DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-2 are pending
Claims 1-2 are rejected
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statement
2. It is noted that in both IDS filed 3/14/2024 and IDS filed 3/12/2024, the publication date of each foreign patent documents is missing. In order to further compact prosecution, the examiner annotated the publication date of each foreign patent documents in the three IDS, and all references in the three IDS have been considered.
Claim Objections
3. Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
4. In order to provide further clarity, it is suggested to amend “10-15 wt.% (in terms of polyvinyl alcohol) by weight of LiCl·2Al (OH)3,” to “10-15 wt. % by weight of LiCl·2Al(OH)3, in terms of polyvinyl alcohol,” in claim 1 - lines 11-12.
5. In order to provide further clarity, it is suggested to amend “rounded (spherical) shape” “rounded, spherical shape” in claim 1 - line 16. Appropriate corrections are needed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
6. 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.
7. Claims 1 and 2 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.
8. Claim 1 recites the limitation "the mixed solution" in lines 6 and 8. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
9. Claim 1 recites the limitation “the obtained DHAL-Cl slurry (emphasis added)” in line 9. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
10. Claim 1 recites the limitation “the reaction mixture” in lines 9-10. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
11. Claim 1 recites the limitation “the DHAL-Cl slurry (emphasis added)” in line 10. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
12. Claim 1 recites the limitation “the polyvinyl alcohol aqueous solution” in lines 10-11. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
13. Claim 1 recites the limitation “the resulting mixture” in line 15. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
14. Claim 1 recites "paste-like" in line 15. However, it is unclear what is meant by paste-like or what would be considered “like” a paste.
15. Claim 1 recites the limitation "the granules" in lines 16-17 and 18. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
16. Claim 1 recites the limitation “the sorbent” in line 19. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
17. Claim 1 recites the limitation “the granulated sorbent” in line 20. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Specifically, “the granulated sorbent” in claim 1, second to the last line is before becoming the “granulated sorbent” in claim 1, line 1. Therefore, this term lacks of antecedent basis.
18. Regarding dependent claim 2, this claim does not remedy the deficiencies of parent claim 1 noted above, and is rejected for the same rationale.
19. Claim 2 recites the phrase "preferably" that renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation following the phrase are part of the claimed invention.
20. Claim 2 recites, “3-5%”. However, it is unclear what “%” refers to, e.g., wt. %, vol%, mol%, etc. The examiner interprets “%” refers to wt. %”. If the interpretation was correct, it is advised to amend “%” to “wt.%” and to provide support, in order to avoid being subjected to new matter issue. Clarifications are requested.
Allowable Subject Matter
21. Claims 1-2 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
22. The present claims are allowable subject matter over the “closest” prior art Riabtsev et al. (US 20200129955 A1) (Riabtsev).
23. Regarding claim 1, Riabtsev teaches a method for the preparation of granular sorbent based on LiCl2Al(OH)3 · nH2O for lithium recovery from lithium-containing brines (Riabtsev, Abstract);
wherein a preparation of a powder of LiCl2Al(OH)3 H2O (DHAL-Cl) is obtained from aluminum chloride solution (Riabtsev, Claim 2);
wherein an alkaline reagent is added (Riabtsev, Claim 2) and the alkaline reagent is sodium hydroxide (Riabtsev, Claim 3);
wherein the aluminum chloride solution comprises a concentration of aluminum chloride in the solution from 45 to 220 kg/m3 (Riabtsev, Claim 2) and an atomic ratio of Al:Li from 2.0 to 2.3, which fall within the claimed ranges.
Riabtsev further teaches dry DHAL-Cl is dried (Riabtsev, [0056]) and is added to a chlorinated polyvinyl chloride powder and organic solvent to form a homogenous paste wherein the paste is extruded (i.e. extruding) (Riabtsev, [0057]).
Riabtsev further teaches the extrudate is brought into countercurrent contact with the air stream heated to 120-130° C to evaporate organochlorine solvent (i.e. drying the mixture to a paste) known as degassing (Riabtsev, [0033])
wherein the degassed extrudate (Riabtsev, [0057]) is crushed to give DHAL-Cl granules that are pelletized (i.e. pelletizing the extrudate) to give granules with a round shape (Riabtsev, [0058]).
24. However, Riabtsev does not explicitly disclose (a) characterized in that the pH of the mixed solution is 4-5, (b) instead of separating the obtained DHAL-Cl slurry from the mixed solution followed by its drying, the DHAL-Cl slurry is mixed with the polyvinyl alcohol aqueous solution, (c) the polyvinyl aqueous solution in an amount of 10-15% by weight of LiCl · Al(OH)3, (d) well stirring the mixture at a temperature of 60-80°C until a smooth mass is obtained, (e) heat-treating the granules at 105-120 °C for 12-24 hours to form an insoluble carbon frame, and (f) washing the granulated sorbent with water prior to its use for lithium sorption, to remove sodium chloride. Specifically, Riabtsev teaches (a) the pH is adjusted to 6-7 (Riabtsev, Claim 3), (b) separation of the powder DHAL-Cl from the obtained solution occurs by centrifugation followed by drying of the powder DHAL-Cl (Riabtsev, Abstract), (c) the DHAL-Cl the sorbent powder is mixed with PVC resin (Riabtsev, [0014]) (d) no stirring of the mixture occurs, (e) the DHAL-Cl granules (Riabtsev, [0058]) do not undergo a heat-treatment, and (f) the DHAL-Cl granules are packed into drums (Riabtsev, [0058]) without washing.
Conclusion
25. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Remy Frederic Lalisse whose telephone number is (571)272-1819. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 10:00 - 5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ching-Yiu Fung can be reached at (571)270-5713. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/R.F.L./Examiner, Art Unit 1732
/CORIS FUNG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1732
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