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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on has been entered.
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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tani (US 20030035901) in view of (US 5505805) (cited by applicant).
Tani teaches provides a silicon carbide-based, porous, lightweight, heat-resistant material which can retain the shape of a porous structural body formed of, for example, corrugated cardboard and provides a manufacturing method therefor (See abstract).
The silicon infiltrates the pores of the silicon carbide (see claims and [0011]).
Tani may not teach all the elements of the claims.
(US 5505805) teaches forming a SiC preform in a mold, with a negative surface or other shapes and sizes, sintering and then forming a mirror surface of silicon that bonds to the ceramic (See claims and column 4).
The SiC surface forms a CMC composite with silicon carbide and silicon and/or carbon fibers added; having voids as claimed (or even honeycomb shape). The above-described substrate necessarily form a multiphase substrate as claimed (see examples column 8 and discussion of infiltration silicon into substrate).
It would have been obvious to provide flat or concave or other shaped surfaces claimed dependent upon desired use (See figures for flat surfaces).
2mm thickness of silicon layers are taught to form mirror surfaces (See column 1 lines 40-55).
The silicon can be molten infiltrating the ceramic composite and forming the mirrored pure silicon layer (See Examples).
The silicon can be single or polycrystalline (See background) rendering obvious the single-phase dependent upon desired properties.
The silicon surface, bonded to the ceramic substrate, can be polished (See figure 1 and description thereof).
The first reference may not teach a single-phase silicon specifically.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to provide a single-phase silicon to form a polished mirror surface.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to combine the two references as the both desire to provide lightweight structures capable of functioning in high heat environments provide a single-phase silicon to form a polished mirror surface for mirror or reflector applications (See above and abstract of 5505805.
Regarding new claim 20 and other claims to specific structures, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to provide a cylinder, circle or ring structure as the art teaches forming corrugated or hollow light weight structures with heat resistance are the goal of Tani above (See title, abstract and background).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL H MILLER whose telephone number is (571)272-1534. The examiner can normally be reached M-TH 9-6.
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/DANIEL H MILLER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1783