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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The listing of references in the specification is not a proper information disclosure statement. 37 CFR 1.98(b) requires a list of all patents, publications, or other information submitted for consideration by the Office, and MPEP § 609.04(a) states, "the list may not be incorporated into the specification but must be submitted in a separate paper." Therefore, unless the references have been cited by the examiner on form PTO-892, they have not been considered.
WO 2022/120149 cited in the information disclosure statement filed 31 May 2023 fails to comply with 37 CFR 1.98(a)(2), which requires a legible copy of each cited foreign patent document; each non-patent literature publication or that portion which caused it to be listed; and all other information or that portion which caused it to be listed. It has been placed in the application file, but the information referred to therein has not been considered.
Claim Interpretation
Claim 1 states the copper oxide is present in the crystal structure of the ferrimagnetic ceramic material. In view of the X-ray diffraction patterns of figures 12A-12F and the disclosed process for producing the claimed ferrite composition, it is clear that this teaching means that copper oxide is present as a separate phase in the crystal structure of the ferrimagnetic ceramic material. It does not mean that the copper substitutes for at least one of Ni, Co, Zn and Fe within the ferrite crystal lattice.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 10, 18, 22, 31, 35, 39, 44 and 51 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the enablement requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and/or use the invention.
These claims are directed to a ferrite composition comprising a copper oxide doped ferrimagnetic ceramic material comprising a ferrite including Ni, Zn and Co; where the amount of copper oxide dopant is 0.1-20 wt% having the claimed properties. The claimed ferrite composition encompasses an extremely large number of Ni, Zn and Co containing ferrites, each of which have different µ’, µ”, magnetic loss tangent, ε’, dielectric loss tangent, relative loss factor and resonance frequency ranges over different frequencies ranges. As discussed in paragraphs [0070] and [0088] of the specification which shows the state of the art, what was known by one of ordinary skill in the art, and the level of predictability of the art at the time of invention; the magnetic properties of Ni-Zn-Co ferrites, which are one type of ferrite that falls within the claimed ferrite including Ni, Zn and Co, are tailored by the process used to produce the ferrite which determines the microstructure of the produced ferrite, the presence and amounts of dopants and the Ni/Zn/Co ratio. The paragraphs indicate the composition and microstructure are critical to obtain the desired/claimed magnetic and loss properties. This indicates that a large number of variables affect the magnetic and loss properties, such as those claimed. The effect of each of these variables affect the effects of the other variables which means that the total effect of changing more than one variable on the magnetic properties of the ferrite cannot be predicted. Furthermore, the fact the claimed addition of 0.1-20 wt% of copper oxide as a dopant to a ferrite including Ni, Zn and Co is novel; the effect of this dopant on the properties of a ferrite including Ni, Zn and Co would be unknown and unpredictable to one of ordinary skill in the art. This is because there is nothing in the art to give any guidance as to the effect of a copper oxide dopant would have on the properties of a ceramic material comprising a ferrite including Ni, Zn and Co. The above is a discussion of the first five Wands factors found in In re Wands, 858 F.2d 731, 737, 8 USPQ2d 1400, 1404 (Fed. Cir. 1988). See MPEP 2164.01(a).
The specification only shows the µ’, µ”, magnetic loss tangent, ε’, dielectric loss tangent, relative loss factor and resonance frequency for the ferrite composition of Ni0.4Co0.25Zn0.35
Fe2O4.1 which contains as dopants, 0.2 wt% Bi2O3 and 0-20 wt% CuO of example 1 and the ferrite composition of Ni0.4Co0.25Zn0.35Fe2O4.1 which contains as dopants, 0.2 wt% Bi2O3 and 0-20 wt% CuO of example 2; where ferrite composition of both examples are produced by a solid-state process. The ferrite compositions of the examples are the only two exemplified ferrite compositions. The claimed ferrite compositions do not contain bismuth oxide dopant. This bismuth oxide dopant would be expected by one of ordinary skill in the art to effect the magnetic and loss properties which means the compositions of the examples are different from that claimed. Thus the exemplified compositions do not provide any guidance as to which compositions that fall within the claimed ferrite compositions (that do not contain bismuth oxide) to have µ’, µ”, magnetic loss tangent, ε’, dielectric loss tangent, relative loss factor and resonance frequency ranges that at least overlaps the claimed ranges in the claimed frequency ranges.
In addition, the frequency ranges at which the magnetic and loss properties are measured are 1-1000 MHZ, 300-1000 MHz, 300 MHz, 500 MHz, 800 MHz, 10-1000 MHz, 0-1000MHz, and 1000 MHz. There are no properties measured above 100 MHz, which is 1 GHz. Thus there is no guidance in the specification nor in the art as to what compositions within the claimed composition will or could have the claimed properties within the claimed frequency range greater than 1 GHz up to 18 GHz in claims 10, 18, 22, 31, 35 and 51.
Since there is no guidance in the art and in the specification to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to determine which compositions within the claimed composition would or could have the claimed properties and due to the unpredictability of the art as discussed in the initial paragraph of this rejection, one of ordinary skill in the art would have to produce and test each of the possible composition to determine if they have the claimed properties. The number of ceramic materials encompassed by the claimed ceramic material number in the millions since the ratios of Ni/Zn/Co covered by the claims are compositionally NixZnyCoz, where x+y+z=1, 0<x<1, 0<y<1 and 0<z<1. To test each of the claimed compositions of 0.1-20 wt% copper oxide and each of these millions of ceramic material composition to determine if they have µ’, µ”, magnetic loss tangent, ε’, dielectric loss tangent, relative loss factor and resonance frequency ranges that at least overlaps the claimed ranges in the claimed frequency ranges would require undue experimentation. This means that the specification does not enable the compositions of claims 10, 18, 22, 31, 35, 39, 44 and 51. The above three paragraphs are a discussion of the last three of the Wands factors. See MPEP 2164.01(a).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-3, 6-9, 47-50 and 53 are allowed.
There is no teaching or suggestion in the cited art of record of a copper oxide doped ferrimagnetic ceramic material comprising a ferrite including Ni, Zn and Co; where the amount of copper oxide dopant is 0.1-20 wt%. There is no teaching or suggestion in the cited art of record of producing a copper oxide doped Ni-Zn-Co ferrite ceramic by the solid state process of claim 53. The closest art of record is CN 101723654 which teaches a ferrimagnetic Ni-Zn-Co ferrite ceramic and teaches producing the ferrite by a solid state process having all the steps of claim 53 except for the addition of the copper oxide source (the fifth solid of claim 53). There is no teaching or suggestion in the art to add copper oxide, in either form, as a dopant to the taught Ni-Zn-Co ferrite ceramic.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to C. MELISSA KOSLOW whose telephone number is (571)272-1371. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Tues:7:45-3:45 EST;Thurs-Fri:6:30-2:00EST; and Wed:7:45-2:00EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jonathan Johnson can be reached at 571-272-1177. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/C Melissa Koslow/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1734
cmk
1/28/26