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 & Status of Claims
Applicant’s election of Group I, claims 1-8, drawn to a steel sheet in the reply filed on 27 MARCH 2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Claims 9-14 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 27 MARCH 2026.
Specification
Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure.
The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details.
The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided.
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because it uses phrases which can be implied (see lines 1-2 and 6-7). A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because all of curves depicted in the legend. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claims 2, 3 and 5 are objected to because of the following informalities: The recited units should not be inside the parentheses in the claims. 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 4 and 5 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.
Regarding claim 4, instant claim does not recite units for the elements thereby making it unclear of the range required by the instant claim.
Regarding claim 5, instant claim recites the limitation "the number of surface irregularities per unit centimeter" in line 5 of the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-3 and 6-8 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Instant claims, namely claim 1, requires steel sheet for porcelain enamel comprising, by weight: 0.0005 to of C, 0.15 to 0.55% of Mn, 0.001 to 0.03% of Si, 0.0001 to 0.002% of Al, 0.001 to 0.02% of P, 0.001 to 0.030% of S, 0.02 to 0.06% of Cu, 0.005 to 0.012% of N, 0.05 to 0.20% of Cr, and 0.03 to 0.06% of O, with a balance of Fe and inevitable impurities, wherein the steel sheet includes an oxide layer in a direction from a surface to an inside, and the oxide layer has a thickness of 0.006 to 0.030 μm.
List 1
Element
Instant Claims
(weight%)
Prior Art US’872
(mass%)
C
0.0005 – 0.0030
0.0001 – 0.040
Mn
0.15 – 0.55
0.001 – 2.00
Si
0.001 – 0.03
0.0001 – 0.50
Al
0.0001 – 0.002
0.0001 – 0.10
P
0.001 – 0.02
0.0001 – 0.10
S
0.001 – 0.030
0.0001 – 0.060
Cu
0.02 – 0.06
0.01 – 2.00
N
0.005 – 0.012
0.0001 – 0.015
Cr
0.05 – 0.20
0.001 – 2.00
O
0.03 – 0.06
0.0001 – 0.70
Ti Nb Ni V Mo
Claim 4: one or more of 0.001 or less of Ti, 0.001 or less of Nb, 0.02 or less of Ni, 0.001 or less of V and 0.02 or less of Mo
Ni: optional, 0.01 – 2.00
Fe + impurities
Balance
Balance
The closest prior art US 2010/0040872 A1 of Murakami (US’872) teaches “a product for enameling and an enameled product that achieve adhesion, bubble/black spot defect resistance and fishscale resistance, even when preprocessing and ground coating are omitted, which product comprise a steel sheet having on the surface thereof an oxide film of 0.10 μm to 400 μm thickness comprising oxides of components of the steel sheet, which steel sheet comprises, in mass %, C: 0.0001% to 0.040%, Si: 0.0001% to 0.50%, Mn: 0.001% to 2.00%, P: 0.0001% to 0.10%, S: 0.0001% to 0.060%, Al: 0.0001% to 0.10%, N: 0.0001% to 0.015%, and O: 0.0001% to 0.070%, further comprises one or more of Ni:0.01% to 2.00%, Co: 0.0005% to 2.00%, Cr: 0.001% to 2.00%, Cu: 0.01% to 2.00%, Mo: 0.0001% to 2.00%, and Ti: 0.0005% to 0.50%, where Ni+Co+Cr/2+Cu+Mo+Ti: 0.010% to 8.0%, the balance being Fe and unavoidable impurities” with a composition wherein the claimed ranges of the constituent elements of the instant alloy of the instant claims overlap or lie inside the ranges of various elements of the alloy of the prior art as shown in the List 1 above. {abstract, [0001]-[0005], [0008]-[0096]}. However, closer look at the prior art teaches “a steel sheet having on the surface thereof an oxide film of 0.10 μm to 400 μm thickness comprising oxides of components of the steel sheet” “In the present invention, as mentioned earlier, an oxide film comprising oxides of components of the steel sheet is formed on the surface of the steel sheet. If this oxide film has a thickness of less than 0.10 μm, the formation of fine irregularities at the interface between the steel sheet and oxide film is insufficient, so that the particulate oxide precipitation is insufficient, with the result that no adhesion enhancing effect is obtained. On the other hand, if the thickness is greater than 400 μm, the adhesion is lowered because a thick oxide film remains even after firing. The oxide film thickness is preferably 0.5 to 100 μm and more preferably 1.0 to 50 μm.” meaning that the prior art teaches away from the surface oxide as required by the instant claims. {US’872 abstract, [0010], [0026], [0054]-[0055], [0097]-[0098]}.
Another prior art US 2017/0369964 A1 of Fujii (US’964) teaches “A hot-rolled steel sheet, comprising: C: 0.05 mass % to 0.45 mass %; Si: 0.5 mass % to 3.0 mass %; Mn: 0.50 mass % to 3.60 mass %; P: 0.030 mass % or less; S: 0.010 mass % or less; Al: 0 mass % to 1.5 mass %; N: 0.010 mass % or less; O: 0.010 mass % or less; Ti: 0 mass % to 0.150 mass %; Nb: 0 mass % to 0.150 mass %; V: 0 mass % to 0.150 mass %; B: 0 mass % to 0.010 mass %; Mo: 0 mass % to 1.00 mass %; W: 0 mass % to 1.00 mass %; Cr: 0 mass % to 2.00 mass %; Ni: 0 mass % to 2.00 mass %; Cu: 0 mass % to 2.00 mass %; a total of one kind or two kinds or more selected from a group consisting of Ca, Ce, Mg, Zr, Hf, and REM: 0 mass % to 0.500 mass %; and the balance: iron and impurities, wherein: a Si/Mn ratio of steel material components of a base material of the steel sheet is not less than 0.27 nor more than 0.90 in mass ratio; an internal oxide layer having a thickness of not less than 1 μm nor more than 30 μm is provided right below an oxide scale of a steel sheet surface layer portion; and an internal oxide in a crystal grain of the internal oxide layer is an oxide containing Si and having a thickness of not less than 10 nm nor more than 200 nm in a crystal grain in a range of greater than 0% and 30% or less of a thickness of the internal oxide layer from an interface between the internal oxide layer and base iron toward a direction of the surface layer oxide scale, one or more branches of the internal oxide exist in a cross section of 1 μm×1 μm square, and in any crystal grain boundary having a length of 1 μm, one or more of the internal oxides are connected to an internal oxide of the crystal grain boundary to form a net-like structure.” Closer look at the prior art indicates that it teaches away from the instant claims and its required limitations by teaching “C is an element required to obtain a retained austenite phase, and is contained to realize both of excellent formability and high strength. If the C content exceeds 0.45 mass %, the weldability becomes insufficient, so that an upper limit of the C content is set to 0.45 mass %. On the other hand, if the C content is less than 0.05 mass %, it becomes difficult to obtain a sufficient amount of retained austenite phase, resulting in that the strength and the formability reduce. From a viewpoint of the strength and the formability, a lower limit of the C content is set to 0.05 mass %” “An internal oxide 1 forming a net-like structure of the internal oxide layer 10 is an oxide containing Si and having a thickness of not less than 10 nm nor more than 200 nm, and is connected from a crystal grain boundary 2 to the inside of a crystal grain, as illustrated in FIG. 1.” “Further, when the hot-rolled steel sheet having the internal oxide layer is pickled under the above-described general pickling conditions, the thickness of the internal oxide layer is set to not less than 1 μm nor more than 30 μm, in order to greatly reduce the pickling time. When the thickness of the internal oxide layer is less than 1 μm, there is exhibited a small effect of making the pickling solution permeate through the inside of the crystal grain by setting the interface between the oxide generated in the crystal grain from the crystal grain boundary in a continuous manner and the metallic parent phase as the dissolving path, due to the small thickness of the internal oxide layer. On the other hand, when the thickness of the internal oxide layer exceeds 30 μm, there is an effect of making the pickling solution permeate through the inside of the crystal grain, but, it takes a long time for making the pickling solution permeate up to the crystal grain boundary at a lower portion of the internal oxide layer, resulting in that the effect of reducing the pickling time becomes small as a whole. Further, this is not favorable also from a viewpoint of yield.” { US’964 abstract, [0001]-[0004], [0019]-[0058], [0065]-[0159], claims 7-16}.
Claims 4 and 5 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
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/JOPHY S. KOSHY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1733
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