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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 02/02/2026 has been entered.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 7-9 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 12/13/2024.
Status of Claims
Claim 1 is currently amended, Claims 2 and 5 and canceled, Claims 3, 4, and 6 are as previously presented, and Claims 7-9 are withdrawn.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: in line 5, “0,005 to 0,2% of Ti” should be “0.005 to 0.2% of Ti.” Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL - The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim 1, 3, 4, and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Claim 1 recites “95 vol% of martensite formed by continuous hot rolling and subsequent coiling without quenching and tempering” in lines 6 and 7. The negative limitation of “without quenching and tempering” has no support in the specification as originally filed. The only recitation of quenching in the specification is in [0055], which is “Immediately after the hot rolling, the hot-rolled steel sheet is quenched.” There is no recitation of tempering in the specification.
Claims dependent on any of the rejected claims are likewise rejected under this statute.
Response to Arguments
The response filed 02/02/2026 was sufficient to overcome the rejection over KR 101546134 as the range of Cr is outside of the claimed range.
Allowable Subject Matter
The claims as currently presented are free from rejections under prior art but are not in condition for indication of allowable subject matter due to the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(a).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Hirashima et al (US 11,846,003 B2) teaches a hot rolled steel sheet and coiled with further cold rolling and annealing (Claim 5) with 0.01-1.0% Cr (column 3, line 18). The yield strength is greater than 1227 MPa and tensile strengths as recited (TABLEs 5-7). Martensite is 90% or more (Claim 1).
CN 105734412 A (CN ‘412) teaches a hot rolled steel plate. Table 4 teaches a yield strength and yield ratio less than 1227 MPa and 0.75, respectively, as recited in Claim 1.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Tima M. McGuthry-Banks whose telephone number is (571)272-2744. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, 7:30 am to 4:00 pm.
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Tima M. McGuthry-Banks
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1733
/TIMA M. MCGUTHRY-BANKS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1733
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