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 .
Claims 1-20 are pending in this application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL. —The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph, as based on a disclosure which is not enabling. The disclosure does not enable one of ordinary skill in the art to practice the invention without the process steps necessary for forming the particles from the mixture, which is/are critical or essential to the practice of the invention but not included in the claim(s). See In re Mayhew, 527 F.2d 1229, 188 USPQ 356 (CCPA 1976). The process of preparing dicarboxylates of furan from the reaction of furoate and an alkali base and then reacting the mixture in the presence of carbon dioxide is well known in the art where the feed for the carboxylation reaction was a 1 molar eq. K-furoate, 0.55 molar eq. K2CO3, and 0.35 molar eq. KO-Acetate and then the feed was heated, in the presence of carbon dioxide, to a temperature of 300° C. for five hours. The applicants further explain that the conventional mixture of powders (FIG. 1) was found to have a 69% conversion and the co-evaporated materials were found to have a 79% conversion and the particles according to the present invention were found to have a 96% conversion however, there is no teaching in the specification to the steps to obtain the 96% conversion.
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 3 and 14 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. The following reasons apply:
Claims 3 and 14 are vague and indefinite in that it is not known what is meant by “carboxylate reaction promoter”.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 4, 6, 8-16 and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kanan et al., WO 2021/158890. Kanan teaches the process of preparing a furan-2, 5-dicarboxylate. Furan-2-carboxylate is provided with an inorganic base in the form of an inorganic base salt, wherein the furan-2-carboxylate and the inorganic base salt form a mixture. A CO2 gas under pressure is provided to the mixture. The mixture is heated to a temperature to at least partially melt the mixture, wherein the heating of the mixture causes the synthesizing of a MxFDCA solid, wherein MxFDCA denotes a salt comprising furan-2,5-dicarboxylate (FDCA2-) and cation M+ and/or M2+, where x is a number between 1 and 2, inclusive. The mixture is cooled to solidify the mixture to form a solid mixture. Particle sizes of the solid mixture are reduced. See column 1, lines 45-57.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRENDA L COLEMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-0665. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 10-6 (flex).
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, Jeffrey H. Murray can be reached on 571-272-9023. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRENDA L COLEMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1624
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