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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
2. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 5/6/2026 was filed after the mailing date of the office action mailed on 3/20/2026. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
3. The Applicants submitted claim amendments on 6/22/2026 in response to the office action mailed on 3/20/2026. The status of the claims are as follows.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. 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).
The above noted rejection is withdrawn.
NEW Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. Claims 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (CN 109415813 A) to Cho et al. (hereinafter Cho) in view of (KR 2018-135514 A) to Hoon et al. (hereinafter Hoon) in further view of (KR 2006 0075657 A) to Keol et al. (hereinafter Keol).
Cho discloses a solution composition for surface treatment of steel sheets, the following technical features are specifically disclosed (see specification paragraphs 0009-0067): providing a solution composition for the surface treatment of steel panels, comprising 30 to 60 wt% of a trivalent chromium compound comprising chromium (A) phosphate and chromium (B) nitrate, 0.2 to 0.4 wt% of an anti-rust corrosion inhibitor, 0.1 to 0.3 wt% of a molybdenum-based compound, 5 to 10 wt% of a water-soluble cationic urethane resin (polymer resin is disclosed), 0.5 to 2.0 wt% of a silane coupling agent (tackifier comprising silane compound is disclosed) and 27.3 to 64.2 wt% of water; the rust corrosion inhibitor may be one or more selected from fluorine-based rust inhibitors, vanadium- based rust inhibitors (vanadium-based point-like corrosion improvers are disclosed), cerium salt-based rust inhibitors, and cobalt-based rust inhibitors.
Cho further discloses at (paragraph 0009 of the specification): chromium phosphate and chromium nitrate; Cho further discloses (paragraph 0013 of the specification): The silane coupling agent may be selected from 2-(3, 4-cpoxycyclohexyl) -ethyltrimethoxysilane, 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilanc, 3- glycidoxypropylmethyldiethoxysilane, 3-glycidoxypropyltriethoxysilane, one or more of N-2-(aminoethyl)-3- aminopropylmethyldimethoxysilane, N-2-(aminoethyl)-3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane, N-2-(aminoethyl)-3- aminopropyltricthoxysilane, 3-aminopropyltrimcthoxysilanc, 3-aminopropyltricthoxysilane, 3- ureidopropyltrimethoxysilane, and 3-ureidopropyltrialkoxysilane; comparative document 2 discloses (paragraph 0042 of the specification): The silane compound may be selected from the group consisting of vinylmethoxy silane, vinyltrimethoxysilanc, vinyl cpoxy silanc, vinyltricpoxysilane, 3-aminopropyltricpoxysilanc, 3- glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane, 3-methylglycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane.-glycidoxypropyltriethoxysilane.- glycidoxytrimethyldimethoxysilane, and mixtures thereof; for the non-disclosed other silane compounds defined therein are also silane coupling agents commonly used in the art;
Hoon teaches a composition for the surface treatment of steel sheets, the following technical features are specifically disclosed (see description paragraphs 0010-0046): the composition for the surface treatment of steel sheets according to one aspect of the invention is preferably a combination comprising trivalent and hexavalent chromium compounds, reducing agents, organic resins, blackening improvers, corrosion resistance enhancers, colloidal silica, silane compounds, acidity regulators and balance solvents; the composition of the present invention comprises an acidity regulator which stably presents ingredients within the composition by adjusting the pH of the solution and suitably reacts under appropriate conditions at the time of application, thereby acting to stably form a coating layer; the content of acidity regulator is preferably between 0.5% and 2.0% by weight, based on 100% of the total weight of the composition. When the content of the acidity regulator is less than 0.5%, the pH of the solution becomes high SO that there is a possibility that the stability of the solution decreases, on the other hand, when the content of the acidity regulator is more than 2.0%, there is a problem that corrosion resistance and the like are difficult to ensure because the pH is too low; the composition of the present invention comprises both a colloidal silica and a silane compound in order to further improve coating adhesion, corrosion resistance and the like. In particular, the colloidal silica is combined with the silane compound SO as to further increase corrosion resistance, and the silane compound is combined with oleoresin or steel sheet in addition to the colloidal silica SO as to increase adhesion and corrosion resistance of the coating; namely, gives the technical implication of adding an acidity modifier to stabilize film formation.
Hoon further teaches (paragraphs 0044-0046) that the type of acidity regulator is not particularly limited, but preferably, the acidity regulator may be one or more selected from the group consisting of phosphoric acid, nitric acid, glycolic acid, lactic acid, acetic acid and mixtures thereof, as well as other acidity regulators not disclosed, as defined therein, also acidity regulators conventional in the art;
Keol teaches a chromium-free solution for the treatment of automotive oil tank steel plates having excellent corrosion and combustion resistance, in particular, the following technical features are disclosed (see paragraphs 0015-0019 of the specification): the chromium-free solution for the treatment of automotive fuel tank steel plates of the present invention is characterized by an acrylic or epoxy resin, composed of a silicate compound, a silane compound and a titanium compound; the resin added in the present invention acts as a binder to assist in binding with other inorganic added ingredients such as silicates or silanes; the silicate compound added to the chromium-free solution of the invention has a molecular structure of NaSi03 or NaSi5O11 in particular, NaSi03 exhibits excellent bonding force with the galvanized steel sheet of the lower limbs while having a three-dimensional network structure when the steel sheet is coated. The amount of silicate added is preferably 3 to 15 phr, and when the content of silicate is 3 phr or less, the adhesion to the steel sheet and the corrosion resistance decrease because the content is too small, and when the content of silicate is 15 phr or more, the bonding force to the resin becomes weak, and thus it is not preferred; silane compounds hydrolyze in water to generate siloxane bonds which, while strongly bound to the steel sheet, act as binders for binding various inorganics. Namely, Comparative Keol discloses that silicates can be combined with resins to obtain steel sheets excellent in corrosion resistance; on this basis, when Cho discloses that the composition contains a resin, technical guidance can be obtained from Hoon, further addition of a silicate compound to the composition with the crosslinking reaction of the resin ensures corrosion resistance.
Keol further teaches the silicate compound NaSi03, whereas calcium silicate, potassium silicate, aluminium silicate, lithium polysilicate, tetramethyl orthosilicate and tetraethyl orthosilicate are also silicate compounds commonly used in the art and can be selected in combination with actual requirements. Cho, Hoon and Keol are analogous art as they are directed to enhanced protection of steel.
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 teaching of Hoon and Keol to combine the teachings to provided enhanced protection of steel forming a prime facie case of obviousness for claim 1-7.
Allowable Subject Matter
8. Claim 8 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
9. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art does not teach the composition as defined in claim 8.
Response to Arguments
10. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
11. 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.
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/JEFFREY D WASHVILLE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1766
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