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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 17 October 2025 was filed. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(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.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], 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 3-18 and 21-38 are objected to under 37 CFR 1.75(c) as being in improper form because a multiple dependent claim should refer to other claims in the alternative only, and/or, cannot depend from any other multiple dependent claim. See MPEP § 608.01(n). Accordingly, the claims have not been further treated on the merits.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 19, 20, 39 and 40 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bowes et al (US 2019/0210882).
Bowes et al disclose the following claimed features:
Regarding claim 1, a process for removing impurities from a carbon material, the process comprising: providing the carbon material as a carbon feed into an electrothermal reactor (Figure 1, element 30) at a first location; providing a gas into the reactor (30) (paragraph [0018]); passing the carbon feed from a first location to a second location in the reactor (30) and inhibiting back-mixing of the feed for a feed residence time sufficient to volatize at least some non-carbon material in the feed (paragraph [0019]); heating (via power source 15) the carbon feed using one or more electrodes (6a, 6b) to volatize at least some non-carbon material to produce a purified carbon material (paragraph [0024]); and discharging (via off-gas outlet 10) the purified carbon material at the second location (paragraph [0019]).
Regarding claim 2, wherein the carbon feed is continuously provided into the first location of the reactor (30), and the purified carbon material is continuously discharged from the second location of the reactor (30) (paragraph [0018]).
Regarding claim 19, an electrothermal reactor (Figure 1, element 30) comprising: a crucible, the crucible comprising a length and a width, the length being larger than the width (Figure 1 shows the length is longer and hence, wider than the width); an inlet (7) at a first location in the crucible along the length for receiving a carbon feed into the crucible; an outlet (9) at a second location in the crucible along the length for discharging a purified carbon feed from the crucible; a gas outlet (10) for discharging a gas from the crucible; an electrode (6a, 6b) for receiving a current (via power source 15) to heat the carbon feed (paragraph [0024]); and a gas distribution plate (2) in a bottom of the crucible, the gas distribution plate configured to provide a gas into the crucible.
Regarding claim 20, wherein the electrode (6a, 6b) extends into a cavity (25) defined by the crucible, the cavity containing the carbon feed.
Regarding claim 39, a compartmentalized plug-flow electrothermal reactor (Figure 1, element 30) to purify a graphite feed .
Regarding claim 40, wherein the feed is purified to about 99.95% (paragraph [0017]).
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AN H DO whose telephone number is (571)272-2143. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 7:00am-4:00pm.
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, Ricardo Magallanes can be reached on 571-272-5960. 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.
/AN H DO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
Prosecution Insights