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
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I: claims 1-20 and 25 in the reply filed on 6/22/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 21-24 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 6/22/2026.
Claim Objections
Claims 2, 8-10, and 19 objected to because of the following informalities:
In claims 2 and 8-10, “aluminium” should read –aluminum–.
In claim 19, last line, “or a crystallization” should read –or a crystallization.–.
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.
Claims 5-7, 9-10, 14-15, and 17-20 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.
Regarding claim 5, the phrase "such as" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Regarding claim 6, the phrase "preferably" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Claim 7 recites the limitation "the step(s) for recovering at least nickel and lithium ions" in lines 1-2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Note that claim 1 recites steps for recovering at least nickel and lithium but not steps for recovering at least nickel and lithium ions.
Regarding claim 9, the phrase "such as" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Regarding claim 10, the phrase "such as" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Claim 14 recites the limitation “one commercial example of suitable extraction chemicals being VersaticTM 10, which is a neodecanoic acid,” which renders the claim indefinite, because it is unclear if VersaticTM 10 is required. The phrase “one commercial example of…” renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Regarding claim 15, the phrase "e.g." renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Regarding claim 17, the phrase "such as" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Regarding claim 17, the phrase "one example of" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitations following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Regarding claim 18, the phrase "e.g." renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Regarding claim 19, the phrase "e.g." renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Regarding claim 20, the phrase "preferably" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Regarding claim 20, the phrase "more preferably" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Regarding claim 20, the phrase "e.g." renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-4, 8, 11-13, 16, and 25 are allowed.
Claims 5-7, 9-10, 14-15, and 17-20 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.
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).
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 1, the prior art fails to disclose or fairly suggest a method for extracting metals from the black mass of lithium-ion batteries having the processing steps as recited, all in combination. In particular, the closest prior art, Chai et al. (CN 110512080), hereinafter “Chai,” wherein an English machine translation is used and cited herein, teaches a method for separating and recovering valuable metals in waste nickel-cobalt-manganese-lithium ion batteries, the method including pretreatment by disassembling, discharging, and crushing the waste nickel-cobalt-manganese-lithium ion battery, leaching by adding sulfuric acid and hydrochloric acid and a reducing agent to obtain a leaching solution, adding nickel powder to the solution to remove copper by reduction, and removing impurities such as iron and aluminum from the solution, extracting all nickel, cobalt, and manganese, back-extracting with sulfuric acid to obtain lithium-containing raffinate solution, while the back-extracted liquid is a mixed liquid of nickel, cobalt, and manganese, and adding carbonate or carbon dioxide gas to the raffinate to precipitate lithium, filtering to obtain lithium carbonate, and returning the filtrate and washing water to the leaching solution (Abstract, [0012]-[0030], claim 1). However, Chai fails to teach or adequately at least the step of performing one or more pre-treatment steps, wherein a fraction of non-metallic material is separated from the black mass, and a pre-treated black mass containing anode and cathode materials is recovered, as required by claim 1. Thus, claim 1 is distinct over the teachings of the prior art. Claims 2-20 and 25 further limit the subject matter of claim 1 and are thus also distinct over the teachings of the prior art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANTHONY M LIANG whose telephone number is (571)272-0483. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:00am-5:00pm.
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/ANTHONY M LIANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1734
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