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 .
Priority
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
Election/Restrictions
This application is in condition for allowance except for the presence of claims 43-49 directed to an invention non-elected with traverse in the reply filed on 11/18/2025 and election by original presentation on 5/27/2026. Applicant is given THREE (3) 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.
Claims 43-47 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 11/18/2025.
Newly submitted claims 48 and 49 are directed to an invention that is independent or distinct from the invention originally claimed for the following reasons:
Group I, Claims 24-42 are drawn to a method of producing a precoated steel blank with a laser cut edge having 15% or more of oxygen content, classified in B23K 26/126
Group V, Claims 48 and 49 are drawn to a method of producing a precoated steel blank with specific substrate, intermetallic and metallic layer thickness, classified in B32B 15/012.
The groups of inventions listed above do not relate to a single general inventive concept under PCT Rule 13.1 because, under PCT Rule 13.2, they lack the same or corresponding special technical features for the following reasons:
In the instant case, the special technical feature of Group V is “i.e. providing a precoated steel strip comprising a steel substrate having a thickness comprised between 1.0mm and 3.0mm, having, on at least one of its main faces, a precoating, which comprises an intermetallic alloy layer in contact with said substrate and a metallic layer extending atop said intermetallic alloy layer, said intermetallic alloy layer having a thickness comprised between 2 and 7 micrometers, said metallic layer having a thickness comprised between 10µm and 33µm”, which is not a special technical feature of Group I.
The groups lack the same or corresponding technical feature because the purpose and effects of the special technical features are different for each of the groups and are not required by each of the groups. There is no technical relationship between the features of the inventions and thus lack unity and do not relate to a single general inventive concept under PCT Rule 13.1.
Since applicant has received an action on the merits for the originally presented invention, this invention has been constructively elected by original presentation for prosecution on the merits. Accordingly, claims 48 and 49 are withdrawn from consideration as being directed to a non-elected invention. See 37 CFR 1.142(b) and MPEP § 821.03.
To preserve a right to petition, the reply to this action must distinctly and specifically point out supposed errors in the restriction requirement. Otherwise, the election shall be treated as a final election without traverse. Traversal must be timely. Failure to timely traverse the requirement will result in the loss of right to petition under 37 CFR 1.144. If claims are subsequently added, applicant must indicate which of the subsequently added claims are readable upon the elected invention.
Should applicant traverse on the ground that the inventions are not patentably distinct, applicant should submit evidence or identify such evidence now of record showing the inventions to be obvious variants or clearly admit on the record that this is the case. In either instance, if the examiner finds one of the inventions unpatentable over the prior art, the evidence or admission may be used in a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) of the other invention.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 24-42 are allowed.
The following is an examiner's statement of reasons for allowance: allowance of the claims is indicated because none of the prior art of record, alone or in combination, appears to teach, or fairly suggest or render obvious the invention of the claims or recited allowable subject matter in claim 24.
Claim 24 recites a method for producing a precoated steel blank, the method comprising successive steps of:
providing a precoated steel strip including a steel substrate having, on at least one main face, a precoating, the precoating including an intermetallic alloy layer and a metallic layer extending atop the intermetallic alloy layer, the metallic layer being a layer of aluminum, a layer of aluminum alloy or a layer of aluminum-based alloy; and
laser cutting the precoated steel strip in order to obtain at least one precoated steel blank, the precoated steel blank including a laser cut edge surface resulting from the laser cutting, the laser cut edge surface including a substrate portion and a precoating portion;
wherein the laser cutting is carried out in such a way that the substrate portion of the laser cut edge directly resulting from the cutting operation has an oxygen content greater than or equal to 15% in weight which the applicant has persuasively argued that the closest cited prior art of Cretteur (US 2015/00330382) or Hirokazu (JP2014237141) fails to disclose or render obvious.
Response to Amendments
Claims 24, 28, 30, 31, 33, 34 and 41 have been amended.
Claims 48 and 49 are new.
Claims 43-49 are withdrawn.
Claims 24-49 are pending.
Response to Arguments
The claim 34 objection has been withdrawn in view of the claim amendment.
The 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejection of claims 24, 30, 33, 34, 36, 38 and 41 have been withdrawn in view of the claim amendments.
Applicant’s arguments filed on 4/9/2026 with respect to the 35 U.S.C. 103 rejection of claims 24-42 been fully considered but they are persuasive, therefore the rejection of Cretteur in view of Hirokazu 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 THIEN S TRAN whose telephone number is (571)270-7745. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday [8:00-4:00].
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, Steven Crabb can be reached at 571-270-5095. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/THIEN S TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3761 5/27/2026
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