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
Claim 1 is directed to an allowable product. Pursuant to the procedures set forth in MPEP § 821.04(B), claim 9, directed to the process of making or using an allowable product, previously withdrawn from consideration as a result of a restriction requirement, is hereby rejoined and fully examined for patentability under 37 CFR 1.104.
Because all claims previously withdrawn from consideration under 37 CFR 1.142 have been rejoined, the restriction requirement as set forth in the Office action mailed on 22 April 2026 is hereby withdrawn. In view of the withdrawal of the restriction requirement as to the rejoined inventions, applicant(s) are advised that if any claim presented in a divisional application is anticipated by, or includes all the limitations of, a claim that is allowable in the present application, such claim may be subject to provisional statutory and/or nonstatutory double patenting rejections over the claims of the instant application. Once the restriction requirement is withdrawn, the provisions of 35 U.S.C. 121 are no longer applicable. See In re Ziegler, 443 F.2d 1211, 1215, 170 USPQ 129, 131-32 (CCPA 1971). See also MPEP § 804.01.
Information Disclosure Statement
An Information Disclosure Statement has not been filed as of the writing of this office action.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
The text in the images on pages 2, 4, and 7 of the Specification is blurry/illegible.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
The text in the image of claim 1 is blurry/illegible.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim 4 is 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.
Claim 4, lines 6-7, recite "performing ultrasonication on the mixed solution added with the activated carbon to disperse the carriers and obtaining a solid catalyst sample by impregnation". It is unclear what is being impregnated and what is doing the impregnating. This limitation is interpreted as requiring impregnating the carriers with the Rh.
Claims 5-8 are indefinite as they depend from an indefinite base and fail to cure the deficiencies of the base claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-3 allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 1 is allowable for disclosing a supported hydroformylation catalyst, wherein a structure expression of the supported hydroformylation catalyst is Rh@P-N/AC, Rh represents rhodium (Rh) atoms that are configured to be an active center of the supported hydroformylation catalyst, and P-N/AC represents carriers of the supported hydroformylation catalyst comprising an AC carrier and a P-N carrier; and wherein the AC carrier in the P-N/AC is an activated carbon; and the P-N carrier in the P-N/AC is a phosphine-nitrogen (P-N) organic ligand with one structural formula selected from the group consisting of the following structural formulas I-IV:
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Huang (“Bifunctional ligand enabled selective alkoxycarbonylation of aliphatic alkenes”) discloses ligand L6:
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Ligand L6 meets the limitation of a P-N organic ligand with structural formula 1. Huang further discloses using the carbazole derived phosphine ligand containing bipyridine moiety to transform various aromatic and aliphatic olefins into the corresponding esters (pg. 104, Col. 1, par. 2).
Huang does not teach forming a hydroformylation catalyst, the presence of rhodium, and the presence of activated carbon, as required by claim 1.
Wang (“Palladium-Catalyzed Thiocarbonylation of Aryl Iodides Using CO2”) discloses ligand L3:
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399
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Ligand L3 meets the limitation of a P-N organic ligand with structural formula 1. Wang further discloses using a combination of Pd salts and the carbazolyl phosphine ligand for thiocarbonylation of aryl iodides using CO2 (pg. 8838, Col. 1, par. 2).
Wang does not teach forming a hydroformylation catalyst, the presence of rhodium, and the presence of activated carbon, as required by claim 1.
Li (CN 111875637) discloses phosphine ligand A:
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Phosphine ligand A meets the limitation of a P-N organic ligand with structural formula 1. Li further discloses the phosphine ligands of the present invention can be used for the carbonylation and esterification reaction of ethylene oxide/propane with alcohols to prepare 3-hydroxypropane/butyrate; they can also be used for the carbonylation and esterification reaction of ethylene and propylene to prepare methyl propionate, methyl butyrate, etc. [0027].
Li does not teach forming a hydroformylation catalyst, the presence of rhodium, and the presence of activated carbon, as required by claim 1.
None of the references teach the P-N organic ligand of claim 1 in the context of a hydroformylation catalyst comprising Rh and activated carbon.
Therefore, the elements of claim 1 are considered allowable.
Claims 2-3 and 9 are considered allowable because they are dependent on claim 1.
As allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a).
Claims 4-8 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
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/S.E.S./Examiner, Art Unit 1735
/PAUL A WARTALOWICZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1735
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