DETAILED ACTION
The following Office action concerns Patent Application Number 18/18/548,577. Claims 1-25 are pending in the application. Claims 4, 8-15, 17-21, 23-25 are withdrawn from consideration as being drawn to non-elected inventions.
The applicant’s amendment filed June 30, 2026 has been entered. The amendment includes new claims 16-25.
Election/Restrictions
A restriction requirement was sent to the Applicant on January 30, 2026. The Applicant was required to elect among several groups of inventions. The Applicant responded to the restriction requirement on June 30, 2026 and elected Group II, claims 1-3 and 5-7, without traverse.
Accordingly, claims 4, 8-15, 17-21, 23-25 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to non-elected inventions.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. § 112 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
(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.
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claims 1-3, 5-7, 16, 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) because the term “virgin cellulose” is indefinite. It is unclear what is required by “virgin”. For the purpose of examination, “virgin cellulose” is construed to mean cellulose.
Claims 1-3, 5-7, 16, 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) because the symbol “S” in the term “M1-S” is not defined. For the purpose of examination, “S” is construed to mean solvent.
Claims 1-3, 5-7, 16, 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) because the symbol “X” in the term “M1-X” is not defined.
Claims 2 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) because the term “the molten metal salt M1-S” lacks antecedent basis. MPEP § 2173.05(e).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) because the claim requires “M1-S” to comprise metal cation M2 which is other than metal M1. However, claim 1 requires “M1-S” to comprise metal ion M1. Thus, claim 3 appears to be inconsistent with claim 1. It is unclear what is required by claim 3.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC §§ 102 and 103
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.
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 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.
Claims 1-3, 5-7, 16, 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ma et al (Cellulose, 2016, 23, 3703-17, included in the IDS).
Ma et al teaches a method of making a ZnO-cellulose nanocomposite particles comprising combining (contacting) cellulose with ZnCl2 in aqueous solution to form a first solution, adding to that a second solution of NaOH and urea in water, precipitating ZnO-cellulose nanocomposite particles, and then separating (isolating) the particles from the liquid (p. 3705). ZnCl2 in aqueous solution is a molten metal salt solvent as that term is described in the instant application. NaOH is a precipitation reactant. Water is the claimed ant-solvent. Zn is metal ion M1. Na is metal ion M2. After addition of the water (anti-solvent), a gel is formed (p. 3706).
Examiner’s Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to William Young whose telephone number is (571) 270-5078. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 5 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Angela Brown-Pettigrew, can be reached at 571-272-2817. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information 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). If 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./WILLIAM D YOUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1761 July 21, 2026
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