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 .
Status of the Application
Claims 10-18 are pending.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election without traverse of Group I, claims 10-14, and the species of 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane, in the reply filed on 07/16/2026 is acknowledged. The election was made without traverse.
The requirement is therefore made FINAL.
Claims 15-18 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Composition with additional compound elected species 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane is free of prior art and the search is extended to other additional compounds of claim 12.
Applicant is reminded that upon the cancellation of claims to a non-elected invention, the inventorship must be amended in compliance with 37 CFR 1.48(b) if one or more of the currently named inventors is no longer an inventor of at least one claim remaining in the application. Any amendment of inventorship must be accompanied by a request under 37 CFR 1.48(b) and by the fee required under 37 CFR 1.17(i).
Claims 10-14 are under current examination.
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 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 10-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Asahi (CN105753634; as provided by the applicant on IDs dated 11/27/2023).
Asahi discloses an azeotropic composition comprising chlorotrifluoroethylene (CFO1113) (such as in amount 90%, 86%, 84%, 76% etc.,) 1,1,2-trifluoroethane (HFC-143) (10%, 14%, 16%, 24%) (reads on compositions of 10, 11, 13 and 14 with respect to at most 20% of 1,12-trifluoroethane and at most 50% by weight of 1,1-difluoroethane) with boiling point between -5 to +20C at a pressure of ~1x105 pa (=1 bar, same as in the instant claim 11) with or without other fluorine containing compounds (entire prior art, especially tables and examples). The cited prior art discloses that the composition may contain other fluorine containing compounds with examples of 1-chloro-1,1,2-trifluoroethane (HCFC-133b) (entire prior art, especially tables and examples; for instance, example 1). The cited prior art further discloses that amounts of chlorotrifluoroethylene (CFO1113) and 1,1,2-trifluoroethane (HFC-143) may be adjusted.
Since the cited prior art reads on all the limitations of the instant claims 10-14, these claims are anticipated.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PANCHAM BAKSHI whose telephone number is (571)270-3463. The examiner can normally be reached M-Thu 7-4.30 EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Milligan Adam can be reached at 571-2707674. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PANCHAM BAKSHI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1623
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