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 with traverse of Group I, claim 1 in the reply filed on 11/12/2025 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that as claim 2 depends from claim 1, the restriction is improper. This is not found persuasive because Group I and Group II share a special technical feature of Sn-Ti intermetallic compound having a particle size of 3 microns or less and a Ti amount of 0.5-3 wt%. See rejection below.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yuan (US 5609919) in view of either one of KR 10-2006-0025503 or Nakata (US 2004/0079194).
Yuan teaches a method of preparing a Sn alloy (abstract, col. 2, lines 50-65) comprising melting the alloy and spraying the molten material through a nozzle producing a particle having a size of 0.1-1000 microns (abstract; col. 2, lines 25-37, 50-65) in an inert gas atmosphere (col. 8, lines 25-35). This particle size range overlaps with the claimed range of less than 3 microns. In the case where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" a prima facie case of obviousness exists. MPEP 2144.05 (I). Additionally, Yuan teaches that the size of the particles produced can be controlled to by timing the impulses and the size/shape of the nozzle orifice (col. 40, lines 40-56). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to vary the parameters of the spray in order to obtain a particle size overlapping with the claim range through routine experimentation.
Yuan fails to teach Sn alloy is Sn-Ti with a Ti content of 0.5-3 wt%.
503, however, teaches a Sn-Ti alloy with a content of Ti of 1.8 wt% and size of 0.1 microns (paragraph 0069 and claims 1-4).
Nakata teaches a method of making Sn-Ti alloy with a Ti amount of 0.01-3 wt% (para. 0059-0068) having a particle size of 0.1-20 microns (claim 13).
As Yuan is not particularly limited with regard to the Sn alloy and 503 teaches a known Sn-Ti alloy with a content of Ti of 1.8 wt % and a size of 0.1 microns and Nakata teaches a method of making Sn-Ti alloy with a Ti amount of 0.01-3 wt% (para. 0059-0068) having a particle size of 0.1-20 microns, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the SnTi(1.8 wt%) or Sn alloy containing Ti in an amount of 0.01-3 Tin wt% in Yuan in order to process a Sn alloy known in the art as taught by 503 or Nakata, respectively.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yuan in view of Savage (US 4762553) and either one of KR 10-2006-0025503 or Nakata (US 2004/0079194).
Yuan teaches a method as described above in claim 1.
If Yuan fails to teach that the spraying and solidifying through a nozzle is in an inert gas atmosphere, Savage will be relied upon herein.
Savage teaches a method of forming metal alloy particles (abstract) by spraying molten particles through an atomization die (nozzle) in a medium of inert gas for the purpose of preserving the high purity of the powders during solidification (col. 4, lines 10-35).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide spraying molten particles through a nozzle in a medium of inert gas in Yuan in order to preserve the high purity of the powders during solidification as taught by Savage.
Conclusion
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/PAUL A WARTALOWICZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1735