DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-12 in the reply filed on 21 July 2026 is acknowledged. Claims 13-20 are withdrawn from consideration as being drawn to a non-elected invention.
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 1-2, 7 and 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Verma et al “Utilization of Brine Sludge and Fly Ash Waste as Complementary Resources, for Making Non-toxic, Geopolymeric (Cement-Free) Materials”.
The reference teaches, in the abstract, and Section 2 Materials and Methods, the use of brine sludge and fly ash to produce geopolymer paver blocks and bricks. See especially Section 2.2 – 2.4 of the reference.
The instant claims are met by the reference.
As for claim 1, as the reference teaches the use of a brine sludge to produce a molded geopolymer composition it is seen to meet the claimed limitations. That is, the resulting molded brick or paver block would have some brine embedded within the geopolymer framework absent evidence showing otherwise.
As for claim 2, the fly ash meets the silicon aluminum raw material and the sodium hydroxide and sodium metasilicate meets the activator solution (section 2.1.2 – 2.1.4).
As for claim 7, the reference teaches sodium hydroxide and sodium metasilicate (sodium silicate).
As for claim 11, the reference teaches bricks and paver blocks.
As for claim 12, the reference teaches a brick which can be considered to be a decorative item.
Claims 1 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by China Patent Specification No. CN 113003988 A.
The reference teaches, in the abstract, and the examples, the formation of a geopolymer using sea water. The composition is injected into an artificial fish reef mould and removed to from an ecological artificial fish reef.
The instant claims are met by the reference.
As for claim 1, the reference teaches the use of a sea water to produce a molded geopolymer composition it is seen to meet the claimed limitations. That is, the resulting molded reef would have some sea water embedded within the geopolymer framework absent evidence showing otherwise.
As for claim 2, the fly ash and slag meets the silicon aluminum raw material and the and the MgO and NaOH (see embodiments) meets the activator solution.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-6 and 8-10 are 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.
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
ajg August 25, 2026
