DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
This office action is in response to the amendment submitted on 15 September 2026. After entry of the amendment claims 1-15 and 17 are currently pending in the application.
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 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102) 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.
Claims 12-14 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chen et al, “Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Based on Bi4Ti3O12”.
The reference teaches, in Figures 5 and 6, TiO2 coated Bi4Ti3O12.
The instant claims are met by the reference.
As for claim 12, the reference teaches TiO2 coated Bi4Ti3O12.
As for claim 13, the reference teaches Bi4Ti3O12.
As for claim 14, the reference teaches TiO2 coated Bi4Ti3O12.
As for claim 17, the reference teaches a film which meets the claimed coating.
Response to Arguments
The amendments have overcome the previously made 112(b) rejections and accordingly they are withdrawn.
The amendments to the claims have overcome the previously made 102(a)(1) rejections and accordingly they are withdrawn.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-11 are allowed.
Claim 15 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art fails to teach or render obvious all of the claimed limitations.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANTHONY J GREEN whose telephone number is (571)272-1367. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday from 6:30-5.
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, Amber R. Orlando can be reached at (571) 270-3149. 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.
/ANTHONY J GREEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1731
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October 6, 2026
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