Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 16, 2026
Application No. 18/501,352

TASK-SPECIFIC IONIC LIQUIDS FOR SELECTIVE SEPARATION AND RECOVERY OF RARE EARTH ELEMENTS

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Nov 03, 2023
Priority
May 17, 2019 — provisional 62/849,244 +2 more
Examiner
COHEN, STEFANIE J
Art Unit
1732
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
The Curators of the University of Missouri
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
75%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
78%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 75% — above average
75%
Career Allowance Rate
733 granted / 974 resolved
+10.3% vs TC avg
Minimal +2% lift
Without
With
+2.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
31 currently pending
Career history
995
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.6%
-38.4% vs TC avg
§103
59.1%
+19.1% vs TC avg
§102
11.1%
-28.9% vs TC avg
§112
20.2%
-19.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 974 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
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 Group I, claims 1-7, in the reply filed on 5/22/26 is acknowledged. 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. Claims 1-4 and 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Qiu et al (2018)(cited on the 11/3/23). Qiu teaches [A336][BDGA]. Qiu, Fig. 1, teaches PNG media_image1.png 358 614 media_image1.png Greyscale This tricaprylmethyl ammonium dibutyl diglycolamate. Regarding claim 2, tricapylmethyl ammonium has a denticity of 1 and dibutyl diglycolamate has a denticity of 3. Regarding claim 3, the reference teaches tricaprylmethyl ammonium. Regarding claim 4, the reference teaches dibutyl diglycolamate. Regarding claim 6-7, the reference, page 4, teaches mixing at a ratio of cation to anion is 1:1. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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. Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Qiu et al (2018)(cited on the 11/3/23). The reference teaches tricaprylmethyl ammonium dibutyl diglycolamate. It 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 this simple modification can be made to this compound such as substituting dihexyl for dibutyl to obtain specific properties of the compound. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. WO2017096470 teaches ionic liquids. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEFANIE J COHEN whose telephone number is (571)270-5836. The examiner can normally be reached 10am- 6pm M-F. 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, Coris Fung can be reached at (571) 270-5713. 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. /STEFANIE J COHEN/Examiner, Art Unit 1732 7/16/26
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Nov 03, 2023
Application Filed
Jul 21, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12703796
STEROL IN ASPHALT ROOFING MATERIALS
4y 7m to grant Granted Aug 11, 2026
Patent 12703627
HYDROGEN ENHANCED GEOTHERMAL POWER PRODUCTION
3y 2m to grant Granted Aug 11, 2026
Patent 12702951
PROCESS FOR WORKING-UP A NITROUS OXIDE COMPRISING OFF-GAS STREAM
3y 1m to grant Granted Aug 11, 2026
Patent 12703628
APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR ISOLATING HYDROGEN FROM WATER
3y 2m to grant Granted Aug 11, 2026
Patent 12703795
ORGANIC SLURRY AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURE THEREOF
2y 0m to grant Granted Aug 11, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

Strategy Recommendation AI-generated — please review before filing

Get a prosecution strategy drawn from examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Typically takes 5-10 seconds — AI-generated, attorney review required before filing

Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
75%
Grant Probability
78%
With Interview (+2.3%)
2y 9m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 974 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month