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 .
Priority
Applicant’s claim of priority as a 35 U.S.C. §371 national stage entry of
PCT/GB2022/050779 filed March 29, 2022, which claims priority to Great Britain application GB 2104442.5184,816 filed March 29, 2021, is hereby acknowledged.
Election/Restriction
Applicant’s election, without traverse, of Group II (claims 28-35) in the reply filed on June 22, 2026, to the restriction requirement dated March 25, 2026, is hereby acknowledged.
Accordingly, claims 28-35 have been examined in the instant Office action, whereas claims 1-27 have been withdrawn from consideration as drawn to a nonelected invention but remain pending with the present application.
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 28-35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §102(a)(1) as anticipated by Ueda (US 2011/0074013 A1 to Ueda et al., published March 31, 2011). This reference was cited in the International Search Report dated July 1, 2022.
Ueda discloses forming a silicon oxide film (functionalized silica) via a plasma processing apparatus, wherein a silicon compound gas, an oxidizing gas, and a rare gas are supplied into a chamber of a plasma processing apparatus, charging the chamber to provide a silicon oxide film on a target substrate with plasma generated by the microwave, and wherein silane gas and oxide are mixed in the chamber (abstract; [0012] to [0016]; [0069] to [0081]; Figure 1; claims 1-5 of Ueda). In Figure 1, the gas is supplied from the gas supply source into chamber 2 through the wall gas passage 10 and the center gas passage 11, wherein the gas is uniformly discharged from the wall gas passage 10 to surround the side of the top plate, into chamber 2 ([0091]. Subsequently, a rare gas such as an argon gas, an oxidizing gas such as an oxygen gas, and a silicon compound gas are supplied wherein the silicon compound gas is, for example, a tetraethoxy-silane gas, and wherein each gas is supplied at a certain partial pressure ratio and flow ratio ([0091]; [0092]).
Ueda further discloses that, in addition to silicon oxide, other functionalized silicas can be produced, such as, Si-OH, Si-H and Si-OH, as impurities and are separated by a slot (batch process) ([0029] and [0031]; Figure 2; present claims 34 and 35).
Thus, the presently examined claims are anticipated by Ueda.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN J FIGUEROA whose telephone number is (571)272-8916. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:30 am -6:00 pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, JOSEPH DEL SOLE can be reached on 571-272-1130. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOHN J FIGUEROA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1763
August 22, 2026
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