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. Priority Applicant's claim of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 as a continuation of U.S. Serial No. 16/970,238 filed August 14, 2020 (now issued as US 11,865,531 B2), which is in turn a 35 U.S.C. § 371 National Stage application of PCT/US201 9 /0 19780 filed Feb. 2 7 , 20 19 , which claims priority to provisional application 6 2 / 636 , 766 filed Feb. 28 , 20 18 , is hereby acknowledged . Double Patenting The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A non - statutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg , 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman , 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi , 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum , 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel , 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington , 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969). A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on non - statutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b). The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13. The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA/25, or PTO/AIA/26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer . Independent claim 1 35 , and claims 136-164 that depend therefrom, are rejected on the ground of non-statutory double patenting as unpatentable over claims 1 - 2 9 of U.S. Patent No. 1 1 / 975,317 B 2 patent ( ‘ 31 7 patent), which issued on May 7 , 2024. T he claims at issue are not identical in th at independent claim 1 of the ‘ 317 patent (sole independent claim) is drawn to a method for extracting lithium from a liquid resource, whereas sole present claim 1 35 is drawn to a system for generating a lithium eluate solution from a liquid resource . However, they are not patentably distinct from each other because both sets of claims are drawn to a process/system for providing a lithium eluate solution from a liquid resource that comprises : providing ion exchange particles ; contacting the ion exchange particles with a liquid resource wherein hydrogen ions from said ion exchange particles are exchanged with lithium ions ; treating the lithium-enriched ion exchange particles with an acid solution wherein the lithium ions from the lithium-enriched ion exchange particles are exchanged with hydrogen ions from the acid solution to produce a lithium eluate solution; and wherein the lithium eluate solution with ion exchange particles is separated/removed by using a particle trap that includes one or more filters , such as a belt filter, a filter press, a pressure vessel containing filter elements, a rotary drum filter, a rotary disc filter, a centrifugal filter with a fixed or moving bed, a perforated basket centrifuge, a three-point centrifuge, a peeler type centrifuge, or a pusher centrifuge. Thus, the present claims are unpatentable due to ODP over the cited claims of the ‘31 7 patent . Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure . Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Enter examiner's name" \* MERGEFORMAT JOHN J FIGUEROA whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)272-8916 . The examiner can normally be reached on FILLIN "Work schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT 8:30 am -6:00 pm . Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration t ool. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, JOSEPH DEL SOLE can be reached at 571-272-1 130 . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceedi ng is assigned is 571-273-8300. I nformation regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). I f you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /John J Figueroa/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 176 3 March 13, 2026