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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Status of Application
1. This application was filed on 03/27/2024.
This application is a 371 of PCT/US22/79127, which was filed on 11/02/2022, which has Provisional of 63265512, which was filed on 12/16/2021.
Claims 1-15 were originally presented in this application for examination.
Claims 1-15 are currently pending in this application and under consideration.
Information Disclosure Statement
2. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/27/2024 has been made of record. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
An initialed copy of the IDS accompanies this O.A.
Specification
3. The examiner has not checked the specification to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors (grammatical, typographical, and idiomatic). Cooperation of the applicant(s) is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant(s) may become aware of in the specification, in the claims and in any further amendment(s) that applicant(s) may file.
Applicant(s) is also requested to complete the status of the copending applications referred to in the specification by their Attorney Docket Number or Application Serial Number, if any.
The status of the parent application(s) and/or any other application(s) cross-referenced to this application, if any, should be updated in a timely manner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 (Second Paragraph)
4. 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 3-9 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.
A. Regarding claim 3, the instant claim improperly depends on multiple claims (claim 1 & claim 2).
B. Regarding claim 4, line 1, line 4, & line 6 of step c), the phrase “heavies” in the claim is unclear as to what Applicants intended.
*Claims 5-9 are rejected because they depend on rejected claim 4 and they do not appear to cure the indefiniteness.
Allowable Subject Matter
5. Claims 1-15 are allowable over the prior art made of record. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
*Claims 3-9 would be allowed if the rejections under 35 U.S.C 112 (Second Paragraph) are overcome.
The instant claims 1-15 are directed to a compound, a transition metal complex hydroformylation catalytic precursor composition, its use in hydroformylation process and separation process of one or more heavies from a hydroformylation reaction product fluid, wherein the compound has a chemical formula, as recited in the instant claim 1.
Structurally and compositionally, the cited references are considered to be the most relevant prior art that teach a compound comprising a monophosphite ligand, a catalyst comprising a transition metal complex composition comprising monophosphite ligand, and process of using compound thereof in hydroformylation processes, however they do not appear to disclose or fairly suggest a compound having a formula, wherein R¹-R⁵ are the same or different and are H or an alkyl moiety, wherein R⁶ is H, alkyl, aryl, O-R⁷, -N(R⁸)₂ and O(CH₂CH₂)₂OR⁸ moieties, wherein R⁷ is an alkyl or an aryl moiety, and wherein R⁸ is H, alkyl, or aryl moieties.
There is no motivation to combine the teachings of the prior art references together to arrive to the claimed invention.
Citations
6. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. All references are cited for related art. See PTO-892 Form prepared.
The following references are related to monophosphite compounds, transition metal complex comprising compounds thereof, and a process for hydroformylation of olefins using compounds thereof, etc.
US 9,221,850 B2
US 9,212,195 B2
US 9,221,851 B2
US 9,605,010 B2
US 9,605,011 B2
US 2006/0159718 A1
US 2016/0159837 A1
US 2016/0159838 A1
The following references are related to a hydroformylation process using a transition metal and a phosphite-based ligand complex hydroformylation catalyst.
US 7,863,487 B2
US 9,382,180 B2
US 11,185,852 B2
US 2015/0336861 A1
US 2021/0039079 A1
Conclusion
7. Claims 1-15 are pending. Claims 3-9 are rejected. Claims 1-2 & 10-15 are allowed.
Contacts
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Primary Examiner CAM N. NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-1357. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F (8:30 am – 5:00 pm) at alternative worksite or at cam.nguyen@uspto.gov.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anthony Zimmer, can be reached at 571-270-3591. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Cam N. Nguyen/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1736
/CNN/
October 14, 2026
