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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 7-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chakraborty US 2014/0322622.
Regarding claim 7, Charaborty teaches a process for producing a Ru/Al2O3 catalyst for ammonia decomposition, the method comprising the steps of preparing a mixture containing ethylene glycol, hydrated ruthenium chloride, and alumina pellets, heating and reacting the mixture in a silicone oil bath, and conducting drying; the proportion of active precursor is within the range of 1 to 20 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight metal oxide (Examples); the mixture may be heated to 180 deg. C (Example 1); a catalyst obtained by the production method; and a method for decomposing ammonia into nitrogen and hydrogen by using the catalyst (see abstract, claims 1 and 16, and example 1).
Charaborty does not say that the mixture contains water. However, instant claim 7 is a product-by-process claim. “[E]ven though product-by-process claims are limited by and defined by the process, determination of patentability is based on the product itself. The patentability of a product does not depend on its method of production. If the product in the product-by-process claim is the same … the claim is unpatentable even though the prior product was made by a different process.” In re Thorpe, 777 F.2d 695, 698, 227 USPQ 964, 966 (Fed. Cir. 1985). The product of Charaborty is the same as the instant product because it has the same composition and shows the beneficial results of a high ammonia conversion rate (compare paragraph [0043] of Charaborty with paragraph [0032] of instant specification).
Regarding claim 8, the catalyst may be 2% active material such as ruthenium (Example 1).
Conclusion
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/JAMES A FIORITO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1731