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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1 and 3-6 are amended in view of applicant’s response filed 2/3/2026. Claim 7 is canceled. Therefore, claims 1-6 and 8-10 are currently under examination.
Status of Previous Rejections
The rejection of claims 1-10 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112(pre-AIA ), second paragraph, has been withdrawn in view of applicant’s claim amendment in the response filed 7/16/2025.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
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) 9-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over CN 112952138(CN138).
CN138 teaches a method of manufacturing hydrophilic stainless steel, comprising the following steps:
Polishing the surface of a stainless steel[0021];
Immersing the polished stainless steel in an acidic solution(i.e. soaking in chromic acid solution) to form an oxide film[0024]
CN138 further teaches that the stainless steel surface has a micro-sized surface structure[0039]. Additionally, the stainless steel of CN138 is subjected to a heat treatment at 980-1100°C for 10-30 minutes[0040], followed by cooling[0040]. CN138 does not disclose any carbide precipitation.
Regarding claim 9-10, since CN138 teaches a process that has the same polishing and acid solution immersion steps as the instant application, and has the same final heat treatment temperature and heating duration as claimed, one of ordinary skill in the art would have expected that the hydrophilic stainless steel produced by the process of CN138 to be significantly similar to the claimed hydrophilic stainless steel including the claimed contact angle.
Additionally, the instant claims 9-10 are product by process claims. It is well settled that a product-by-process claim defines a product, and that when the prior art discloses a product substantially the same as that being claimed, the burden falls upon the applicant to show that any process steps associated therewith results in a product materially different from that disclosed in the prior art. See In re Thorpe, (227 USPQ 964), In re Brown, (173 USPQ 685), In re Fessman, (180 USPQ 524) and MPEP 2113. In this case, since the hydrophilic stainless steel of CN138 is substantially the same as claimed hydrophilic stainless steel, the burden falls upon the applicant to show that the process of the instant application, more specifically the raising of a temperature from 550°C to 850°C in the thermal treatment step at a temperature raising rate of 200-300°C/sec, results in a hydrophilic stainless steel product materially different from the hydrophilic stainless steel of CN138.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-6 and 8 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
The closest prior art is CN 112952138(CN138), which is discussed in section 7 above. However, the thermal treatment step in the hydrophilic stainless steel manufacturing method of CN138 does not include or fairly suggest, either alone or in combination, the claimed temperature raising rate of 200°C/sec to 300°C/sec to raise a temperature from 550°C to 850°C to suppress carbide precipitation.
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.”
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 LOIS L ZHENG whose telephone number is (571)272-1248. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8:15-4:45.
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, Keith Hendricks can be reached at 571-272-1401. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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LOIS ZHENG
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1733
/LOIS L ZHENG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1733
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