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 with traverse of group I, claims 1-8, 10, and 13-15 in the reply filed on 29 June 2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that Gleasman does not disclose the amount of the ionic salt, the hydroxide, and/or the acid is sufficient to cause the activating composition to form a separate phase after the activated aluminum reacts with the water. This is not found persuasive because it appears that Kelley (US 2022/0305483) and Lopez (WO 2020/223489) teaches the corresponding technical feature. See rejection below. Therefore, the restriction requirement is maintained.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claims 16-23, 25, 27, 29, and 31-32 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected group II, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 29 June 2026.
Response to Amendment
The Amendment filed 29 June 2026 has been entered. Claims 1 and 16 are amended. Accordingly, claims 1-8, 10, 13-23, 25, 27, 29, and 31-32 remain pending in the application with claims 1-8, 10, and 13-15 considered in this Office Action.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statements filed 02/13/2025, 04/16/2025, and 06/29/2026 have been considered.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-5, 10, and 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as anticipated by Kelley (US 2022/0305483).
Regarding Claim 1, Kelley discloses a method of producing hydrogen gas, comprising: reacting activated aluminum (activated aluminum meets the limitation of an activated aluminum composition) comprising aluminum combined with gallium and/or indium (gallium and/or indium meet the limitation of an activating composition per pg. 5, line 2 of the Specification) with an aqueous solution comprising water in a reaction vessel (reaction vessel meets the limitation of a reaction chamber) to produce hydrogen gas and byproducts (byproducts meets the limitation of one or more reaction products; [0008], [0020]). Kelley further discloses other solvents (e.g. acids) may be present in the aqueous solution [0032]. Kelley further discloses using a water-soluble acid to decrease the pH of the solution and neutralize the hydroxides [0035], such that the solution of Kelley comprises an acid. Kelley further discloses phase separation of the activating material (phase separation of the activating material meets the limitation of forming a separate phase including the activating composition after reacting the activated aluminum with the water) from an aqueous solution to improve recovery of the activating material, wherein the phase separated activating material has a density greater than that of the surrounding solution, such that at least a portion of the activating material sinks to a bottom of the solution relative to a local direction of gravity [0032].
Kelley is silent to the amount of the acid being sufficient to cause the activating composition to form a separate phase after the activated aluminum reacts with the water.
Kelley, however, discloses the presence of an acid ([0032], [0035]) and forming a separate phase including the activating composition after reacting the activated aluminum with the water [0032], such that the limitation wherein the amount of the acid being sufficient to cause the activating composition to form a separate phase after the activated aluminum reacts with the water is necessarily present, absent a showing to the contrary.
Regarding Claim 2, Kelley discloses dropping a small pellet of aluminum fuel into the reaction vessel to initiate the reaction [0051], such that the activated aluminum of Kelley was necessarily dispensed from a vessel comprising the activated aluminum (aka a first reservoir) into the reaction chamber prior to reacting.
Regarding Claim 3, Kelley discloses a 400 mL volume of a 0.1 M citric acid buffer in the reaction vessel ([0050]-[0051]), such that the acid was necessarily dispensed from a vessel comprising the acid (aka a second reservoir) into the reaction chamber prior to reacting.
Regarding Claim 4, Kelley discloses a 400 mL volume of a 0.1 M citric acid buffer (0.1 M citric acid buffer comprises water) in the reaction vessel ([0050]-[0051]), such that the water of Kelley was necessarily dispensed from a vessel comprising the water (aka a third reservoir) into the reaction chamber prior to reacting.
Regarding Claim 5, Kelley discloses the activating materials include at least one selected from the group of indium and gallium [0009].
Regarding Claim 10, Kelley discloses the solution comprises an acid [0035].
Regarding Claim 13, Kelley discloses transferring the liquid metal (indium and gallium) to a vial for drying [0052], such that a wetted activated composition (the indium and gallium after the reacting) is maintained after reacting the activated aluminum with the water.
Regarding Claim 14, Kelley discloses the activating metal may pool up or gather into a mass (pooling up or gathering into a mass meets the limitation of forming a separate phase) and may sink the bottom of the reaction vessel, allowing the mass of activating metal to be easily collected (collecting the activating metal meets the limitation of separating the activating composition from one or more reaction products of the activation aluminum and the water), and this mass may be subsequently reused to activate more aluminum [0020].
Regarding Claim 15, Kelley discloses collecting and reusing the activating metal [0020], the activating metal of Kelley is necessarily flowed from the reaction chamber to another vessel (aka a recovery chamber) for the activating metal to be collected.
Claims 1-8, and 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as anticipated by Lopez (WO 2020/223489) as evidenced by NASA (“Salinity”).
An alternative rejection of claim 1 is provided in case Kelley does not qualify as prior art.
Alternatively, regarding claim 1, Lopez discloses a method of producing hydrogen gas, comprising reacting a catalyst composition (catalyst composition contains aluminum and an activating composition and therefore meets the limitation of an activated aluminum composition) including gallium (gallium meets the limitation of an activating composition) and aluminum with a hydrogen containing compound to produce hydrogen gas [0017], wherein the hydrogen containing compound is an aqueous alkaline medium which may be prepared by dissolving alkali metal hydroxides (alkali metal hydroxides meet the limitation of a hydroxide) in water [0049]. Lopez further discloses the reaction taking place in a round-bottom flask (the round-bottom flask is where the reaction takes place and therefore meets the limitation of a reaction chamber; [0069]). Lopez further discloses producing aluminum oxide (aluminum oxide meets the limitation of a reaction product) when reacting aluminum to generate hydrogen ([0005]-[0006]).
Lopez is silent to forming a separate phase including the activating composition after reacting the activated aluminum with the water, wherein the amount of the ionic salt, the hydroxide, and/or the acid is sufficient to cause the activating composition to form a separate phase after the activated aluminum reacts with the water.
Lopez, however, discloses Ga (gallium) may be recovered after the reaction by filtration and recycled to make additional catalyst [0053]. Lopez also teaches using centrifugation to separate the catalyst from the reaction mixture [0077]. Therefore, since the gallium may be separating via filtration or centrifugation, the gallium (aka the activating composition) is necessarily in a separate phase from the reaction mixture after reacting the activated aluminum with the water.
Lopez discloses the presence of a hydroxide [0049], and forming a separate phase of the activating composition after reacting the activated aluminum with the water ([0053], [0077]), such that the limitation wherein the amount of the hydroxide is sufficient to cause the activating composition to form a separate phase after the activated aluminum reacts with the water is necessarily present, absent a showing to the contrary.
Regarding Claim 2, Lopez discloses a nugget of the alloy (aka the catalyst comprising aluminum and gallium; [0004]-[0005]) was placed in the round-bottom flask (aka the reaction chamber) prior at adding deionized water, causing hydrogen gas to evolve [0069], such that the activated aluminum of Lopez was necessarily dispensed from a vessel comprising the alloy (aka a first reservoir) into the reaction chamber prior to reacting.
Regarding Claim 3, Lopez a nugget of the alloy (aka the catalyst comprising aluminum and gallium; [0004]-[0005]) was placed in the round-bottom flask (aka the reaction chamber), and then the deionized water was added to the round-bottom flask, causing hydrogen gas to evolve [0069], wherein other water sources may be used [0071], such as an aqueous alkaline medium which may be prepared by dissolving alkali metal hydroxides (alkali metal hydroxides meet the limitation of a hydroxide) in water [0049]. Therefore, the hydroxide of Lopez was necessarily dispensed from a vessel comprising the hydroxide (aka a second reservoir) into the reaction chamber prior to reacting.
Regarding Claim 4, Lopez a nugget of the alloy (aka the catalyst comprising aluminum and gallium; [0004]-[0005]) was placed in the round-bottom flask (aka the reaction chamber), and then the deionized water was added to the round-bottom flask, causing hydrogen gas to evolve [0069], such that the water of Lopez was necessarily dispensed from a vessel comprising the water (aka a third reservoir) into the reaction chamber prior to reacting.
Regarding Claim 5, Lopez discloses the catalyst composition includes gallium [0017].
Regarding Claim 6, Lopez discloses the water may be saltwater or ocean water [0018].
NASA teaches the major constituents in ocean water (aka seawater) are sodium and chloride, that is, dissolved sodium chlorite (par. 1-2 and 5).
Therefore, the saltwater or ocean water of Lopez comprises sodium chloride, which is an ionic salt.
Regarding Claim 7, Lopez discloses the water may be saltwater or ocean water [0018].
NASA teaches the major constituents in ocean water (aka seawater) are sodium and chloride, that is, dissolved sodium chloride (par. 1-2 and 5).
Therefore, the saltwater or ocean water of Lopez comprises sodium chloride.
Regarding Claim 8, Lopez discloses the aqueous alkaline medium comprises alkali metal hydroxides (alkali metal hydroxides meet the limitation of a hydroxide) [0049].
Regarding Claim 13, Lopez discloses the gallium (the activating composition) is separated from the reaction mixture by filtration [0053] or centrifugation [0077], such that a wetted activated composition (the gallium after the reacting and prior to the separating) is maintained after reacting the activated aluminum with the water.
Regarding Claim 14, Lopez discloses Ga (gallium) may be recovered after the reaction by filtration and recycled to make additional catalyst [0053]. Lopez also teaches using centrifugation to separate the catalyst from the reaction mixture [0077]. Therefore, the activating composition of Lopez is separated via filtration or centrifugation from one or more reaction products of the activated aluminum and the water.
Regarding Claim 15, Lopez discloses Ga (gallium) may be recovered after the reaction by filtration and recycled to make additional catalyst [0053]. Lopez also teaches using centrifugation to separate the catalyst from the reaction mixture [0077]. Therefore, the gallium of Lopez is necessarily flowed from the reaction chamber to another vessel (aka a recovery chamber).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kelley (US 2022/0305483).
An alternative rejection of claim 3 is provided in case the reservoir for the acid and the water are different reservoirs.
Alternatively, regarding Claim 3, Kelley teaches the elements as described above with regards to claim 1.
Kelley discloses a 400 mL volume of a 0.1 M citric acid buffer in the reaction vessel ([0050]-[0051]), such that the acid was necessarily dispensed from a vessel comprising the acid (aka a second reservoir) into the reaction chamber prior to reacting.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Kelley to dispense the acid from a second reservoir and the water from a third reservoir to form a 0.1 M citric acid buffer in the reaction chamber, instead of dispensing the 0.1 M citric acid solution from the reservoir, because selection of any order of performing process steps is prima facie obvious in the absence of new or unexpected results (MPEP 2144.04 IV C).
Claims 6-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kelley (US 2022/0305483) in view of Lopez (WO 2020/223489) as evidenced by NASA (“Salinity”).
Regarding Claim 6, Kelley teaches the elements as described above with regards to claim 1.
Kelley is silent to the solution comprising an ionic salt.
Lopez discloses a method of producing hydrogen gas, comprising reacting a catalyst composition (catalyst composition contains aluminum and an activating composition and therefore meets the limitation of an activated aluminum composition) including gallium (gallium meets the limitation of an activating composition) and aluminum with a hydrogen containing compound to produce hydrogen gas [0017], wherein the hydrogen containing compound is an aqueous alkaline medium which may be prepared by dissolving alkali metal hydroxides (alkali metal hydroxides meet the limitation of a hydroxide) in water [0049]. Lopez further discloses the water may be saltwater or ocean water [0018].
NASA teaches the major constituents in ocean water (aka seawater) are sodium and chloride, that is, dissolved sodium chlorite (par. 1-2 and 5).
Therefore, the saltwater or ocean water of Lopez comprises sodium chloride, which is an ionic salt.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Kelley to incorporate the teachings of Lopez wherein the solution comprises an ionic salt, because using saltwater or ocean water as the water for reacting with aluminum is a process parameter well-known in the art of producing hydrogen by reacting activated aluminum with water, as recognized by Lopez.
Regarding Claim 7, Lopez further discloses the water may be saltwater or ocean water [0018].
NASA teaches the major constituents in ocean water (aka seawater) are sodium and chloride, that is, dissolved sodium chlorite (par. 1-2 and 5).
Therefore, the saltwater or ocean water of Lopez comprises sodium chloride.
Regarding Claim 8, Kelley is silent to the solution comprising a hydroxide.
Lopez discloses a method of producing hydrogen gas, comprising reacting a catalyst composition (catalyst composition contains aluminum and an activating composition and therefore meets the limitation of an activated aluminum composition) including gallium (gallium meets the limitation of an activating composition) and aluminum with a hydrogen containing compound to produce hydrogen gas [0017], wherein the hydrogen containing compound is an aqueous alkaline medium which may be prepared by dissolving alkali metal hydroxides (alkali metal hydroxides meet the limitation of a hydroxide) in water [0049].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Kelley to incorporate the teachings of Lopez wherein the solution comprising a hydroxide, because using a solution comprising water and a hydroxide is a process parameter well-known in the art of producing hydrogen by reacting activated aluminum with the water, as recognized by Lopez.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lopez (WO 2020/223489).
An alternative rejection of claim 3 is provided in case the reservoir for the hydroxide and the water are different reservoirs.
Alternatively, regarding Claim 3, Lopez teaches the elements as described above with regards to claim 1.
Lopez a nugget of the alloy (aka the catalyst comprising aluminum and gallium; [0004]-[0005]) was placed in the round-bottom flask (aka the reaction chamber), and then the deionized water was added to the round-bottom flask, causing hydrogen gas to evolve [0069], wherein other water sources may be used [0071], such as an aqueous alkaline medium which may be prepared by dissolving alkali metal hydroxides (alkali metal hydroxides meet the limitation of a hydroxide) in water [0049]. Therefore, the hydroxide of Lopez was necessarily dispensed from a vessel comprising the hydroxide (aka a second reservoir) into the reaction chamber prior to reacting.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Lopez to dispense the hydroxide from a second reservoir and the water from a third reservoir to dissolve the hydroxide in the reaction chamber, instead of dispensing the aqueous solution comprising the hydroxide dissolved in water from the reservoir, because selection of any order of performing process steps is prima facie obvious in the absence of new or unexpected results (MPEP 2144.04 IV C).
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lopez (WO 2020/223489) in view of McKay (US 2013/0276769).
Regarding Claim 10, Lopez teaches the elements as described above with regards to claim 1.
Lopez is silent to the solution comprising an acid.
McKay discloses a method of producing hydrogen gas, comprising reacting a liquid alloy of gallium and aluminum with water to produce hydrogen gas and aluminum oxide [0025]. McKay further discloses a small amount of acid may be added to the fluid stream to speed the oxidation reaction (that is, the oxidation of aluminum; see [0051]) [0041].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Lopez to incorporate the teachings of McKay wherein the solution comprises an acid in order to speed the oxidation reaction, as recognized by McKay [0041].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SLONE ELZABETH SIMKINS whose telephone number is (571)272-3214. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:30AM-4:30PM.
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, KEITH WALKER can be reached at (571)272-3458. 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.
/S.E.S./Examiner, Art Unit 1735
/PAUL A WARTALOWICZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1735
Prosecution Insights