Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 18, 2026
Application No. 18/139,356

CORROSION-RESISTANT COATING OF REINFORCING STELL FOR MARINE CONCRETE AND PREPARATION METHOD THEREFOR

Non-Final OA §112
Filed
Apr 26, 2023
Examiner
CHUNG, HOSUNG CHARLES
Art Unit
1794
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
Guilin University Of Technology
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
59%
Grant Probability
Moderate
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 10m
To Grant
97%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 59% of resolved cases
59%
Career Allow Rate
277 granted / 470 resolved
-6.1% vs TC avg
Strong +38% interview lift
Without
With
+38.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 10m
Avg Prosecution
26 currently pending
Career history
496
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.1%
-38.9% vs TC avg
§103
53.0%
+13.0% vs TC avg
§102
9.8%
-30.2% vs TC avg
§112
30.1%
-9.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 470 resolved cases

Office Action

§112
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 without traverse of group I, claims 1-6 in the reply filed on 2/4/2026 is acknowledged. Claim 7 is withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse. Title The title’s “stell” is misspelled, it should be “steel.” Also, the wrong word “therefor” is used and also misspelled, it should be “thereof.” Claim Objections Claims 1-6 are objected to because of the following informalities. Appropriate correction is required. 1. The following errors need to be corrected in the following sections: 1.(2): The instance of “a self-repairing corrosion microcapsules” should delete the article since microcapsules is plural. 1.(2)(a1): The limitation “an urea” uses the wrong article. 1.(2)(c1): The instance of “a self-repairing corrosion microcapsules” should delete the article since microcapsules is plural. 1.(4): The unit “us/cm” is incorrect since “u” is not micro and “s” stands for seconds and not Siemens. The unit should be “µS.” 1.(5): The following limitation is missing a verb, it is recommended to put in “is”: “the duration [sic:is] for 20-40 minutes.” 2-6. These claims are objected to for being dependent upon an objected claim. Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. § 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. Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention. 5. This claim lacks a conjunction so it is not known whether both limitations need to be performed or just one. Allowable Subject Matter The following is a statement of reasons for the lack of a prior art rejection: Li et al., CN 102942835 A [hereinafter Li] is the closest prior art of record. Li teaches a cathode electrophoretic paint. Li abstract. Li and the prior art of record do not teach: A preparation method for a corrosion-resistant coating of a reinforcing steel for marine concrete, comprising the steps: (1) pretreating a surface of the reinforcing steel; the reinforcing steel is ready to be used after a deoiling step, an acid pickling step, a water washing step and a sandblasting step; (2) preparing a self-repairing corrosion microcapsules, comprising the steps: (al) adding urea in 10-12 weight portions, formaldehyde in 18-20 weight portions and ammonium chloride in 1-3 weight portions into a reactor, adding a pH regulator to adjust the pH value to 8-10, a temperature rises to 60°C-80°C after being stirred evenly, an urea- formaldehyde resin prepolymer is formed by a reflux reaction for 2-3 hours; (bl) stirring for 10-15 minutes at a temperature of 50°C-60°C after mixing resorcinol in 5-10 weight portions, polyvinyl alcohol in 3-7 weight portions, linseed oil in 10-20 weight portions, 2-phenylbenzimidazole in 1-3 weight portions, emulsifying for 20-30 minutes to form an oily emulsion after adding 1-5 parts of deionized water and 0.1-0.5 parts of sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate; (c1) adding the urea-formaldehyde resin prepolymer obtained in step (al) into the oily emulsion in step (b1), the pH value is adjusted to 3-4 with hydrochloric acid, the reflux reaction is carried out at 70°C-90°C for 2-3 hours, the obtained product is vacuum filtered, washed with deionized water and acetone, and dried in a drying oven to obtain a self-repairing corrosion microcapsules; (3) preparing a cathodic electrophoretic coating, (a2) by weight, adding 5-10 parts of 2,4-toluene diisocyanate and 20-30 parts of propylene glycol methyl ether into a reaction kettle, after stirring and raising the temperature to 50°C-60°C under a protective atmosphere, dripping 3-5 parts of methyl isobutyl ketone within 2-3 hours, after completion, it is heated again to 110°C-120°C for reaction lasting for 2-3 hours, and the content of NCO group is measured to obtain a semi-blocked isocyanate; (b2) in a reaction bottle equipped with a thermometer, a stirrer and a reflux condenser tube, 50-60 parts of water-based hydroxyacrylic resin, 10-30 parts of semi-closed isocyanate are added in turn, it is stirred and raised to 40°C-60°C, and 2-5 parts of acetic acid, 1-5 parts of metal powder, 1-5 parts of graphene oxide powder, 5-10 parts of isopropanol and 10-30 parts of deionized water are added, then continue to stir for 10-20 minutes to prepare a colorant; (c2) 30-50 parts of organic amine modified epoxy resin, 2-10 parts of diethylene glycol butyl ether, 5-15 parts of bisphenol A polyoxyethylene ether, 1-5 parts of methyl isobutyl ketone, 10-20 parts of semi-blocked isocyanate and 20-30 parts of deionization are mixed evenly to obtain a lotion with a solid content of 30-50%; (d2) the colorant and the lotion are mixed in a proportion of (1:2) - (1:4), then 1-5 parts of deionized water are added, stirred and matured evenly for 24-48 hours; then 5-10 parts of self-repairing corrosion microcapsules are added and stirred for 10-30 minutes to obtain the cathodic electrophoretic coating, and then the cathodic electrophoretic coating is put into a cathodic electrophoretic tank; (4) cathodic electrophoresis: placing the reinforcing steel in the cathodic electrophoresis tank, the process parameters of the electrophoresis are set as follows: the solid content of a tank liquid of the cathodic electrophoresis is 10%-15%, the pH value is 5.5-6.5, the conductivity is 200-500 us/cm, the temperature of the tank liquid is 30-50°C, the electrophoresis voltage is 50-100 V, and the electrophoresis duration is 3-10 minutes; (5) curing: moving the electrophoresed reinforcing steel into the drying oven, at the temperature of 150°C-200°C, and the duration for 20-40 minutes, and then cool it naturally. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Hosung Chung whose telephone number is (571) 270-7578. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Wednesday, 9 AM - 6 PM CT. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, James Lin can be reached on (571) 272-8902. 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. /HOSUNG CHUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1794
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Prosecution Timeline

Apr 26, 2023
Application Filed
Mar 25, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
59%
Grant Probability
97%
With Interview (+38.2%)
2y 10m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 470 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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