DETAILED ACTION
Response to Preliminary Amendment
The preliminary amendment submitted on 01 August 2024 has been entered. After entry of the amendment, claims 1-11 are currently pending in the application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-5 and 7-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hills et al “Valorisation of agricultural biomass-ash with CO2”.
The reference teaches, in the abstract, the Materials and Methods and Product development and characterization section found on page 3, and Table 6, compositions comprising 10% carbonated biomass, cement and sand.
The instant claims are met by the reference.
As for claims 1-3, the reference teaches a binder comprising 10% carbonated biomass which meets the instant claims.
As for claim 4, it contains up to 45% biomass ashes.
As for claim 5, this is met by Table 2 of the reference which teaches various amounts of carbon in the ash.
As for claims 7 and 8, the reference teaches cement as the binder.
As for claim 9, the reference teaches Portland cement.
As for claim 10, Table 4 teaches that the biomass may contain hydroxylapatite (also known as hydroxyapatite) and since the composition is carbonated it would meet the carbo-hydroxyapatite in the claim.
As for claim 11, the abstract teaches that the compositions may be used as novel low-carbon construction products.
Claims 1-4, 6-9 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ren et al “CO2 pretreatment of municipal solid waste incineration fly ash and its feasible use as supplementary cementitious material”.
The reference teaches, in the abstract and Table 2, compositions comprising ordinary Portland cement and carbonated municipal solid waste incineration fly ash.
The instant claims are met by the reference.
As for claims 1-3, the reference teaches compositions comprising up to 30 wt% of carbonated fly ash which meets the instant claims.
As for claim 4, it contains up to 45% biomass ashes.
As for claim 6, it contains an amount of Portland cement that falls within the claimed range (see Table 2).
As for claim 7, the reference teaches Portland cement.
As for claim 8, the reference teaches Portland cement.
As for claim 9, the reference teaches Portland cement.
As for claim 11, the compositions may be used in the construction industry (see Section 3.2.7).
Claims 1-4 and 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Hills et al (US Patent No. 11,840,481 B2). The reference has an effective filing date that is before that of the instant application.
The reference teaches, om Example 3,
PNG
media_image1.png
102
409
media_image1.png
Greyscale
The instant claims are met by the reference.
As for claims 1-3, the reference teaches a binder (Portland cement) which contains carbonated biomass ash in an amount that meets the instant claims.
As for claim 4, it contains up to 45% biomass ashes.
As for claims 7 and 8, the reference teaches cement as the binder.
As for claim 9, the reference teaches Portland cement.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANTHONY J GREEN whose telephone number is (571)272-1367. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday from 6:30-5.
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, Amber R. Orlando can be reached at (571) 270-3149. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ANTHONY J GREEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1731
ajg
August 18, 2026
Prosecution Insights