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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 8/27/2026 with respect to amended claim 10 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of claim 10 and dependent claims has been withdrawn.
However, as discussed below in light of this the restriction requirement dated 3/04/2026 with respect to group I is withdrawn, and claim 1 is fully examined for patentability and is rejected as discussed below. Applicant’s arguments regarding specific benefits regarding combination of catalytic materials for specific applications, while persuasive regarding claim 10, are not applicable to claim 1 given the breadth of claim 1 and given that claim 1 refers to a catalyst, not a process of use. As discussed below, the combination of catalysts required by claim 1 is anticipated or at minimum rendered obvious by Wu.
Election/Restrictions
Upon reconsideration and in view of the status of claim 10 which incorporates the limitations of withdrawn claim 1, the restriction requirement as set forth in the Office action mailed on 3/04/2026 is partially withdrawn with respect to group I claims 1-9. In view of the withdrawal of the restriction requirement as to the specific inventions, applicant(s) are advised that if any claim presented in a divisional application is anticipated by, or includes all the limitations of, a claim that is allowable in the present application, such claim may be subject to provisional statutory and/or nonstatutory double patenting rejections over the claims of the instant application. Once the restriction requirement is withdrawn, the provisions of 35 U.S.C. 121 are no longer applicable. See In re Ziegler, 443 F.2d 1211, 1215, 170 USPQ 129, 131-32 (CCPA 1971). See also MPEP § 804.01.
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.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Wu et al (Recent progress in the structure control of Pd-Ru…, Science and Technology of Advanced Materials, 2016).
Wu teaches various embodiments of Pd and Ru catalysts for improved performance [Abs] including various embodiments in the art as a whole which include a support such as a solid support [Sec. 3, Physical mixture of Pd and Ru NPs]. This anticipates the claimed invention, given the broadest reasonable interpretation, or at minimum renders it obvious (as the materials are reduced and referred to as “bimetallic” such that the zero-valent state is taught or at minimum suggested).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-12 and 21-25 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Claims 17-20 are allowed.
Applicant’s arguments are persuasive, as discussed above. While the general combination of catalysts is known, applicant’s specific implementation and specific application show unexpected benefits beyond what one of ordinary skill in the art would have known or expected to render the combination of catalyst blend and water treatment application non-obvious over the prior art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRADLEY R SPIES whose telephone number is (571)272-3469. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thurs 8AM-4PM.
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, Vickie Kim can be reached at 571-272-0579. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRADLEY R SPIES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1776
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