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 03/30/2026 is entered and acknowledged by the Examiner. Claims 1-2 and 15 have been amended. Claims 1-20 are currently pending in the instant application.
The nonstatutory double patent rejection of claims 1-4, 7-10, 13, 15, 16, and 18-20 over US’827 is withdrawn in view of Applicant’s terminal disclaimer submission.
The nonstatutory double patent rejection of claims 1-8, 10-16, and 18-20 over US’884 is withdrawn in view of Applicant’s terminal disclaimer submission.
The nonstatutory double patent rejection of claims 1-7 over US’613 is withdrawn in view of Applicant’s terminal disclaimer submission.
The nonstatutory double patent rejection of claims 1-8, 10 and 14 over US’302 is withdrawn in view of Applicant’s terminal disclaimer submission.
The rejection of claims 1-14 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over unpatentable over Kleinsorgen (US 5,858,061) is maintained.
The rejection of claims 15-20 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over unpatentable over Kleinsorgen (US 5,858,061) in view of Changdong (CN 101555030) is maintained.
Terminal Disclaimer
The terminal disclaimers filed on 03/30/2026 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of US 10,522,884, US 9,834,827, US 12,074,302, and US 11,955,613 have been reviewed and are accepted. The terminal disclaimers have been recorded.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 03/30/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
At page 2 of the remark, Applicant’s primary argument is Kleinsorgen does not discloses or teaches a leaching solution comprises a nickel salt, a cobalt salt, and a manganese salt. The Examiner respectfully disagrees with the Applicant’s remark.
Kleinsorgen discloses a step of leaching storage battery scrap material including rare earth metals and further transition metals of Fe, Ni and Co in a strong acidic solution (See Col. 3, lines 8-11 and line 20). Kleinsorgen also discloses that the scrap material includes Mn salt residue (See Col. 3, lines 54-61). It is the Examiner’s position that the acidic leaching solution of Kleinsorgen comprises of a nickel salt, a cobalt salt, and a manganese salt residue contained in the storage battery scrap material. Moreover, a cathode material scrap containing nickel, manganese, and cobalt (NMC cathode material) is a common cathode material. Therefore, the leaching of the scrap cathode material to recover nickel, manganese, and cobalt would have been obvious.
Based on this rationale. The rejections are maintained for the reasons of record.
In the alternative that Kleinsorgen alone or in view of Changdong failed to render the instant claims obvious. Kleinsorgen and Changdong are relied upon in view of WO 2012111895 A1 (hereinafter Kim) as set forth below.
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 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kleinsorgen (US 5,858,061) in view of Kim (WO 2012111895 A1).
In the alternative that Kleinsorgen failed to render the instant claims obvious. Kleinsorgen is relied upon as set forth in the previous Office action.
Kleinsorgen disclose a method of recovering metals from storage battery scrap dissolved in sulphuric acid (See Abstract). Kleinsorgen disclose that the scrap contains nickel salt and cobalt salts among others (See Col. 3, lines 11).
Kleinsorgen does not explicitly disclose the scrap containing manganese salt as required in amended claim 1.
In the same field of endeavor, Kim discloses a method of recovering metal from a waste battery material (scrap) with sulfuric-acid solution where the waste battery material comprises nickel, cobalt, and manganese to obtain a leaching solution containing nickel, cobalt, and manganese (See Abstract).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to recycle the waste battery material (scrap) of Kim with the method of Kleinsorgen in order to obtain a leaching solution containing nickel, cobalt, and manganese and recover these valuable metals.
Claims 15-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kleinsorgen and Changdong (CN 101555030), and further in view of Kim.
In the alternative that Kleinsorgen and Changdong failed to render the instant claims obvious. Kleinsorgen and Changdong are relied upon as set forth in the previous Office action.
Kleinsorgen and Changdong does not appear to explicitly disclose the leaching solution containing manganese salt.
However, Kim discloses a leaching solution containing Ni, Co, and Mn (See Abstract).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to recycle the waste battery material (scrap) of Kim with the method of Kleinsorgen and Changdong in order to obtain a leaching solution containing nickel, cobalt, and manganese and recover these valuable metals.
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.
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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