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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 3-6, 19, and 24 are directed to an allowable product. Pursuant to the procedures set forth in MPEP § 821.04(b), claims 7-14, 17, 20, 22, 25, and 27, directed to the process of making or using the allowable product, previously withdrawn from consideration as a result of a restriction requirement, are hereby rejoined and fully examined for patentability under 37 CFR 1.104. Claims 1, 2, 15, 16, 18, 21, 23, and 26, directed to the invention(s) of do not require all the limitations of an allowable product claim, and have NOT been rejoined.
Because a claimed invention previously withdrawn from consideration under 37 CFR 1.142 has been rejoined, the restriction requirement between groups II, III, and V as set forth in the Office action mailed on 1 April 2025 is hereby withdrawn. In view of the withdrawal of the restriction requirement as to the rejoined inventions, applicant(s) are advised that if any claim presented in a divisional application is anticipated by, or includes all the limitations of, a claim that is allowable in the present application, such claim may be subject to provisional statutory and/or nonstatutory double patenting rejections over the claims of the instant application.
Once the restriction requirement is withdrawn, the provisions of 35 U.S.C. 121 are no longer applicable. See In re Ziegler, 443 F.2d 1211, 1215, 170 USPQ 129, 131-32 (CCPA 1971). See also MPEP § 804.01.
This application is in condition for allowance except for the presence of claims 1, 2, 15, 16, 18, 21, 23, and 26 directed to an invention non-elected with traverse in the reply filed on 27 June 2025. Applicant is given TWO (2) MONTHS from the date of this letter to cancel the noted claims or take other appropriate action (37 CFR 1.144). Failure to take action during this period will be treated as authorization to cancel the noted claims by Examiner’s Amendment and pass the case to issue. Extensions of time under 37 CFR 1.136(a) will not be permitted since this application will be passed to issue.
The prosecution of this case is closed except for consideration of the above matter.
Examiner’s Comment
As to the claims 1, 2, 15, 16, 18, 21, 23, and 26 of Groups I and IV, while the claims recite an inorganic material having a composition similar to the fiber composition of claim 3, the inorganic material does not need to be in the form of a fiber. Such a material is disclosed in at least Tavares et al., US 2016/0097125 A1, paragraph [0018], Examples G3 and G4 of “Magnetic properties of glasses with high iron oxide content” by Romero-Perez et al., and Examples 2 and 6 of JP 10-167754 A by Masatoshi.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-14, 17, 19, 20, 22, 24, 25, and 27 are allowed.
Reasons for Allowance
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
The prior art fail to disclose or suggest with sufficient specificity a fiber comprising an inorganic material, a method of making an inorganic fiber, and a method for suppressing radiation-induced deterioration of a fiber-reinforced composite comprising the fiber comprising an inorganic material in the mass
percentages as recited in the instant claims. Specifically, the prior art fails to disclose or
teach a fiber comprising 21-25 mass % of Fe2O3, 5-25% of CaO, and 40-70% of SiO2+Al2O3, having a Al2O3/(SiO2+Al2O3) mass ratio of 0.15-0.40.
The closest prior art is deemed to be US 2008/0191179 A1 by Bernard et al. Bernard et al. disclose a similar composition but does not teach the inorganic material comprises the recited amount of Fe2O3. In addition, the present claims are deemed allowable over the references of record for substantially the reasons set forth by the Applicants in the response filed 7 November 2025, which have been found persuasive.
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.”
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 1-4, filed 7 November 2025, with respect to claims 3-6, 19, and 24 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of claims 3-6, 19, and 24 has been withdrawn.
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 Elizabeth A. Bolden whose telephone number is (571)272-1363. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00 am to 6:30 pm M-F.
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, Amber R. Orlando can be reached at 571-270-3149. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Elizabeth A. Bolden/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1731
EAB
19 March 2026