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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of invention I in the reply is acknowledged.
Claims 13-21 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 5/19/2026.
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.
Claims 1, 4, 6, 7, 10, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by the article to Wang cited by Applicant.
Regarding claims 1, 4, 6, 7, 10, and 11, Wang discloses a method for manufacturing energetic particles, comprising in-situ mixing a printable ink comprising energetic particles and graphene oxide, with an additive for reducing the graphene oxide, in an extrusion tube to form a gel, extruding the gel onto a substrate, immersing the substrate and the gel thereon into alcohol under stirring, and freeze drying the gel to form an aerogel (2.2.2 Synthesis of RGO/AL/Bi₂O₂). Wang further discloses a nanothermite aerogel comprising: a porous cross-linked scaffold of reduced graphene oxide; and a plurality of nanothermite clusters embedded in the porous scaffold (Introduction; Fuel (A1) and oxidizer (Bi₂O₃) nanoparticles (NPs) are embedded homogeneously within the reduced graphene oxide sheets comprising the aerogel walls.
Regarding claim 4, Wang discloses a plurality of nanothermite clusters (meets pellet limitation).
Regarding claim 6, Wang discloses the synthesis of the graphene oxide is described in section 2.2.1 Synthesis of graphene oxide.
Regarding claims 10 and 11, the alcohol is tert-butanol and the additive is ethylenediamine (2.2.2 Synthesis of RGO/AL/Bi₂O₂).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 2, 3, 8, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang as applied above.
Regarding claim 2, Wang discloses application to a substrate (2.2.2 Synthesis of RGO/AL/Bi₂O₂).
Regarding claims 3, 8, and 9, Wang discloses the combination of energetic particles and graphene oxide. Wang also discloses mixing in a tube and the use of alcohol as a processing ingredient (2.2.2 Synthesis of RGO/AL/Bi₂O₂).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made and/or filed to apply the gel to a substrate in a horizontal manner since the gel is viscous and the substrate would be required to be held horizontally. It is also obvious to vary the concentration of the energetic particles and graphene oxide as well as adjusting flow rates and renewal of processing ingredients. It is obvious vary the parameters to achieve the claimed properties. "[W]here the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation." In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955). It is a settled principle of law that a mere carrying forward of an original patented conception involving only change of form, proportions, or degree, or the substitution of equivalents doing the same thing as the original invention, by substantially the same means, is not such an invention as will sustain a patent, even though the changes of the kind may produce better results than prior inventions."). See also KSR Int’l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 416 (2007).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 5 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AILEEN BAKER FELTON whose telephone number is (571)272-6875. The examiner can normally be reached Monday 9-5:30, Thursday 11-3, Friday 9-5:30.
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/AILEEN B FELTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1734
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