American Manganese Process Receives First Office Action : Patent Progress Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Technology Developer
Larry W. Reaugh, President and Chief Executive Officer of American Manganese Inc. (TSX.V: AMY; OTC US: AMYZF; FSE: 2AM) has reported on the progress of the company’s application at the US Patent and Trademark Office for patenting its proprietary process for recycling lithium-ion battery cathode materials.
On 6 July 2018 the company received the first office action from the US Patent and Trademark Office pertaining to AMY’s lead invention for recycling lithium-ion battery cathode materials. The office action indicated that all drawings have been accepted and claims 1 – 70 (all claims in the application) appear to be allowable over the cited prior art of record.
“We are pleased with the relatively short time it took to receive the first office action after filing the non-provisional application on the technology in November 2017,” said Norman Chow, President of Kemetco Research and lead inventor of the technology.
“Furthermore, the notion that all claims appear to be allowable over the cited prior art indicates that the technology is novel and not known to the public prior to the filing of the Company’s patent application,” said Norman Chow, President of Kemetco Research and lead inventor of the technology,” he continued.
Novelty is a requirement for patent claims to be patentable.
Kemetco is currently preparing a patent application for a proprietary process for separating aluminium foils from collected cathode scraps. Other innovations are currently being assessed to determine if they should be commercially integrated as trade secrets or if additional patents should be filed.
In addition, the company noted that it has received some equipment for the planned pilot plant.
“With the number of electric vehicles increasing on a regular basis, we are excited to have this opportunity to develop and capitalize on new technology that can potentially play an important role in the long-term integration into the material supply chain of EV production,” said Reaugh.
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