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 Group I (claims 1-7) in the reply filed on 9/1/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 8-17 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Group.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 3/25/2025, 5/4/2026 and 8/24/2026 have been considered by the examiner. Initialed copies accompany this action.
Drawings
The Drawings filed 3/25/2025 are approved by the examiner.
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 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fouad et al (J. Anal. Appl. Pyrolysis 78 (2007) 65–69).
Regarding claim 1, Fouad discloses composition including lithium-containing compounds, the composition comprising lithium compounds including LiAlO2; and at least one of Li.sub.2CO.sub.3, LiF, and Li.sub.5AlO.sub.4, wherein the major phase detected is g-LiAlO2 together with traces of residual aluminum metal and another lithium aluminate phase, Li5AlO4. Fouad inherently discloses the limitation of a content of LiAlO.sub.2 is 12% or more with respect to 100 wt % of a total weight of the composition.
Regarding claim 2, Fouad discloses the composition including lithium-containing compounds is recovered from a waste battery (page 66, Experimental).
Regarding claims 3 and 4, Fouad discloses the recitation of “30% or less, 30% or less, and 40% or less” includes zero as a lower limit. Therefore, Fouad meets the claimed.
Regarding claim 6, Fouad discloses the composition including lithium-containing compounds satisfies the following Expression 2: 0.1 ≤IA/IB≤1.5, IA represents a peak intensity value of 2θ=21°±0.5° of LiAlO2 product, and IB represents a peak intensity value of 2θ=32.6°±0.4° of LiAlO2 product (Fig. 5).
Regarding claim 7, Fouad discloses the composition including lithium-containing compounds satisfies the claimed expression 3 (Li/Al mole ratio of 3.9).
Claim 5 is rejected as being dependent on a rejected claim.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HAIDUNG D NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)270-5455. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th: 10a-3p.
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, 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.
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.
/HAIDUNG D NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1761
9/30/2026
Prosecution Insights