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 .
Applicants’ Preliminary Amendment, filed on February 28, 2024, has been made of record and entered. In this amendment, the Title has been amended, and claims 3 and 18 have been amended to eliminate multiple claim dependency.
No claims have been canceled or added; claims 1-20 are presently pending in this application.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Applicants’ Priority Document was filed on February 28, 2024.
Claim Objections
Claims 8, 9, 11, and 12 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In (a) line 5 of claim 8, (b) line 5 of claim 11, and (c) line 3 of claim 19, "(in Formula (1)," should be amended to recite, "wherein in Formula (1),".
In (a) line 5 of claim 9, (b) line 5 of claim 12, and (c) line 4 of claim 20, "(in Formula (1-1)," Should be amended to recite , "wherein in Formula (1-1),".
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 10 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 10 is indefinite for lacking antecedent basis for the limitation “with a ligand being L”. Claims 1-4, from which claim 10 directly or indirectly depends, do not recite any limitations regarding a ligand.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-9 and 11-20 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claims 1-9 and 11-20 are allowable, as the prior art of record does not teach or suggest a carbon dioxide adsorbent comprising a metal organic framework, wherein the metal organic framework exhibits a three-dimensional framework having isolated voids formed in the inside thereof, such that, although the three-dimensional structure of the framework changes during the process where carbon dioxide is captured within isolated voids and the process where carbon dioxide is released from isolated voids, the three-dimensional structure of the metal-organic framework when carbon dioxide is captured within the isolated voids is the same as when carbon dioxide is not captured within the isolated voids.
While metal organic frameworks and carbon dioxide adsorbents comprising said metal organic frameworks are known in the art, the claimed features of (a) the three-dimensional structure of the framework changing during the process where carbon dioxide is captured within isolated voids and the process where carbon dioxide is released from isolated voids, and (b) the three-dimensional structure of the metal-organic framework when carbon dioxide is captured within the isolated voids being the same as when carbon dioxide is not captured within the isolated voids is not known, taught, or suggested by the prior art.
Exemplary prior art includes Inubushi et al. (U. S. Patent Publication No. 2014/0190436 and U. S. Patent No. 9,192,913) and Ladewig et al. (U. S. Patent Publication No. 2015/0190784), which teach metal organic frameworks employed as gas adsorbent materials, but do not teach or suggest Applicants’ aforementioned features (a) and (b).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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/Patricia L. Hailey/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1732 June 18, 2026
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