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
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-2 and 23-27 in the reply filed on 08/17/2027 is acknowledged.
Claims 3-4, 43-48 and 54-56 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected claims, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 23-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by US 2019/0036143 A1 (present on IDS).
Reference Yan teaches poly(aryl piperidinium) polymers for use as hydroxide exchange membranes (title and abstract).
Regarding claims 1-2, Yan teaches (paras [0088]-[0089] and [0085]) a poly(aryl piperidinium) polymer for anion exchange membrane. Yan provides Example 1 where the piperidine-functionalized polymer is derived from N-methyl-4-piperidone (6 mmol), 2,2,2-trifluoroacetophenone (4 mmol) and biphenyl (10 mmol), as shown below, corresponding to the structural units of formulae 1A, 2A and 3A respectively, where the sum of mole fraction of 1A ((6/20)=0.3) and 2A (0.2) is equal to the mole fraction of 3A (0.5) and the mol ratio of 1A/3A = 6/10 = 0.6, and that of mol ratio of 2A/3A is = 4/10 = 0.4, meeting the claimed requirements.
PNG
media_image1.png
487
349
media_image1.png
Greyscale
The final polymer structure as presented above reads on the required structural units where A- is OH- anion, R10 and R11 are alkyl groups (in structure corresponding to 1A); R104 is alkyl group substituted with halide and R101 is C6 aromatic with Y as C, R21-R24 are hydrogen (in structure corresponding to 2A); n =1, and R20, R30, R40, R50, R60, R70, R80 and R90 are hydrogen (in the structure corresponding to 3A).
The monomers of Yan’s Example 1 also correspond to applicant’s monomers of formula 1 (with R1 as alkyl), formula 2 (with R52 as alkyl substituted with halide and R51 as C6 aryl with Y as C and R31-R34 as hydrogen) and aromatic monomer of formula 3 (with R2-R13 are all hydrogen and n=1), of instant claim 2.
Regarding claim 23-27, Yan teaches (paras [0090]-[0091], reference claims 8, 22 and 25) poly(aryl piperidinium) polymer where the alkylating agent CH3I and a base KOH (and ion exchange solution) are utilized to generate the final polymer. As discussed, when addressing claims 1-2 (reaction scheme), the final polymer comprises a second reaction product of a second polymerization mixture comprising, a base, an alkylating reagent, and an intermediate polymer, meeting the claimed requirements.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Surbhi M Du whose telephone number is (571)272-9960. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00 am to 5:00pm.
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, Heidi (Riviere) Kelley can be reached at 571-270-1831. 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.M.D./
Examiner
Art Unit 1765
/HEIDI R KELLEY/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1765
