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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Group I (Claims 1-7 and 9-11) in the reply filed on 12/03/2025 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that US 5,824,264 does not teach the recited composition relationship in claim 1. This is not found persuasive because Sample No. 24 in Table 4 of US 5,824,264 contains 0.064wt% C, 0.214 wt% N and 0.031 wt% La+Ce, N+3xC+3xREM=0.499, which meets the recited composition relationship in claim 1.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL. Claims 12 and 14-16 are withdrawn. Claims 1-7 and 9-11 are examined herein.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-7 and 9-11 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 recites “wherein nitrogen, carbon, and rare earth metal (REM) contents satisfy the relationship:” in the last two lines. Suggested amendment: “wherein nitrogen (N), carbon (C), and rare earth metal (REM) contents satisfy the relationship:”
Claim 1: “Maganese” should be “Manganese” and “Phosphous” should be “Phosphorus”.
Claim 2 recites “at least 0.05 but not more than 0.10 w%”, which should be “at least 0.05 wt.% but not more than 0.10 wt.%”.
Claim 3 recites “at least 1.2 but not more than 2.50 w%”, which should be “at least 1.2 wt.% but not more than 2.50 wt.%”.
Claim 4 recites “at least 0.12 but not more than 0.20 w%”, which should be “at least 0.12 wt.% but not more than 0.20 wt.%”.
Claim 5 recites “at least 0.03w% but not more than 0.08 w%”, which should be “at least 0.03 wt.% but not more than 0.08 wt.%”.
Claim 6 recites “at least 24.0 but not more than 26.0 w%”, which should be “at least 24.0 wt.% but not more than 26.0 wt.%”.
Claim 7 recites “at least 19.0 but not more than 22.0 w%”, which should be “at least 19.0 wt.% but not more than 22.0 wt.%”.
Claim 9 recites “at least 0.50 but not more than 2.00 w%”, which should be “at least 0.50 wt.% but not more than 2.00 wt.%”.
Claim 10 recites “wherein the sulphur and phosphorus content is not more than 0.010% and 0.040%, respectively”, which should be “wherein the sulphur content is not more than 0.010 wt.% and the phosphorus content is not more than 0.040 wt.%”.
Claim 11: Please delete “contains” from line 2.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-7 and 9-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The term “improved” in claim 1 (line 1) is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “improved” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. Appropriate correction is required. For this examination, “improved” is not given patentable weight.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends. Claim 1 recites the phosphorus content is <0.040 wt.%. Claim 10 depends from claim 1 and recites that the phosphorus content is not more than 0.04wt% (i.e. ≤0.04 wt.%), which is broader than the phosphorus composition range recited in claim 1 and does not further limit claim 1. Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
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.
Claims 1-2, 4-7 and 9-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP’751 (JPH07-316751A).
Regarding claims 1-2, 4-7 and 9-11, JP’751 teaches an austenitic stainless steel with good heat resistance and oxidation corrosion resistance, comprising 0.06 wt.% carbon, 25.1 wt.% chromium, 20.02 wt.% nickel, 0.75 wt.% silicon, 0.99 wt.% manganese, 0.179 wt.% nitrogen, 0.001 wt.% sulfur, 0.002 wt.% phosphorus, 0.03 wt.% cerium and 0.01 wt.% lanthanum, and the balance being iron (Fe) and inevitable impurities (Abstract; Page 3-5; Table 2, Sample No. 25), which meets the recited composition in claims 1-2, 4-7 and 9-10. N+3xC+3xREM=0.479, which meets 0.40 % ≤ N+3xC+3xREM ≤ 0.60% recited in claim 1. Sample No. 25 in Table 2 of JP’751 does not contain detectable amount of V, Co, Sn, As, W, B, Nb, Cu and Zr, which indicates that the contents of these elements are extremely low and meet the recited amount in claim 11.
Claims 1-5 and 9-11are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN’702 (CN111621702A).
Regarding claims 1-5 and 9-11, CN’702 teaches an austenitic stainless steel with good heat resistance and corrosion resistance, comprising 0.09 wt.% carbon, 21.5 wt.% chromium, 11.5 wt.% nickel, 2.0 wt.% silicon, 0.65 wt.% manganese, 0.14 wt.% nitrogen, 0.001 wt.% sulfur, 0.0076 wt.% phosphorus, 0.04 wt.% cerium, 0.01 wt% cobalt, 0.0018 wt.% boron, 0.017 wt.% copper, 0.005 wt.% vanadium, and the balance being iron (Fe) and inevitable impurities (Abstract; [0028] to [0030]), which meets the recited composition in claims 1-5 and 9-11. N+3xC+3xREM=0.53, which meets 0.40 % ≤ N+3xC+3xREM ≤ 0.60% recited in claim 1.
Conclusion
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/XIAOWEI SU/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1733