DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. 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
2. Applicant’s election without traverse of Group 1 in the reply filed on 11/17/2025 is acknowledged. Claim 9 is withdrawn.
Information Disclosure Statement
3. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 6/19/2023, 9/26/2023, 7/16/2024, 4/3/2025 and 9/2/2025 was filed timely. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
5. 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.
6. Claims 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (US 2020/0291527 A1) to Cho et al. (hereinafter Cho) in view of the teachings of (US 2006/0054248 A1) to Straus (hereinafter Straus).
Cho is directed towards protective coatings for steel substrates. Cho discloses at paragraph [0010] that the coating contains a trivalent chromium compound. Cho discloses at paragraph [0010] that the protective coating further comprises a silane compound. Cho discloses at paragraph [0035] that phosphoric acid compound is present. Cho discloses at paragraph [0039] that a crosslinking compound is present. Cho discloses at paragraph [0038] that a vanadium rust inhibiting compound is present in a concentration of 0.5 to 5%, which reads on Applicants 0.1 to 14.3 parts. Cho discloses at paragraph [0010] that a silane compound is present at 5% to 50% that reads on Applicants range of 0.1 to 40 parts. Cho discloses at paragraph [0010] that a vanadium rust inhibiting compound is present. Cho discloses at paragraph [0052] that the composition includes a solvent. Cho discloses at paragraph [0053] that the chromium may be a chromium phosphate or chromium nitrate. Cho discloses at paragraph [0014] that the silane species is a 3-aminopropyl triethoxysilane. Cho discloses at paragraph [0015] that a vanadium oxide may be present. Cho discloses the coating of a steel panel with a corrosion preventing solution, but is silent regarding a silicate crosslinking agent and a polymer resin.
Straus is directed towards protective coatings for steel substrates. Cho and Straus are both directed towards protective coatings for steel substrates and therefore are analogous art. Straus teaches at paragraph [0038] that the surfaces of steel objects were coated. Straus teaches at paragraph [0027] that the steel surface was treated with chromium nitrate and an acid adjuster of phosphoric acid. Straus teaches at paragraph [0032] that the surface was treated with a solution containing potassium silicate. Straus teaches at paragraph [0012] that the silicate adds corrosion protection, which would motivate one skilled in the art to add it to further protect steel from corrosion. Straus teaches at paragraph [0006] that the potassium silicate is dispersed in a methacrylate coating polymer in a solvent placed upon the trivalent chromium compound on the surface, which would act as a crosslinker of the polymer. One skilled in the art would be further motivated modify the coating of Cho with the teachings of Straus to add a polymer top coat with a crosslinker to the surface of the steel to further increase corrosion protection of the steel substrate. Straus teaches at paragraph [0011] that the chromium may be present in the solution from 1g/l to 100 g/l, which overlaps upon the range of 0.5 to 17 parts of the solvent. Straus teaches at paragraph [0027] that 4 g/l of citric and 10 g/l of phosphoric acid were added to adjust pH that reads on Applicants 0.5 to 11 parts acid. Straus teaches at paragraph [0033] that a polymer having 21% concentration of 21 parts reads on Applicants 0.5 to 25 parts of a polymer. Straus teaches at paragraph [0032] that silicate was applied for a 20% weight that reads on Applicants 2 to 20 parts silicate.
It would be obvious to one skilled in the art at the time of the filing of the disclosure of Cho in view of the teachings of Straus to modify the coating of Cho to add a polymer topcoat combined with a silicate to increase the corrosion resistance of a steel substrate that forms a prime facie case of obviousness for claims 1-8.
Conclusion
7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEFFREY D WASHVILLE whose telephone number is (571)270-3262. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
8. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
9. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Randy Gulakowski can be reached at 571-272-1302. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JEFFREY D WASHVILLE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1766