix equations, leading to information about the transmission and reflection properties of the graphene multilayer nanostructure which meets the limitaiton wherein the properties of the metamaterial structure are controlled by the thickness and mixing ratio of the first metamaterial unit structures and the second metamaterial unit structures (paragraph 77).
Claims 5 and 6 depend from claim 1 which is a product claim. Claims 5 and 6 recite process limitation. MPEP §2113 recites “[E]ven though product-by-process claims are limited by and defined by the process, determination of patentability is based on the product itself. The patentability of a product does not depend on its method of production. If the product in the product-by-process claim is the same as or obvious from a product of the prior art, the claim is unpatentable even though the prior product was made by a different process.” Per MPEP §2113, 777 F.2d 695, 698, 227 USPQ 964, 966 (Fed. Cir. 1985). The multilayer nanostructure taught by Banadaki et al. is comprised of the same material claimed in the pending application, i.e. alternating layers of graphene and hexagonal boron nitride and therefore the process claims are not limiting.
Conclusion
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/GUINEVER S GREGORIO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1732 02/01/2026