DETAILED ACTION
Final
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 .
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on 06/15/2026 is entered and acknowledged by the Examiner. Claims 1-2 and 4 have been amended. Claims 12-15 have been canceled. New claim 16 has been added. Claims 1-11 and 16 are currently pending in the instant application.
The objection of the specification is withdrawn in view of Applicant’s newly filed specification on 06/15/2026.
The rejection of claims 1-8 under 35 U.S.C. 112 (b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite is withdrawn in view of Applicant’s amendment.
The rejection of claims 1-2 and 7-11 under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Toma (US 2018/0190978 A1) is withdrawn in view of Applicant’s amendment.
The rejection of claims 3-6 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Toma (US 2018/0190978 A1) is withdrawn in view of Applicant’s amendment.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection set forth below.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 9 are objected to because of the following informalities:
At claim 1, in lines 9 and 19, recites “Mg” element twice times. Applicant is suggested to delete one.
At claim 9, in lines 9 and 19, recites “Mg” element twice times. Applicant is suggested to delete one.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-11 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Toma (US 2018/0190978 A1) in view of WO 2020/207901 A1 (an English equivalent to US 2022/0194814 A1, hereinafter Beierling, will be applied).
Toma is relied upon as set forth in the previous Office action mailed on 04/09/2026.
Toma failed to disclose the stirred tank reactor of step (b) and the stirred tank reactor of step (c) are each equipped with a solid-liquid separation device as recited in amended claims 1.
In the same field of endeavor, Beierling discloses a method of preparing a mixed hydroxide of TM where TM comprises Ni and at least one of Co and Mn and optionally Al, Mg, Zr or Ti (See Abstract). Beierling further discloses that the method comprises a vessel equipped with a clarifier to separate mother liquid from precipitated mixed metal hydroxide of TM (See [0086]) and a step of solid-liquid separation such as filtering, and drying under inert gas or air to obtain a particulate mixed hydroxide from an aqueous slurry (See [0086] and [0087]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the method of Toma to include equip the reaction vessel of Tome with a solid-liquid separation device (clarifier) in order to separate mother liquid from precipitated mixed metal hydroxide of TM and obtain a particulate mixed hydroxide from an aqueous slurry. The burden is upon the applicant to prove otherwise. In re Fitzgerald, 205 USPQ 594.
In view of the foregoing, the above claims have failed to patentably distinguish over the applied art.
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claim(s) above have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KHANH TUAN NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-8082. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Angela Brown-Pettigrew can be reached at (571) 272-2817. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KHANH T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1761
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