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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Claim 2 has been canceled; Claims 3-7 are withdrawn from consideration as non-elected claims, Claims 1 and 8-9 remain for examination, wherein claim 1 is an independent claim. There is no amendment since last office action dated 08/14/2025.
Information Disclosure Statement
IDS filed on 11/21/2025 and IDS filed on 9/11/2025 have been recorded.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claim(s) 1 is/are under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kino Nobuo et al (JP 2001330101 A, listed in IDS field on 9/29/2020. with on-line translation, Thereafter JP’101) in view of Ohki (US-PG-pub 2003/0123769 A1, thereafter PG’769) evidenced by Celada-Casero et al (The role of the austenite grain size in the martensite transformation in low carbon steel, Materials and Design, 167 (2019) 107625, pp.1-10, thereafter NPL-1).
JP’101 in view of PG’769 evidenced by NPL-1 is applied to the instant Claim 1 for the same reason as stated in the previous office action dated 8/14/2025.
Claims 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP’101 in view of PG’769 evidenced by NPL-1, and further in view of Niitsu et al (JP 4114218 B2, with on-line translation, thereafter JP’218).
JP’101 in view of PG’769 evidenced by NPL-1 and further in view of JP’218 is applied to the instant Claims 8-9 for the same reason as stated in the previous office action dated 8/14/2025.
Claim(s) 1 is/are under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP’101 in view of Miyamoto et al (US-PG-pub 2017/0121786 A1, listed in IDS filed on 7/7/2025, thereafter PG’786).
JP’101 in view of PG’786 is applied to the instant Claim 1 for the same reason as stated in the previous office action dated 8/14/2025.
Claims 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP’101 in view of PG’786, and further in view of Niitsu et al (JP 4114218 B2, with on-line translation, thereafter JP’218).
JP’101 in view of PG’786 and further in view of JP’218 is applied to the instant Claims 8-9 for the same reason as stated in the previous office action dated 8/14/2025.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments to the art rejection to Claims 1 and 8-9 have been considered but they are not persuasive.
The Applicant’s arguments are summarized as following:
There are different definition between the cited prior art(s) and the instant invention. As set forth in paragraph [0021] of the present application, a martensite crystal grain is determined by a crystal orientation deviation of at least 15° between adjacent grains. As such, the Examiner identifies the grain size of the austenite grain with the grain size of the martensite crystal grain. However, the martensite crystal grain is a so-called martensite block, as is clear from paragraph [0021] of the present application.
In response,
Regarding the arguments, the specific definition: “a martensite crystal grain is determined by a crystal orientation deviation of at least 15° between adjacent grains“ as argued is not really included in the instant claims limitation. As discussed in the rejections for the instant claims, the cited prior art(s) indicates the grain size of the martensite, which reads on the claimed limitations.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 extension fee 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 JIE YANG whose telephone number is (571)270-1884. The examiner can normally be reached on IFP.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jonathan J Johnson can be reached on 571-272-1177. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JIE YANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1734