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 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.
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.
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sharafi et al. (US 20230066390 A1) in view of Wang et al. (CN 112619590 A). It is noted that the disclosures of Wang et al. are based on a machine translation of the reference included with this action.
Regarding claim 1-5:
Sharafi et al. teaches a solid-state electrochemical cell pack (Abstract, 0018), a containment structure, i.e. battery case, that houses one or more electrochemical cells (0017), and a reagent bed 340 including a hydrogen sulfide eliminating material (HEM), i.e. desulfurization unit, which may be configured for fluid communication with the containment structure 310, i.e. disposed at a communication port of or inside of the battery case, so that hydrogen sulfide released from the one or more electrochemical cells 320 may flow to the reagent bed 340 (0035).
Sharafi et al. also teaches a pack tray 112 and cover 114, i.e. unit case, for a HEM (0017) and an electrochemical system 100 which includes a containment structure 110, one or more electrochemical cells 120 in the containment structure 110 and a sequestering layer 130 within the containment structure 110. The sequestering layer 130 may be a layer including a HEM, i.e. desulfurization agent enclosed in the unit case (0016).
Adsorption HEMs operate by capturing and retaining hydrogen sulfide via physisorption or chemisorption, which include activated carbon (0033).
However, Sharafi et al. does not teach the desulfurization agent contains an alumina-based desulfurization agent.
Wang et al. teaches a regenerable hydrogen sulfide adsorbent (n0010) with a weight percentage of activated alumina being 60-99.5% (n0013) and that activated alumina, due to its high specific surface area and pore volume, can serve as an excellent carrier for adsorbents (n0006). Furthermore, through certain optimization methods, the polymerization of olefin materials on the surface of the alumina carrier can be suppressed, thereby producing a high-performance, renewable adsorbent (n0006). Although there is no disclosure in Wang et al. of the amount of activated alumina in vol% as presently claimed, given that the amount of alumina in wt.% includes amounts as high as 99.5%, it is clear the amount of alumina would necessarily overlap that presently claimed absent evidence to the contrary.
In light of the motivation for using activated alumina at a weight percentage of 60-99.5% disclosed by Wang et al. as set forth above, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use activated alumina at a weight percentage of 60-99.5% in the solid-state electrochemical cell pack of Sharafi et al. in order to produce a high-performance, renewable adsorbent.
Given that Sharafi et al. in view of Wang et al. discloses a mixture of activated carbon and alumina, it also discloses a composite as presently claimed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MADISON E. BROWN whose telephone number is (571)775-5984. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 8am-6pm.
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, Callie Shosho can be reached at 5712721123. 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.
/MADISON ELIZABETH BROWN/Examiner, Art Unit 1787
/CALLIE E SHOSHO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1787
Prosecution Insights