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
Claims 14-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected group II, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 4 March 2026.
Applicant’s election without traverse of group I, claims 1-13, in the reply filed on 4 March 2026 is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statements filed 31 July 2023 and 26 September 2024 have been considered.
Claim Objections
Claims 2 and 6 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 2, lines 1-2, “comprise of from” should read “comprise from”.
Claim 6, line 2, "from 10" should read "from 10". There appears to be an extra space between "from" and "10".
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Jermy ("Crude oil conversion to chemicals over green synthesized ZSM-5 zeolite").
Regarding Claim 1, Jermy discloses a method of forming ZSM-5 zeolite comprising: calcining halloysite (HAL) and/or bolus alpha (BA) to form metakaolin (pg. 2, Col. 2, par. 3-4). Jermy further discloses halloysite and bolus alpha are clay mineral compositions (pg. 2, Col. 1, par. 4). Jermy further discloses synthesizing ZSM-5 (HAL), which is synthesized from halloysite alone (pg. 2, Col. 2, par. 4), such that the clay mineral composition is 100 wt.% halloysite (100 wt.% halloysite meets the limitation wherein the one or more mineral compositions comprise greater than or equal to 10 wt.% halloysite).
Jermy further discloses metakaolin was dispersed in deionized water, and the dispersed mixture was added to NaOH (NaOH meets the limitation of a basic compound) and Ludox AS40 (pg. 2, Col. 2, par. 3), wherein Ludox AS40 is a silica source (pg. 2, Col. 1, par. 2). Jermy further discloses adding tetrapropylammonium bromide (TPABr), additional deionized water, and ZSM-5 seed (ZSM-5 seed meets the limitation of ZSM-5 zeolite seeds; pg. 2, Col. 2, par. 3), such that Jermy meets the limitation of forming a slurry by combining at least the metakaolin, ZSM-5 zeolite seeds, a basic compound, and a silica source.
Jermy further discloses aging at 175°C for 72 hours (aging at 175°C for 72 hours meets the limitation of hydrothermally treating the slurry to form a hydrothermal product; pg. 2, Col. 2, par. 3) and calcining to form the ZSM-5 zeolite (pg. 2, Col. 2, par. 4).
Regarding Claim 2, Jermy further discloses synthesizing ZSM-5 (HAL), which is synthesized from halloysite alone (pg. 2, Col. 2, par. 4), such that the clay mineral composition is 100 wt.% halloysite (100 wt.% halloysite meets the limitation wherein the one or more mineral compositions comprise from 50 wt.% to 100 wt.% halloysite, based on the total weight of the one or more clay mineral compositions).
Regarding Claim 3, Jermy further discloses synthesizing ZSM-5 (HAL), which is synthesized from halloysite alone (pg. 2, Col. 2, par. 4), such that the clay mineral composition is 100 wt.% halloysite (100 wt.% halloysite meets the limitation wherein the one or more clay mineral compositions comprise from 0 wt.% to 90 wt.% kaolinite, based on the total weight of the one or more clay compositions).
Regarding Claim 4, Jermy discloses the Z(40)HAL has an average surface area of 248 m2/g (248 m2/g meets the limitation of greater than 30 m2/g; pg. 5, Col. 1, Table 4), wherein Z(40)HAL is the ZSM-5(40)(HAL) zeolite (pg. 3, Col. 1, Table 3).
Regarding Claim 5, Jermy discloses the Z(40)HAL has an average pore volume of 0.25 cm3/g (0.25 cm3/g meets the limitation of greater than 0.15 cm3/g; pg. 5, Col. 1, Table 4).
Regarding Claim 6, Jermy discloses synthesizing ZSM-5(40) (SAR=40) (pg. 2, Col. 2, par. 3-4), wherein SAR is the SiO2/Al2O3 ratio (SAR=40 meets the limitation of from 10 to 280; pg. 2, Col. 2, par. 2).
Regarding Claim 7, Jermy discloses, for template directed zeolite synthesis, the TPABr is added (TPABr meets the limitation of a templating agent; pg. 2, Col. 2, par. 3).
Regarding Claim 8, Jermy discloses, for template directed zeolite synthesis, the TPABr is added (TPABr meets the limitation of a templating agent comprising an ammonium salt; pg. 2, Col. 2, par. 3).
Regarding Claim 9, Jermy discloses aging at 175°C for 72 hours (aging at 175°C for 72 hours meets the limitation of hydrothermally treating the slurry at a temperature greater than 100°C; pg. 2, Col. 2, par. 3).
Regarding Claim 10, Jermy discloses aging at 175°C for 72 hours (aging at 175°C for 72 hours meets the limitation of hydrothermally treating the slurry at a temperature greater than 100°C for a duration of greater than 48 hours; pg. 2, Col. 2, par. 3).
Regarding Claim 11, Jermy discloses calcining the hydrothermal product at 550°C and again at 500°C (calcining at 550°C and 500°C meets the limitation of calcining at a temperature of greater than 400°C; pg. 2, Col. 2, par. 4).
Regarding Claim 12, Jermy discloses ion exchanging the zeolite with NH4NO3 solution (aka a solution comprising ammonium nitrate) after the first calcination step (pg. 2, Col. 2, par. 4), such that the hydrogen form of the ZSM-5 zeolite is inherently produced.
Regarding Claim 13, Jermy discloses the following quantities of materials in the slurry: 1.0 g metakaolin, 10 ml deionized water (deionized water has a density of approximately 1 g/ml such that 10 ml deionized water is approximately 10 g deionized water), 1.0 g NaOH, 22.83 g Ludox AS40 (silica source), (optionally 0.5 g TPABr), 10 ml deionized water, and 0.09 g ZSM-5 seed (pg. 2, Col. 2, par. 3), which results in a total slurry weight of 44.92-45.42 g. Therefore, the slurry of Jermy comprises 2 wt.% metakaolin (2 wt.% meets the limitation of 1 wt.% to 3 wt.%), 0.2 wt.% ZSM-5 seed (0.2 wt.% meets the limitation of 0.01 wt.% to 0.5 wt.%), 2 wt.% NaOH (aka basic compound) (2 wt.% meets the limitation of 1 wt.% to 3 wt.%), and 50 wt.% Ludox AS40 (aka silica source) (50 wt.% meets the limitation of 30 wt.% to 50 wt.%), wherein the weight percentages are based on the total weight of the slurry.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SLONE ELZABETH SIMKINS whose telephone number is (571)272-3214. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:30AM-4:30PM.
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, KEITH WALKER can be reached at (571)272-3458. 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.
/S.E.S./Examiner, Art Unit 1735
/PAUL A WARTALOWICZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1735
Prosecution Insights