.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 Invention I, claims 1-4 in the reply filed on 2/9/26 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
Claims 1-4 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.
In claim 1 and its dependent claims, it is not clear what is meant by “using for substrate a porous structure”, as it is not properly grammatical English, and it is not clear whether the porous structure is a separate material upon which the functional lignocellulose is mounted, or whether the functional lignocellulose catalytic particle is itself a porous structure, as seems to be indicated in paragraph 34-35 of the current specification. Applicant should amend the claims to use proper English and to clarity whether the functional lignocellulose catalytic particle is itself a porous structure. For the purposes of examination, a porous structure derived from lignocellulose is considered to meet the limitations of the substrate.
More generally, the term “functional lignocellulose catalytic particle (FLCP)” is indefinite. The term is not generally used in the art, and while the specification refers to FLCP on numerous occasions, and makes broad statements about FLCP (“FLCPs can take multiple form factors, including solid, liquid, gel”, paragraph 59), but never clearly defines the term. It is unclear, for example, whether “functional” is meant to indicate that the lignocellulose material is functionalized, in the standard sense of having a functional group introduced, or whether it simply means that the lignocellulosic catalytic particle has a function of some sort.
Claims 2-3 and dependent claim 4 require the substrate to be constituted by functionalized aggregates of organic and inorganic material. However, an aggregate typically refers to a material formed from a plurality of particles, so it is unclear what it means for the functional lignocellulose catalytic particle (which contains the substrate) to be constituted by an aggregate. For the purposes of examination, the claim is considered to be met by particulate materials comprising both organic and inorganic components, whether those components are discrete components or the result of surface modifications.
In claims 2-4, the term “such as” renders the claims indefinite since it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Additionally, in claims 2-4, the numbers following “such as claim” have been deleted in the claim set filed 2/9/26, apparently inadvertently since the claims have a status of “original” and applicant’s remarks do not mention an amendment. If applicant actual wishes for claims 2-4 to be dependent claims, the examiner recommends that “A functional lignocellulose catalytic particle such as claim” be replaced by “The functional lignocellulose catalytic particle of claim” and then insert a claim number. For the purposes of examination, claim 2 has been considered to depend on claim 1 and claims 3-4 have been considered to depend on claim 2, as in the claims filed 10/19/23.
In claims 3-4, it is not clear how one would determine whether the functional lignocellulose catalytic particles are “intended” to catalyze a reaction or sorb a fluid component. The examiner recommends that the claims instead that the functional lignocellulose catalytic particles are capable of catalyzing a reaction or sorbing a fluid component. Applicant should also take care to ensure that claims 2-4 are differentiated from each other.
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.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kastner (U.S. PG Pub. No. 2010/0312008).
In paragraph 99 and the example that follows, Kastner discloses the development of carbon-supported porous acid catalysts using biochar generated from lignocellulosics. In paragraph 105 Kastner discloses that the porous carbon support is functionalized with an -SO3H group, and in paragraph 54 discloses acidic functional groups more broadly. The catalysts of Kastner, containing a functional group and a porous support derived from lignocellulosic material, therefore meets the limitations of the functional lignocellulose catalytic particle of claim 1. Additionally, since the catalysts of Kastner comprise both organic matter (the biochar) and inorganic matter (the acid groups), they meet the limitations of the functionalized aggregate materials of claims 2-4 which can catalyze a reaction.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Malyala (U.S. PG Pub. No. 2017/0197192).
In paragraph 6 Malyala discloses a method for producing biochar aggregate particles. In paragraph 90 Malyala discloses that the biochar can be prepared from various lignocellulosic sources. In paragraphs 88, 95-104, 170-175, and throughout the disclosure and figures, Malyala discloses that the biochar is porous. In paragraph 7 Malyala discloses that the biochar aggregate particles can contain a mixture of biochar with binders, fillers, and various other additives. In paragraphs 197, 210-213, and 346-350 Malyala indicates that the binders and additives can be both organic and inorganic compounds, and the aggregate materials of Malyala can therefore be aggregates of organic and inorganic materials as recited in claims 2-4. In paragraph 315 Malyala discloses that the biochar can be inoculated with microbes, also forming an aggregate. In paragraph 398 Malyala discloses that the biochar can absorb ammonia, meeting the limitations of claims 3-4 regarding sorbing a fluid component.
While Malyala does not specifically disclose that the biochar aggregate particles are “catalytic”, since they meet the compositional limitations of the claims and contain a porous structure derived from a lignocellulosic material, they will be capable of acting as a catalytic particle. Claims 1-4 are therefore anticipated by Malyala.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mikova (RU 2393111 C1).
An English-language machine translation of Mikova, which is attached, has been used in setting forth this rejection, and the pages and paragraphs referred to herein are those of the translation.
In the first paragraph of the “Description” section on the first page of the reference, Mikova discloses the production of porous carbon materials from lignocellulosic raw materials, which can be used as sorbents for gases as well as for catalysis tasks. In the second-to-last paragraph of the sixth page of the reference, Mikova further teaches that the materials are useful for the preparation of catalysts and as adsorbents with a wide spectrum of action. The porous carbon materials of Mikova therefore meet the limitations of the claimed functional lignocellulose catalytic particles of claim 1, since they are lignocellulose-derived particles having a porous structure, and are useful in catalysis and as sorbents for fluid components such as gases.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES C GOLOBOY whose telephone number is (571)272-2476. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, usually about 10:00-6:30.
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/JAMES C GOLOBOY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1771