DETAILED ACTION
Receipt and entry of Applicant’s Preliminary Amendment dated March 20, 2025 is acknowledged.
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.
(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 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kilmartin et al. (Kilmartin) (Patent/Publication Number US 2020/0309007).
Regarding claims 1-2, 8-10, and 12, Kilmartin discloses a dinitrogen oxide ( e.g. N2O) purification system (1, 5) (e.g. See Paragraphs [0070] FIG. 3 shows a plot of concentration of NO2, N2O, NO and NH3 in ppm against time in seconds over the course of Experiment 1. Concentration of N2O and NO2 in ppm is provided on the left-hand y-axis. Concentration of NO and NH3 in ppm is provided on the right-hand y-axis. Time in seconds is provided on the x axis. At time period 65-75 seconds, the relative peak heights of the lines shown in FIG. 3 are such that the highest peak is for N2O concentration, the second highest peak is for NH3 concentration, the third highest peak is for NO concentration and the lowest peak is for NO2 concentration.) (e.g. See Paragraphs [0060]) from an exhaust gas path leading from the engine (10), comprising: an intake section (25, 35, 50) that takes in dinitrogen oxide in the presence of coexisting O2 and/or H2O (e.g. See Paragraphs [0040, 0043, 0078]), and a purification section (20, 55, 70) that decomposes or reduces the dinitrogen oxide taken into the intake section (e.g. See Paragraphs [0063, 0065, 0070-0074]); wherein the purification section has: a catalyst (5, 20) that decomposes or reduces the dinitrogen oxide (e.g. See Paragraphs [0062] A plurality of catalytically-active transition-metal-doped iron oxide magnetic particles 45, herein referred to as the plurality of particles 45, are applied as a washcoat on the walls 40 of a first region 50 of the catalyst article 5. The first region 50 of the catalyst article 5 extends from the upstream end 25 of the substrate 20. The plurality of catalytically-active transition-metal-doped iron oxide magnetic particles may have SCR activity, ASC activity, DOC activity, urea-hydrolysis activity, exotherm-generation activity or TWC activity.) (e.g. See Paragraphs [0062-0063, 0070-0074]); and an electrode (70) that applies an electric field to the catalyst (e.g. See Paragraphs [0065, 0067, 0070-0074]).
Regarding claim 3, Kilmartin further discloses a power supply that applies a voltage to the electrode (e.g. See Paragraphs [0071] FIG. 4 shows a bar chart of power supplied to the induction coil 70 against conversion of NO into NO2, N2 and N2O over the course of Experiment 1. Percentage of NO2, N2O and N2 is provided on the y-axis. Power in Amps is provided on the x-axis. The top part of each bar represents percentage of N2. The bottom part of each bar represents percentage of N2O. The middle part of each bar represents percentage of NO2.) (e.g. See Paragraphs [0064-0065, 0070-0074, 0079, 0088]).
Regarding claim 4, Kilmartin further discloses a control section (Figures 4-7) that changes a purification rate of the dinitrogen oxide in the purification section by changing at least one of a temperature of the catalyst, a value of electric current flowing through the catalyst (as such, power in Amps from 25-400Amps), an amount of a reducing agent, and a space velocity (e.g. See Paragraphs [0072] FIG. 5 shows a plot of concentration of N2O and NO2 in ppm against power in Amps over the course of Experiment 1. Concentration of N2O and NO2 in ppm is provided on the y-axis. Power in Amps is provided on the x-axis. The lower of the two lines at 400 Amps represents concentration of NO2, the other line represents concentration of N2O.) (e.g. See Figures 4-7; Paragraphs [0064-0065, 0070-0074, 0079, 0088]).
Regarding claim 5, Kilmartin further discloses wherein the control section changes the purification rate by changing at least the value of electric current so that the higher the value of electric current is (as such, power in Amps from 25-400Amps), the higher the purification rate is (e.g. See Figures 4-7; Paragraphs [0064-0065, 0079, 0079, 0088]).
Regarding claim 6, Kilmartin further discloses a heating section that heats the catalyst, wherein in the heating section, a temperature of the catalyst is set to within a range of 50° C. or higher and 600° C. or lower (e.g. See Paragraphs [0082] To measure the temperature of the particles of MnFe2O4 over the course of the experiment, the sealed enclosure was opened and an IR thermal imaging camera was placed inside the sealed enclosure after the alternating electric current had been applied to the inductive coil for 120 seconds (i.e. at time 185 seconds). The measured temperature of the MnFe2O4 particles was 200° C. thereby confirming that the MnFe2O4 particles are inductively heatable. It is noted that the temperature of the MnFe2O4 particles at time 185 seconds may be greater than 200° C …...) (e.g. See Figures 4-7; Paragraphs [0069, 0070-0074, 0082, 0090]).
Regarding claim 7, Kilmartin further discloses wherein the catalyst has an active metal and a catalyst carrier, the active metal is at least one of Rh, Pd, Pt, Fe, Cu, Ni, Co, W, and V, and the catalyst carrier contains any of Ce, Zr, Y, La, Nd, and Pr (as such, platinum group metals, transition-metal, MnFe2O4, CuFe2O4) (e.g. See Paragraphs [0024] ...... Examples include: Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Tc, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag and Cd. Manganese and Copper are preferred examples of transition metals. Each of the “transition-metal-doped iron oxide particles” may be formed of a composition comprising one transition metal or multiple different transition metals. The transition-metal-doped iron oxide particles may all have the same composition or comprise a mixture of two or more different such particles meeting the definitions herein.) (e.g. See Figures 4-7; Paragraphs [0024, 0035, 0062, 0076, 0088-0090, 0092]).
Regarding claim 11, Kilmartin further discloses wherein at least ammonia is used as a fuel for the engine (e.g. See Paragraphs [0047] According to a further embodiment there is provided an internal combustion engine comprising the exhaust gas treatment system as described herein. Additionally, the present disclosure can comprise a vehicle, such as a passenger vehicle, comprising an engine as described herein.) (e.g. See Figures 1-2; Paragraphs [0042, 0060, 0047]).
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure and consists of seven patents:
Lambert et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 8883102), Cho et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 2006/0062709), Cumming et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 2006/0150614), Okubo et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 2007/0071657), Mital et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 2019/0101034), Caudle et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 2024/0060441), and Youngren et al. (Pat./Pub. No. US 2024/0293805), all discloses an exhaust gas purification for use with an internal combustion engine.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Primary Examiner Binh Tran whose telephone number is (571) 272-4865. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisors, Mark Laurenzi, can be reach on (571) 270-7878. The fax phone numbers for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned are (571) 273-8300 for regular communications and for After Final communications.
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Binh Q. Tran
/BINH Q TRAN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3748
February 06, 2026