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. Claim Status Claims 1-11 were filed on 9/19/2023 and are currently pending. Priority The Application was filed on 9/19/2023 and claims the benefit of: See filing receipt dated 1/10/2024. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. Specification The use of the term “Salen”, which is a trade name or a mark used in commerce, has been noted in this application. The term should be accompanied by the generic terminology; furthermore the term should be capitalized wherever it appears or, where appropriate, include a proper symbol indicating use in commerce such as ™, SM , or ® following the term . Although the use of trade names and marks used in commerce (i.e., trademarks, service marks, certification marks, and collective marks) are permissible in patent applications, the proprietary nature of the marks should be respected and every effort made to prevent their use in any manner which might adversely affect their validity as commercial marks. See MPEP 608.01(v). Drawings The drawings are objected to because the text in the Figure is blurry and difficult to read. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance. Claim Objections Claim 5 is objected to because of the following informalities: In line 3 of claim 5 , the word “and” at the end of the line should be deleted and replaced by “or” as (4-1) and (4-2) are alternatives to one another. Appropriate correction is required. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(b) 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 6-7 are 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. Claims 6-7 contain the trademark/trade name “Salen”. Where a trademark or trade name is used in a claim as a limitation to identify or describe a particular material or product, the claim does not comply with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph. See Ex parte Simpson , 218 USPQ 1020 (Bd. App. 1982). The claim scope is uncertain since the trademark or trade name cannot be used properly to identify any particular material or product. A trademark or trade name is used to identify a source of goods, and not the goods themselves. Thus, a trademark or trade name does not identify or describe the goods associated with the trademark or trade name. In the present case, the trademark/trade name is used to identify/describe a catalyst and, accordingly, the identification/description is indefinite. The Examiner suggests that amending the limitation “Salen transition metal” to “transition metal N,N ′-bis(salicylidene)ethylenediamine ligand complex” may overcome the rejection if “Salen” is intended to correspond to coordination complexes. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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 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(s) 1- 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Luo ( EP 3012243A1 , published on 4/27/2016) in view of Tang (“Nit r ocyclohexane hydrogenation over Ni-based catalyst modified with metal promoter” China Excellent Doctoral and Master’s Thesis Full Text Database (Master’s) Engineering Science and Technology I, 2018, No. 2. P. B016-57 , of record as NPL #3 in the IDS filed on 8/15/2023, and including a partial translation thereof) , Flack ( US 3157702 , published on 11/17/1964), and Luo ( CN11153831 , published on 5/15/2020, of record in the IDS filed on 8/15/2023, including a machine generated translation ). Applicant claims: A method for producing adipic acid and cyclohexanone oxime from cyclohexane, comprising: (1) subjecting cyclohexane and NO x to catalytic or non-catalytic oxidation-nitration reaction to produce a first reaction mixture containing adipic acid, nitrocyclohexane and by-product A; and separating adipic acid and nitrocyclohexane from the first reaction mixture; wherein the NO x is a mixture of molecular oxygen and one or more of N 2 O, NO, NO 2 N 2 O 3 , N 2 O 4 and N 2 O 5 , and x represents a ratio of the number of O atoms to the number of N atoms in the NO x ; and the by-product A is 1-nitro-1-cyclohexene, cyclohexyl nitrate, glutaric acid, succinic acid, cyclohexanone, cyclohexanol or a combination thereof; (2) subjecting the nitrocyclohexane obtained in the step (1) to catalytic hydrogenation with hydrogen to produce cyclohexanone oxime and cyclohexylamine; and separating cyclohexanone oxime from cyclohexylamine; (3) subjecting the cyclohexylamine obtained in the step (2) to partial oxidation with molecular oxygen under the action of a catalyst to obtain a second reaction mixture containing cyclohexanone oxime and by-product B, wherein cyclohexylamine is absent or present in the second reaction mixture; and the by-product B is water, hexamethyleneimine, cyclohexanone, nitrocyclohexane, N-cyclohexyl hexamethyleneimine, dicyclohexylamine or a combination thereof; and (4-1) without separation, or after separating part or all of water from the second reaction mixture, subjecting the second reaction mixture to simultaneous hydrogenation and amination in the presence of H 2 and NH 3 under the action of a catalyst, or sequentially to hydrogenation with H 2 and amination with NH 3 under the action of a catalyst, followed by separation to obtain cyclohexanone oxime; or (4-2) without separation, or after removing part or all of water from the second reaction mixture by distillation, under the action of a catalyst, subjecting the second reaction mixture to hydrogenation with H 2 followed by separation to obtain cyclohexanone oxime. Liu teaches a method for the co-production of adipic acid and nitrocyclohexane. The method comprises contacting cyclohexane with nitrogen oxides (NOx), acting as both an oxidant and nitrating agent, to produce adipic acid and nitrocyclohexane. See abstract and claims . Thus, Liu corresponds to instant step (1). Regarding the composition of NOx, Liu teaches that 1 <x <3, and recites at least NO 2 , N 2 O 4 , N 2 O 3 , N 2 O 5 , and mixtures thereof. See [0021]. Liu teaches that the side reactions may also occur during the oxidation/nitration step, including alcohols (cyclohexanol), ketones (cyclohexanone), acids, esters, and the like and even deep oxidation products CO and CO 2 . See [0015] and [0054]. Example 8 on p. 10, lines 24-38 teaches that the oxidation by-products further include cyclohexyl nitrate, succinic acid, and glutaric acid. Liu teaches that the adipic acid and nitrocyclohexanone are separated from each other and the reaction mixture in a separation unit (S1) in Fig. 1, wherein line 5, comprising the nitrocyclohexanone and light products can be further separated in (S2) and line 8, comprising the adipic acid and heavy products can be further separated in (S3). See Figure 1 and [0054]. Liu further teaches that the total selectivity of the combination of adipic acid and nitrocyclohexane can include >95% and all of the examples have a selectivity of at least 93%. These values fall within the range of claim 2 . See [0057] and examples, including Table bridging p. 9-10. Liu further teaches that the selectivity of the adipic acids in the range of 60-90% and that the ratio is adjustable. See [0051]. The Table bridging p. 9-10 recites selectivities of adipic acid to nitrocyclohexane, but these appear to be based on mass and not moles. The ratio selectivities (wt%) of adipic acid: nitrocyclohexane range from 72.7 : 25.3 to 82.7: 12.7. Therefore, though the ratio is adjustable, the main product in the examples is adipic acid. An estimate of the moles of each is calculated below by assuming a total weight of 100 g. 72.7 g adipic acid x [ 1 mole/146.1 g] = 0.5 moles adipic acid 82.7 g adipic acid x [1 mole/146.1 g] = 0.6 moles adipic acid 25.3 g nitrocyclohexane x [1 mole/129.1 g] = 0.2 moles nitrocyclohexane 12.7 g nitrocyclohexane x [1 mole/129.1 g] = 0.1 moles nitrocyclohexane Therefore, the estimated molar ratio of adipic acid : nitrocyclohexane ranges from 0.6-0.5 mol adipic acid : 0.1 – 0.2 mol nitrocyclohexane, or 0.6/0.1 (6 : 1) to 0.5/0.2 (2.5:1). This range falls within that of claim 2 . Also see MPEP 2144.05. Liu further teaches that the oxidation-nitration step can be performed in the presence of a solid catalyst and an inducer. See [0048 -0049 ]. The catalyst and inducer can be any of the options listed in claims 6 and 7 . Also see Table bridging p. 9-10. Liu teaches that adipic acid (hexanedioic acid) and nitrocyclohexane are important industrial materials and/or intermediates in a number of processes. See [0002 -0003 ]. Liu teaches that the nitrocyclohexanone can be hydrogenated to produce cyclohexanone oxime . See [0003]. Liu does not explicitly teach instant steps (2) to (4-2). Tang teaches a nitrocyclohexane hydrogenation over Ni-based catalyst modified with metal promote r which corresponds to instant step (2) . See English abstract on p. II to III. Tang teaches that optimized conditions comprise the hydrogenation of nitrocyclohexane with hydrogen gas in the presence of a 1.5%Cu-20%Ni/AC catalyst , wherein AC is activated carbon, at a reaction temperature of 60°C, a reaction pressure at 0.3 MPa, and a reaction time at 7 h to produce cyclohexanone oxime in a selectivity of 77.73% and with a nitrocyclohexane conversion of 99.55%. The process is described with respect to Figure 4-14 on p. 53-54 of the dissertation, which shows the effect of reaction time on the hydrogenation: See partial translation of p. 53-54 (lines 1-99), which includes summary section 4.4. Tang provides selectivities in weight percentages. See partial translation of p. 17-18 (lines 100-172). Figure 4-14 on p. 54 shows a selectivity of cyclohexanone oxime is between 70-80% by mass and the selectivity of cyclohexyl amine is around 20%. Therefore, the selectivity is about 75% : 20% (cyclohexanone oxime: cyclohexyl amine). The molar ratio of the cyclohexanone oxime to cyclohexylamine is estimated as follows (the same process described above with respect to Liu ): Assuming a total mass of 100 g: 75 g cyclohexanone oxime x [1 mole / 113.16 g/mol] = 0.66 mol cyclohexanone oxime 20 g cyclohexyl amine x [1 mole / 99.17 g/mol] = 0.2 mol cyclohexyl amine So the molar ratio can roughly be estimated to be 0.66 : 0.2, or 3.3:1 (oxime : amine), which falls within the range of claim 3 . Also see MPEP 2144.05. It is also noted that the catalyst of Tang (1.5%Cu-20%Ni/AC catalyst) is almost identical to the catalyst used in example 7 of the specification as filed (1 %Cu-20%Ni/AC catalyst), with a slightly higher Cu loading. This further supports the conclusion that the process of Tang will produce substantially the same results as those in instant example 7. Further the catalyst comprises Ni, a group VIII transition metal, and Cu, a promoter from Group IB to VIIIB ( claims 8-9 wrt step 2). The partial translation of Tang does not appear to explicitly teach separating cyclohexanone oxime from cyclohexylamine as required by instant step (2). Flack is directed toward an analogous reaction to that of Tang , wherein nitrocyclohexane is hydrogenated to cyclohexanone oxime. See col. 1, lines 1-35 and example 1 in col. 2-3. In example 1, the catalyst is 5wt% Pd on acetylene black (activated carbon) containing 1 wt% of magnesium as a promotor. Like Tang , the process of Flack also produces a mixture comprising cyclohexanone oxime and cyclohexylamine. Flack teaches that the cyclohexanone oxime can be predictably separated from the cyclohexylamine by acid/base extraction to obtain both in high quality. See examples 1-4 and claims. Neither of Tang or Flack appear to teach instant steps (3) and (4-1) or (4-2). Luo is directed to an analogous process for preparing cyclohexanone oxime to that of Liu , Tang, and Flack . Luo teaches a method comprising: “(1) oxidizing cyclohexane and molecular oxygen under the action of a solid catalyst, carrying out one-step reaction to generate KA oil, and performing separation to obtain the KA oil; (2) directly aminating the KA oil with ammonia and hydrogen under the action of a solid catalyst to generate cyclohexylamine and a small amount of byproduct-A, and performing separation to obtain cyclohexylamine; (3) carrying out partial oxidation on cyclohexylamine and molecular oxygen under the action of a solid catalyst to obtain an oxidation product mainly composed of cyclohexanone-oxime, a small amount of byproduct-B and cyclohexylamine which may not be completely converted; and (4) aminating the oxidation product, namely, directly carrying out amination reaction on the oxidation product obtained in the step (3), ammonia and hydrogen under the action of a solid catalyst without separation, converting the byproduct-B into cyclohexylamine, and performing separation to obtain cyclohexanone-oxime”. See abstract. Step (3) of Luo corresponds to instant step (3) step (4) of Luo corresponds to instant step (4-1). Regarding step (3) of Luo, Luo teaches that cyclohexylamine is subjected to partial oxidation with molecular oxygen (O 2 ) in the presence of a solid catalyst to obtain a reaction mixture comprising cyclohexanone oxime and by-product B, namely cyclohexanone, nitrocyclohexane, dicyclohexylamine, and cyclohexanone but also optionally comprising hexamethyleneimine and N-cyclohexylhexamethyleneimine. Water is also produced as a by-product. See equations in [0021] of the original patent and lines 349-434 of the translation. With respect to step (3) of claims 8-9 , Luo teaches that the catalyst used in the partial oxidation is a surface hydroxyl-rich catalyst or its supported catalyst. See claims 7 and 9, lines 509-515, and example 3 in lines 625-640. Regarding step (4) of Luo, Luo teaches directly feeding the reaction mixture of step (3) comprising cyclohexanone oxime and any by-products B (without separation), to a simultaneous hydrogenation , with H 2 , and amination , with NH 3 , in the presence of a catalyst to convert by-product B to cyclohexylamine ( claim 5 , (4-1) ) , which is easily separable from the cyclohexanone oxime by distillation (rectification by boiling point) . Cyclohexanone oxime is inert to the hydrogenation and amination conditions such that it can be carried through the reaction without separation. See equations in [0023] of the original patent and lines 436-448 of the translation. Regarding claim 4 , step (4) is not coupled with water separation. Regarding claims 10 and 11 , the simultaneous hydrogenation and amination catalyst is a solid catalyst formed by compounding hydrotalcite or a hydrotalcite-like compound with a transition metal main active component and a transition metal auxiliary active component. The main active component comprises one or more group VIII transition metals and the auxiliary active component comprises one or more of Group IB-VIIB transition metals. See claim 8, lines 517-527 and example 4 in lines 642-656. It would have been prima facie obvious to combine the teachings of Liu, Tang, Flack and Luo , all teaching the formation of cyclohexanone oxime and/or intermediates thereof , to arrive at the instantly claimed process with a reasonable expectation of success before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. A person of ordinary skill would have been motivated to modify the method of Liu , for co-producing adipic acid and nitrocyclohexane, to obtain cyclohexanone oxime from the catalytic hydrogenation of nitrocyclohexane (instant step 2) because Tang and Flack teach this is a well-known and predictable process to produce the industrially valuable cyclohexanone-oxime, which is also mentioned as an intended use of the nitrocyclohexane in Liu in [0003]. Therefore, combining two-well known processes to obtain an industrially valuable product is predictable and prima facie obvious. A person of ordinary skill would have been further motivated to subject any cyclohexylamine obtained in the combined process of Liu, Tang, and Flack to partial oxidation according to instant step 3, because Luo teaches that more of the desired product, cyclohexanone oxime, is predictably produced from the oxidation process and increasing the yield of desired product, while decreasing side-products, is prima facie obvious. A person of ordinary skill would be further motivated to subject the oxidation product mixture to direct hydrogenation and amination because Luo teaches that the hydrogenation and amination conditions convert the by-products in the oxidation reaction mixture, which are not easily separable from cyclohexanone oxime, to cyclohexylamine, which is readily separable from cyclohexanone oxime by simple distillation. Further, Luo teaches in partial oxidation step 3 that cyclohexylamine is a productive starting material toward cyclohexanone amine. Therefore, in addition to simplifying the isolation process of the desired cyclohexanone amine, the hydrogenation-amination sequence additionally provides more starting material (cyclohexylamine) that can be transformed into the desired cyclohexanone oxime. Accordingly, both steps 3 and 4 of Luo teach increasing the yield of the desired product, while simplifying isolation of said product by reducing the number of side-products. Therefore, combining instantly claimed steps 2-4, as taught by Tang, Flack, and Luo , with the process of instantly claimed step 1 of Liu will predictably lead to an optimized reaction sequence for obtaining cyclohexanone oxime, an industrially valuable product, with reduced side-products and facile isolation conditions to produce a more efficient and higher yielding predictable method for obtaining cyclohexanone oxime. Also see MPEP 2143(I)(A). 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