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 .
Claims 1-11, 13 and 15-22 are pending
Abstract
Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure.
The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details.
The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided.
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because all three sentences start with the implied phrases “The present disclosure provides…” or “The present disclosure also provides…”. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
Specification
The use of the terms “vulcan” and “nafion”, which are each a trade name or a mark used in commerce, has been noted in this application, particularly in paragraphs 0065-0066 and 0097. The term should be accompanied by the generic terminology; furthermore the term should be capitalized wherever it appears or, where appropriate, include a proper symbol indicating use in commerce such as ™, SM, or ® following the term.
Although the use of trade names and marks used in commerce (i.e., trademarks, service marks, certification marks, and collective marks) are permissible in patent applications, the proprietary nature of the marks should be respected and every effort made to prevent their use in any manner which might adversely affect their validity as commercial marks.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-2, 4, 7 and 17 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 1, line 4, “in 202 plane” should read “in a 202 plane”
In claim 2, lines 1-2, “in tetragonal” should read “in a tetragonal”.
In claim 4, line 7, “precursor is taken” should read “precursor are taken”.
In claim 7, line 5, “carbon is in” should read “carbon are in”.
In claim 17, line 2, “graphite rod”, “saturated” and “mercury/mercuric” should read “a graphite rod”, “a saturated” and “a mercury/mercuric”.
In claim 17, line 3, “is reversible” should read “is a reversible”.
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.
Claim 9 is 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.
Claim 9 contains the trademarks/trade names “vulcan” and “nafion”. Where a trademark or trade name is used in a claim as a limitation to identify or describe a particular material or product, the claim does not comply with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph. See Ex parte Simpson, 218 USPQ 1020 (Bd. App. 1982). The claim scope is uncertain since the trademark or trade name cannot be used properly to identify any particular material or product. A trademark or trade name is used to identify a source of goods, and not the goods themselves. Thus, a trademark or trade name does not identify or describe the goods associated with the trademark or trade name. In the present case, the trademarks/trade names are used to identify/describe a specific activated carbon and a specific binder, accordingly, the identification/description is indefinite.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-8, 10-11, 13 and 15-22 contain allowable subject matter.
Claim 9 would be allowable if rewritten 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 and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art does not disclose nor render obvious all of the cumulative limitations of claim(s) 1 with special attention given to the limitation claiming “wherein Pt3Ge has a single crystallographic facet oriented in 202 plane”. The closest prior art is Li et al. (EP 3599293 A1), Lim et al. (“Synthesis of germanium–platinum nanoparticles as high-performance catalysts for spray-deposited large-area dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) and the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER)”, Nanoscale, 2018), and Porter et al. (“Shape-Control and Electrocatalytic Activity-Enhancement of Pt-Based Bimetallic Nanocrystals”, Acc. Chem. Res., 2013).
Li teaches binary PtxAy intermetallic compounds such as Pt3Ge suitable for use as electrocatalysts for HER (see e.g. Li Abstract Paragraph 0018), where the compound may be in single crystalline form (see e.g. Li Paragraph 0025 and Claim 7). However, Li does not provide any specific examples of Pt3Ge being single crystalline or of any of the compounds having single crystalline orientation in the 202 plane.
Lim teaches GePt3 nanoparticles as catalysts for HER (see e.g. Lim Abstract). However, these nanoparticles have multiple exposed facets, none of which correspond to the 202 plane (see e.g. Lim Fig. 2a and Page 16659, connecting paragraph of Cols. 1-2).
Porter more broadly teaches shape controlled Pt-M bimetallic nanocrystal catalysts which can be grown with directed crystallographic facets by careful selection of the metal precursor, capping ligand, reducing agent and solvent (see e.g. Porter Abstract). However, no mention is made of Ge as the metal combined with Pt, and none of the Pt-M bimetallic catalysts are prepared and/or described with facets in the 202 plane.
There is no teaching or motivation that makes providing the Pt3Ge with a single crystallographic facet in the 202 plane obvious.
Conclusion
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/M.S.J./Examiner, Art Unit 1795
/LUAN V VAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1795
