Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 29, 2026
Application No. 18/847,313

METHOD OF MAKING BORON NITRIDE NANOTUBES AND REACTION CHAMBER THEREFORE

Final Rejection §112
Filed
Sep 16, 2024
Priority
Mar 16, 2022 — provisional 63/320,405 +1 more
Examiner
GATES, BRADFORD M
Art Unit
1713
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
Michigan Technological University
OA Round
2 (Final)
74%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
1y 1m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 74% — above average
74%
Career Allowance Rate
500 granted / 671 resolved
+9.5% vs TC avg
Strong +24% interview lift
Without
With
+24.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
14 currently pending
Career history
694
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.2%
-39.8% vs TC avg
§103
81.6%
+41.6% vs TC avg
§102
2.4%
-37.6% vs TC avg
§112
7.2%
-32.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 671 resolved cases

Office Action

§112
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 Objections Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: claim 1 contains the phrase “at least two boats are situated in the tube” in line 6, which should be “at least two boats situated in the tube”. Appropriate correction is required. Claims 1 and 13 are objected to because of the following informalities: claims 1 and 13 contains the limitation “the first amount different from the second amount” in line 12-13 of claim 1 and lines 10-11 of claim 13, which should be “the first amount being different from the second amount”. Appropriate correction is required. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 Claim 29 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Claim 29 contains the limitation “at least one silicone substrate situated in each of the at least one boats” in line 7 and “the at least one silicone substrate is coated with a catalytic coating” in line 8. There is insufficient support for this limitation in the originally filed disclosure. While the specification gives support for silicon substrates (see [0013] of the specification), there is no support for the claimed “silicone substrate”. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 1 and 13 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the objection(s) set forth in this Office action. Claims 2-9, 11-12, 14-23, and 25-28 are allowed. The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: The prior art fails to teach or render obvious a reactor for catalytic chemical vapor deposition of nanotubes including at least two boats are situated in the tube, wherein a first boat of the at least two boats has a first amount of source material therein, and a second boat of the at least two boats has a second amount of source material therein, the first amount different from the second amount as to the context of claim 1. The prior art fails to teach or render obvious a method for catalytic chemical vapor deposition of boron nitride nanotubes including situating at least two boats in the tube, at least one silicon substrate situated on each of the at least two boats, wherein a boron and oxide containing source material is arranged in the at least two boats, wherein a first boat of the at least two boats has a first amount of source material therein, and a second boat of the at least two boats has a second amount of source material therein, the first amount different from the second amount as to the context of claim 13. The prior art fails to teach or render obvious a method for catalytic chemical vapor deposition of boron nitride nanotubes wherein boron nitride nanotubes deposited on a first substrate of the at least one substrates have a smaller diameter than boron nitride nanotubes deposited on a second substrate of the at least one substrates, wherein the first substrate is further from an exhaust situated in the reaction chamber than the second substrate, as to the context of claim 28. Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.” 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 BRADFORD M GATES whose telephone number is (571)270-3558. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9-5. 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, Joshua Allen can be reached at (571) 270-3176. 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. /BG/ /SHAMIM AHMED/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1713
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Sep 16, 2024
Application Filed
Sep 25, 2025
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §112
Dec 26, 2025
Response Filed
May 07, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §112 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
74%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+24.2%)
2y 9m (~1y 1m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 671 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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