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 without traverse of claims 12-20 in the reply filed on Apr. 1, 2026 is acknowledged.
Examiner’s Note
The specification and the claims refer to “silicon” as a “metal.” “Silicon” has been known as a metalloid, however, the Examiner, interpreted the claims in view of the instant specification.
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.
Claim 18 is 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.
Claim 18 recites “the metal carbide includes a stoichiometric ratio of a metal carbide phase of the metal to the carbon of the carbon layer…” The recitation is grammatically not clear. The Examiner notes the claim was considered for examination purposes as reciting “the metal carbide includes a stoichiometric ratio of the metal of a metal carbide phase to the carbon of the carbon layer…”
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(s) 12-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Rousseau et al. (US 4863773) (“Rosseau”).
With respect to claim 12, Rousseau discloses a high temperature article (abstr.), comprising a composite substrate including a carbon matrix (col. 2, lines 16-38), and a coating on a surface of the composite substrate, wherein the coating comprises a metal-rich antioxidant layer of a metal carbide - element 10 (col. 2, lines 39-45), wherein the metal-rich antioxidant layer extends into surface voids of the surface of the composite substrate – surface voids shown at 11 in Fig. 1b (col. 10, lines 15-31).
The recitation “wherein the metal carbide of the metal-rich antioxidant layer is formed from carbon of a carbon layer deposited using chemical vapor deposition” relates to the process of making the article, thus, the claim defines the product by how the product is made, and thus, claim 12 is a product-by-process claim. For purposes of examination, product-by-process claims are not limited to the manipulation of the recited steps, only the structure implied by the steps (MPEP 2113). In the instant case the recited steps imply the structure of claim 12; the reference teaches the structure.
Regarding claim 13, Rousseau teaches the article of claim 12, wherein the composite structure comprises a carbon/carbon composite structure (col. 2, lines 16-18, 35-38).
As to claim 14, Rousseau teaches the article of claim 12. The claim refers to a carbon layer used in the process of making the metal carbide, but the carbon layer is not an element of the article, it relates to the process of making the article. Thus, the claim does not provide further structural limitations with respect to the article.
Regarding claim 15, Rousseau teaches the article of claim 12. The claim refers to an unreacted portion of the carbon layer used in the process of making the article, however, the carbon layer is not an element of the article.
With respect to claim 16, Rousseau teaches the article of claim 12, wherein the metal carbide comprises silicon carbide (col. 2, lines 39-45, col. 8, lines 11-20, Fig. 1b).
Regarding claim 17, Rousseau teaches the article of claim 12, further comprising an outer layer of a metal oxide on the coating – element 12 – silica (col. 8, lines 15-17, Fig. 1b).
As to claim 18, Rousseau teaches the article of claim 12. The claim recites the carbon of the carbon layer and the carbon layer as the elements of the article, however, the carbon layer has been used in the process of making the metal carbide, and as such is not an element of the article.
With respect to claim 19, Rousseau teaches the article of claim 12. Rousseau teaches the coating is directly overlying a surface of the composite substrate (col. 8, lines 11-17, Fig. 1b).
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) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rousseau, in view of Rousseau (US 5051300) (“Rousseau 2”).
With respect to claim 20, Rousseau teaches the article of claim 12. Rousseau teaches the antioxidant layer comprises a first antioxidant layer that includes a first metal carbide – element 10 (col. 6, lines 915, Fig. 1b). Rousseau is silent with respect to a second antioxidant layer overlying a surface of the composite substrate, wherein the second antioxidant layer includes a second metal carbide. Rousseau 2 discloses a high temperature article (abstr.) comprising a first antioxidant layer including a first metal carbide – element 10, and a second antioxidant layer overlying a surface of the composite substrate, wherein the second antioxidant layer includes a second metal carbide – element 14 - that seals cracks in the first metal carbide (col. 8, lines 66-68, Fig. 1). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the article of Rousseau with a second antioxidant layer to seal cracks in the first metal carbide layer, as disclosed in Rousseau 2.
Information Disclosure Statement
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant’s disclosure.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOANNA PLESZCZYNSKA whose telephone number is (571)270-1617. The examiner can normally be reached M-F ~ 11:30-8.
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/Joanna Pleszczynska/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1783
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