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
Receipt is acknowledged of a certified copy of JP 2022-060256 filed March 31, 2022 as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Status
This Office Action is in response to Applicant’s Claim Amendments and Remarks filed December 11, 2025.
Claims Filing Date
December 11, 2025
Amended
1
Cancelled
2, 4
Pending
1, 3
Withdrawn
3
Under Examination
1
Claim 1 is amended to incorporate the subject matter from claim 2 with an amended Ti content of 0.5 to 2.5 mass% as supported by 4:17-18 of the present specification (Remarks p. 4 para. 2).
Response to Remarks filed December 11, 2025
Feng
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks p. 6 paras. 1-2, filed December 11, 2025, with respect to Feng have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of Feng has been withdrawn.
The applicant persuasively argues Feng Table 1 discloses 0.15 wt% Ti, which is not within the claimed Ti range of 0.5 to 2.5 mass% (Remarks p. 6 paras. 1-2).
Double Patenting
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks p. 6 para. 4 and para. spanning pp. 6-7, filed December 11, 2025, with respect to the double patenting rejections have been fully considered and are persuasive. The double patenting rejections over 18/123,697 and 18/123,667 have been withdrawn.
The applicant argues a terminal disclaimer for App ‘697 and App ‘667 has been submitted (Remarks p. 6 para. 4, para. spanning pp. 6-7).
A terminal disclaimer listing Application Nos. 18/123,697 and 18/123,667 was filed and approved on December 11, 2025.
New Grounds
In light of claim amendment and upon further consideration new grounds of rejection are made over Xia and over Liu.
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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xia (CN 106870333 machine translation).
Regarding claim 1, Xia discloses a powder metal material which is an aluminum alloy ([0009], [0012], [0026], [0028]) with a composition that is within the scope of the claimed Si, Cu, Mn, Mg, Zn, Fe, and Al (Example 2) ([0041]).
Xia Example 2 includes 0.2 wt% titanium.
Xia discloses the aluminum alloy powder contains 0.01 to 0.5 wt% titanium ([0009], [0012], [0026], [0028]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art in Example 2 of Xia to vary the titanium from 0.01 to 0.5 wt% in the aluminum alloy powder so that the resulting formed product has improved compressive strength, tensile strength, and yield strength (Xia [0028]), which improves reliability (Xia [0030]). The 56 to 73% absorption rate of Xia’s Ex. 2 modified with 0.01 to 0.5 wt% titanium overlaps with the claimed range of 65% or more. In the case where the claimed ranges “overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art” a prima facie case of obviousness exists. MPEP 2144.05(I).
The powder metal material being “for additive manufacturing” has been considered and determined to recite the purpose or intended use of the claimed powder metal material that does not further limit the structure. The prior art renders obvious the claimed powder metal material (Xia [0009], [0012], [0026], [0028], [0041]), such that it is capable of performing the intended use as recited. MPEP 2111.02(II).
Element
Claim 1 (mass%)
Xia Ex. 2 [0041]
Modified Xia Ex. 2 [0028], [0041]
Ti
0.5 to 2.5
0.2
0.01 to 0.5
Zr
3.0 or less
-
-
Si
3.0 to 20.0
8.6 to 9.4
8.6 to 9.4
Cu
0.1 to 10.0
1.6 to 2.0
1.6 to 2.0
Mn
1.0 or less
0.1
0.1
Mg
0.1 to 3.0
0.45 to 0.6
0.45 to 0.6
Ni
3.0 or less
-
-
Cr
0.5 or less
-
-
Zn
0.05 to 3.0
0.1
0.1
Fe
0.1 to 5.0
0.2
0.2
Sc
3.0 or less
-
-
Al
Balance
Balance
Balance
Absorption Rate
65% or more
60 to 70
56 to 73
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu (Liu et al. Effective thermal conductivities of metal powders for additive manufacturing. Powder Technology 401 (2022) 117323. STN Abstract and Composition.).
Regarding claim 1, Liu discloses a powder metal material for additive manufacturing, which is an aluminum alloy (STN Abstract, Abstract, 5. Conclusions) with an overlapping composition and absorption rate (STN Composition, p. 2 col. 2 para. 1). In the case where the claimed ranges “overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art” a prima facie case of obviousness exists. MPEP 2144.05(I).
Element
Claim 1 (mass%)
Liu STN Composition
Ti
0.5 to 2.5
0.1 to 0.6
Zr
3.0 or less
-
Si
3.0 to 20.0
7 to 12
Cu
0.1 to 10.0
1.9 to 3.2
Mn
1.0 or less
0.2 to 0.6
Mg
0.1 to 3.0
1.7 to 2.8
Ni
3.0 or less
-
Cr
0.5 or less
-
Zn
0.05 to 3.0
0.2 to 0.3
Fe
0.1 to 5.0
0.2 to 0.4
Sc
3.0 or less
-
Al
Balance
80 to 89
Absorption Rate
65% or more
111 to 229%
Related Art
Kaji (JP H11-158572 machine translation)
Kaji discloses a Si-Al alloy with an overlapping composition in the form of a casting (Abstract, Claims, [0012]-[0029]).
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.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEPHANI HILL whose telephone number is (571)272-2523. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7am-12pm.
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/STEPHANI HILL/Examiner, Art Unit 1735
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