DETAILED ACTION
The following Office action concerns Patent Application Number 18/332,510. Claims 1-15 and 18-19 are pending in the application. Claims 1-10 have been withdrawn from consideration as being drawn to non-elected inventions.
The applicant’s amendment filed September 4, 2026 has been entered.
The previous grounds of rejection are withdrawn in light of the applicant’s amendment.
Objections to Claims
Claim 12 is objected to because it contains two sentences. A claim must contain one sentence only. Correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. § 112 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
(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.
Claims 11-15, 18, 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) because claim 10 includes the use limitation "using an infrared radiation slurry,” which renders the claims indefinite. The claim does not set forth any steps involved in the method of using an infrared radiation slurry, therefore, it is unclear what method the applicant is intending to encompass. A claim is indefinite where it merely recites a use without any active, positive steps delimiting how this use is actually practiced. MPEP § 2173.05(q).
Allowable Subject Matter
Except for the 112(b) rejections above, Claims 11-15, 18, 19 would be allowable over the closest prior art of Li et al in view of Kuch. The references do not teach or suggest that the conductive material is a carbonizable biological substrate.
Examiner’s Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to William Young whose telephone number is (571) 270-5078. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 5 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Angela Brown-Pettigrew, can be reached at 571-272-2817. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000./WILLIAM D YOUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1761 October 2, 2026
