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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 19 is objected to because of the following informalities: In line 1, “process of claim 13” should read –process of claim 13, –. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The term “efficient” in claims 1 and 13 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “efficient” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. It is unclear what and would not be considered efficient, which renders the metes and bounds of the claims indefinite.
Claims 1 and 13 recite the limitation “critical material recovery,” which renders the claims indefinite, because it is unclear what materials are considered “critical.”
Claims 2-12 are dependent on claim 1 and are thus rejected for the same reasons. Claims 14-20 are dependent on claim 13 and are thus also rejected for the same reasons detailed above.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-20 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claims 1 and 13, the prior art fails to disclose or fairly suggest the processes as recited. In particular, the closest prior art, Klemettinen et al. (KLEMETTINEN, et al., "Leaching of Rare Earth Elements from NdFeB Magnets without Mechanical Pretreatment by Sulfuric (H2SO4) and Hydrochloric (HCI) Acids", Minerals 2021, 11, 1374, 6 December 2021, pages 1-18.), as cited in the IDS dated 5/20/2024, hereinafter “Klemettinen,” teaches process of rare earth material recovery from an NdFeB rare earth magnet, the process comprising demagnetizing the rare earth magnet, crushing and milling the rare earth magnet, leaching the rare earth magnet, and precipitating the rare earth magnet (p. 3, Figure 1). However, Klemettinen fails to teach or adequately suggest wherein the leaching process extracts rare earth element phosphates, as required by claims 1 and 13, and further fails to teach or adequately suggest wherein the precipitation process extracts rare earth element sulfates, as required by claim 1. Thus, claims 1 and 13 are distinct over the teachings of the prior art. Claims 2-12 further limit the subject matter of claim 1 and are thus also distinct over the teachings of the prior art. Claims 14-20 further limit the subject matter of claim 13 and are thus also distinct over the teachings of the prior art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANTHONY M LIANG whose telephone number is (571)272-0483. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:00am-5:00pm.
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/ANTHONY M LIANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1734
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