DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. 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
2. Applicant's election without traverse of Invention I in the reply filed on 11 June 2026 is acknowledged. Claims 1-15 (Invention I) are currently pending and under examination. The applicant has cancelled Claims 16-40 in their response.
Information Disclosure Statement
3. No IDS was included in the instant application. The applicant is reminded that the information disclosure statement to be compliant with 37 CFR 1.98(a)(1), must meet the following requirements: (1) a list of all patents, publications, applications, or other information submitted for consideration by the Office; (2) U.S. patents and U.S. patent application publications listed in a section separately from citations of other documents; (3) the application number of the application in which the information disclosure statement is being submitted on each page of the list; (4) a column that provides a blank space next to each document to be considered, for the examiner’s initials; and (5) a heading that clearly indicates that the list is an information disclosure statement.
4. The listing of references in the specification is not a proper information disclosure statement. 37 CFR 1.98(b) requires a list of all patents, publications, or other information submitted for consideration by the Office, and MPEP § 609.04(a) states, "the list may not be incorporated into the specification but must be submitted in a separate paper." Therefore, unless the references have been cited by the examiner on form PTO-892, they have not been considered.
Specification
5. The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
the terms “rod” and “rodon” appear numerous times through the specification and are either element 8 or element 9. “Rodon” (or “rodón”) appears to be the Spanish word for “round.”
Element 9 is also used to define the roller in ¶33 of the instant application cited as US Pub. No. 2024/0279832 A1.
Element 4 references in ¶23-31 of the instant application cited as US Pub. No. 2024/0279832 A1 is used to refer to both the side edge cover and the lateral edge covers.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
6. 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.
7. Claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 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.
Claim 1 recites the limitation “a first groove” and “said first slot.” There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claims 2, 3, 5, 6, and 13 refer to “the first slot.” The Spanish word “ranura” appears to be translated as either slot or groove. If the applicant chooses either slot or groove in the above claims and fixes the antecedent basis issues, the rejection would be overcome.
Claim 1, at line 6 recites the limitation “two lateral edge covers formed by an elongated body,” but it is unclear if each cover has an elongated body or if a single elongated body form both covers.
Claim 1 also recites an additional “side edge cover” limitation. It is unclear if this is meant to refer back to “the lateral edge covers” or is an attempt to introduce a new limitation.
Claim 1 recites the limitation “cover at least partially,” which is a relative term rending the claim indefinite. The degree or extent of coverage is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
Claim 4 recites the limitation "the first bottom edge cover slot.” There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 5 recites the limitation of “a rod inserted under pressure” and Claim 13 recites the limitation “inserting under a pressure a roller.” It is unclear if the use of rod and roller refers to the same element or are meant to be different elements.
Claim 9 recites the limitation “resistant to sulfuric acid subjected to temperature,” which is a relative term rending the claim indefinite. The phrase “resistant to sulfuric acid subjected to temperature” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. It is unclear if the applicant means high temperature, a variable temperature, or room temperature and what type of performance metric constitutes “resistant to sulfuric acid.”
Claims 10, 11, and 14 use the terms “transverse grooves,” “said transverse grooves,” “said transversal grooves” and “respective transverse grooves.” It is unclear if these are all referring to a common element or referring to different elements. If they are referring to a common element, a single term with appropriate antecedent basis should be used.
Claim 14 recites the limitation “such that it projects beyond from the lower part of the corner edge covers,” lacks clarity. It is unclear if the non-slip element is physically sticking out further down than the corners or if the non-slip element is physically extending past the outer sides of the corners.
Claims 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 are also rejected under 112b because Claim 1 currently stands rejected under 112b.
Allowable Subject Matter
9. Claim 1 has allowable subject matter with the reasons are explained in detail below.
10. As the applicant explains in the specification cited as US Pub. 2024/0279832 A1, the purpose of the edge placed onto the permanent cathode is multifaceted. In ¶1 of the instant application, edge covers for the edges of cathode plates for electro-refining or electrowinning processes allow for the inhibition of metal deposition, allow facile detachment of the deposited metal, and prevents/reduce unwanted slipping of the cathode plates as they are moved and supported. The instant application further cites a couple pieces of prior art in the same field as endeavor for edge protection.
First, Alexander’798 (US Patent No. 5,690,798) is directed toward a cathode for electrowinning with protective edges on both lateral sides and the bottom where the contact areas between the horizontal protective edge and the vertical protective edges are joined by adhesive to prevent the entry of electrolyte in the corners. This design further has corner protectors located at each corner and has a vertical channel which receives the lower end of the respective vertical edge strip, a horizontal channel which receives the respective end of the bottom edge strip, and a cutout which receives the cathode. The edge protectors and corner protectors are preferably composed of plastic as per the Col. 5 Lines 24 to 27 of Alexander’798.
Secondly, Ringhand et al. (US Pub. No. 2014/0116876 A1) discloses a cathode edge protector and methods of manufacture where the lateral edges and bottom edge are protected to reduce the deposition of copper build up (¶2). In FIGS. 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D show different depictions of the cathode plate with the notable elements being lateral edges 106 having edge strips 104 and the bottom edge strip 108 with corners 110. This construction is similar to the limitations of Claim 1 describing the shape and joining mechanism of the edge protection. In ¶25 of Ringhand, the edge strips 106 and 108 are comprised of a plastic material with exemplary materials being ABS, polypropylene, HDPE, LDPE, PVC, CPVC. All of the aforementioned materials are hard plastic with little tolerance for deformation and would be unlikely to provide any type of enhanced gripped as required by Claim 1 of the instant application. These plastic materials differ from the preferred material in the instant application which is butyl nitrile rubber which is known to be very chemically resistant and has the capacity to both deform and provide enhanced grip (¶33 of the instant application).
The aforementioned series of references fails to disclose the edge cover which includes a non-slip system in its lower part, which comprises at least one non-slip element arranged in the lower edge cover, in the corner edge covers, or in both, so that the at least one non-slip element remains supported on the surface when the cathode is supported or moved on it, allowing for better grip with said surface when the at least one non-slip element is deformed as required by Claim 1.
11. Johnson et al. (US Patent No. 4,288,312) is directed towards a cathode and edge stick assembly (title). The edge and stick assembly of Johnson et al. is comprised of non-conductive plastic as per the abstract. The preferred plastic material is ABS copolymer as indicated in Claim 6 of Johnson. This material as discussed in paragraph 7 of this office action is an inflexible material and consequently fails to disclose the edge cover which includes a non-slip system in its lower part, which comprises at least one non-slip element arranged in the lower edge cover, in the corner edge covers, or in both, so that the at least one non-slip element remains supported on the surface when the cathode is supported or moved on it, allowing for better grip with said surface when the at least one non-slip element is deformed as required by Claim 1.
12. Bartsch et al. (US Patent No. 4,670,124) is directed toward a cathode for use in the electrolytic refining of copper and method of making same. FIG. 2 of Bartsch et al. depicts an assembly with an edge strip 3 placed on the lateral edges of the cathode plate. According to Col. 3 Lines 12 to 22, the edge strip is comprised of electrically insulating material which may be selected from natural or synthetic polymers. The polymers are comprised of butadiene homopolymers, copolymers or block copolymers of butadiene with styrene or acrylonitrile or maybe halogen-containing polymers from polychloroprene (Col. 3 Lines 12 to 22). Moreover, the polymers maybe thermoplastic polymers (e.g.: polyolefins, polycarbonate), PVC, CPVC, PTFE, or polyurethanes (Col. 3 Lines 12 to 22). These polymers require some degree of deformability as indicated in Claim 9 and Claim 10 of Bartsch et al. in order for them to fit into the groove depicted in FIG. 2. However, the specification does not expressly indicate that the edge strip is placed along the bottom edge of the cathode plate. Although the general disclosure indicates that the aforementioned polymers have some degree of deformability, Bartsch et al fails to disclose that the edge coverage system includes a non-slip element as by Claim 1.
13. Steen'167 (US Patent No. 8404167 B1) is directed toward a protective edging for a cathode of an electroplating system (title). In FIG. 1, Steen’167 depicts edges 108 and further explains that the two lateral edges are coated by polyurea (i.e.: a plastic material 110). Steen’167 further explains that polyurea is chemical resistant and has some flexibility (Col. 4 Lines 44-67). However, Steen’167 fails to disclose the use of a polyurea on the bottom edge of the permanent cathode and therefore fails to disclose the requirement of Claim 1 which says, “the edge cover includes a non-slip system in its lower part, which comprises at least one non-slip element arranged in the lower edge cover, in the corner edge covers, or in both, so that the at least one non-slip element remains supported on the surface when the cathode is supported or moved on it, allowing for better grip with said surface when the at least one non-slip element is deformed.”
14. Claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 would be allowable if all 112b rejections are corrected.
Conclusion
15. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Steen'851 (US Patent No. 8052851 B1) is directed toward a protective edging for a cathode of an electroplating system (title). Lindgren et al. (US Pub. No. 2014/0131221 A1) is directed toward a Permanent cathode and a method for treating the surface of a permanent cathode (title). Ebert et al. (US Pub. No. 20040074766 A1) is directed toward an edge protection system for cathode plates and methods of making same (title). Alexander’933 (US Patent No. 6,702,933) is directed toward a plastic border for cathodes (title). Assenmacher (US Patent No. 5,492,609) is directed toward a cathode for electrolytic refining of copper (title). Cutmore et al. (AU 1999015464) is directed toward improvements in the edge protector systems of electrolytic cell electrodes (title).
16. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEVIN SYLVESTER whose telephone number is (703)756-5536. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 8:15 AM to 4:30 PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, James Lin can be reached at (571)272-8902. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KEVIN SYLVESTER/Examiner, Art Unit 1794
/CIEL P CONTRERAS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1794
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