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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 09 July 2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsumoto et al. (US 2015/0053315 – previously cited).
Considering claim 7, Matsumoto teaches steel wires rods (Paragraph 70) and high strength steel bolts formed therefrom (Paragraph 1) (e.g. a wire rod/part with improved delayed fracture resistance). The steel comprises by mass C: 0.23-0.40%, Si: 0.23-1.50%, Mn: 0.30-1.45%, P: 0.03% or less, S: 0.03% or less, Ti: 0.02-0.1%, B: 0.0003-0.0050%, N: 0.002-0.010%, etc., balance Fe and impurities (Paragraph 15). Examples are also disclosed with a Si content ranging from 0.22-0.23% and Mn 0.92-1.03% (Table 1, Steels L-N). These correspond to a range of 2.13-2.295 when using values of Si and Mn according to instant Formula 1. Additionally, Matsumoto teaches where a preferred Ti content is 0.02% or more (Paragraph 47) and a preferred N content is 0.003% or more and 0.004% or more (Paragraph 53). Using these values according to instant Formula 2 this results in a range of about 1.46-1.94. Further, Matsumoto teaches a mixed microstructure of the steel of ferrite and pearlite (Paragraph 15) which allows for 10 percent or less of other phases (Paragraph 16) including prior austenite (Paragraph 68) (e.g. retained austenite structure) and tempered martensite (Paragraph 64) (e.g. residual tempered martensite structure).
While not teaching a singular example of the instantly claimed wire rod/part this would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date in view of the teachings of Matsumoto as this is considered a conventionally known steel wire/bolt with composition overlapping that which is claimed and a Si/Mn ratio overlapping instantly claimed Formulas 1-2 and overlapping the claimed microstructure and the courts have held that where claimed ranges overlap or lie inside of those disclosed in the prior art a prima facie case of obviousness exists and one of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 1 is allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: The closest prior art to the instant claims is that of Matsumoto, which teaches a steel wire with composition overlapping that which is claimed. However, Matsumoto is silent regarding the claimed TiN inclusions combined with the Formulas 1-2 and applicant provides objective evidence in instant Table 2 of where all compositions overlapping Formals 1-2 do not result in the combined TiN inclusion size. Accordingly, this would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art.
Claims 4-6 and 10 may be placed in condition for allowance if amended to be commensurate in scope with instant claim 1.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see remarks pp. 7-8, point 2, filed 09 July 2026, with respect to 35 USC 103 rejections of claims 1 and 3 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of claims 1 and 3 has been withdrawn. As outlined above, applicant demonstrates objective evidence of non-obviousness commensurate with the scope of claim 1.
Applicant's arguments filed 09 July 2026 with respect to instant claim 7 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues that Matsumoto teaches a Cr and V content which is different from the claimed Mn-B steel (remarks p.6, point 1). This is not persuasive as the instant claims do not require any particular Cr and/or V content while reciting the open-language transitional phrase “comprising” which does not preclude the presence of other materials and therefore this is not commensurate with that which is claimed. See MPEP 2113.03(I) and 2145 (VI).
Applicant argues that Matsumoto does not disclose Formulas 1-2 per the examples of Matsumoto which do not result in suppression of BN formation, fine TiN precipitates, or improved delayed fracture resistance (remarks p.7, point 2). This is not persuasive regarding claim 7 as Matsumoto teaches a composition including Si, Mn, Ti, and N overlapping that which is claimed and applicant has not provided objective evidence commensurate with that which is recited in claim 7 indicating indicia of non-obviousness as no particular BN formation or lack thereof, no fine TiN precipitates, and no specific delayed fracture resistance is recited and therefore this is not commensurate with that which is argued. See MPEP 2145 (VI).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SETH DUMBRIS whose telephone number is (571)272-5105. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6:00 AM - 3:30 PM.
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SETH DUMBRIS
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1784
/SETH DUMBRIS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1784
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