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 1-7) in the reply filed on 9/17/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that all claims in Inventions II-VII require the same specifically claimed two-dimensional particle. A search directed to that particle and its claimed properties would therefore be pertinent across all of those claims. A combination and subcombination are not distinct where the combination as claimed requires the particulars of the separately claimed subcombination. Claims 8-14 do precisely that. The alleged separate use of the particle as a corrosion inhibitor therefore does not establish distinctness between claim 1 and claims 8-14. This is not found persuasive because as stated in the previous office action, Inventions I and (II, III, IV, V, VI, or VII) are related as mutually exclusive species in an intermediate-final product relationship. Distinctness is proven for claims in this relationship if the intermediate product is useful to make other than the final product, and the species are patentably distinct (MPEP § 806.05(j)). In the instant case, the intermediate product is deemed to be useful as corrosion inhibitor and the inventions are deemed patentably distinct because there is nothing of record to show them to be obvious variants. In addition, they have acquired a separate status in the art in view of their different classification; the inventions have acquired a separate status in the art due to their recognized divergent subject matter; the inventions require a different field of search; and the prior art applicable to one invention would not likely be applicable to another invention. Therefore, there is a burden on the Examiner to search all groups.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claims 8-16 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to nonelected Groups.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 5/8/2024 and 1/23/2026 have been considered by the examiner. Initialed copies accompany this action.
Drawings
The Drawings filed 3/20/2024 are approved by the examiner.
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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 3, 6 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ghidiu et al (Chem. Mater. 2016, 28, 3507−3514).
Regarding claims 1, 3, and 7 Ghidiu discloses transition metal carbides and nitrides (MXenes) 2D materials Ti3C2Tx (T stands for surface termination) and found that the resulting MXene has Li+ cations in the interlayer space and exchanged the Li+ cations with K+, Na+, wherein a content of Li in the two-dimensional particle is less than 0.002% by mass wherein a total content of Na and K is not less than 0.1% by mass and not more than 10% by mass (Table S1, S3 and S5).
Regarding claim 6, Ghidiu discloses the metal cation is on the one or more layers (results and discussion, page 3511).
Claims 2, 4 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ghidiu et al (Chem. Mater. 2016, 28, 3507−3514) as applied above, further in view of Huang et al (WO2020114196).
Regarding claim 2, Ghidiu discloses MXenes materials described above and is incorporated herein by reference. Ghidiu does not disclose a content of chlorine atoms in the MXene material is 3% by mass or more in a sum of the layer and the metal cation. Huang discloses MXene contain Cl as a surface group, which is better chemical and thermal stability than traditional MXenes with F as surface groups. The Cl content is more than 3% by mass (para 0070, 0093, Fig. 2b, 7b). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the surface of MXene material of Ghidiu with chlorine as taught by Huang because Huang discloses that MXene materials with surface groups consisting entirely -Cl exhibit better chemical stability and electronic transport properties, and their performance in applications such as energy storage is superior to that of MXene materials with surface groups of -F (para 0060).
Regarding claims 4 and 5, Ghidiu discloses a value of lengths of major axes of the material is not less than 1 µm and not more than 20 µm (Figure S3) but does not disclose the average lengths and thickness. Huang discloses MXene materials have the lateral dimension of the sheet structure is 5nm to 50μm, and the thickness of a single sheet is 0.5 to 20nm (para 0048). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to recognize that the MXene materials of Ghidiu would also have the lateral dimension of the sheet structure is 5nm to 50μm, and the thickness of a single sheet is 0.5 to 20 nm.
Conclusion
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/HAIDUNG D NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1761
9/30/2026
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