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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restriction
Applicant’s election without traverse of group I in the reply filed on 25 December 2025 is acknowledged.
The restriction requirement erroneously indicated that claims 1-7 were included in Group I and claims 8-10 were included in Group II.
In order to expedite prosecution of the instant case, the Restriction Requirement mailed 28 October 2025 is WITHDRAWN. No claims are restricted at this time. Claims 1-10 are under examination.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 21 June 2023. These drawings are accepted.
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 1-10 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.
The term “high-strength and high-toughness” in each one of claims 1, 2, and 3 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “high-strength and high-toughness” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
In this case there is no description as to what strength or toughness test is to be used to determined strength or toughness, nor what measure of that test would be “high.” The point of infringement of claim 1 cannot be determined and the claim is indefinite.
Each one of claims 2 and 3 includes the same language and is indefinite. Claim 3 includes the language in multiple places.
Each one of claims 2-10 depends from claim 1 and is also indefinite for the same reason.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 1-2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20120000578 A1 (hereinafter “Wang”) in view of US 20140234160 A1 (hereinafter “Mueller”).
Wang teaches an aluminum alloy for casting which includes overlapping amounts of Si, Mg, Mn, Cu, Ti, Sr, rare earths, and Fe (see [0009]-[0010] or claim 1). Wang teaches to add up to 2% of rare earths in order to generate an as-cast structure (See [0043]). Wang teaches generally the purpose for each of the alloying elements within the aluminum (See [0049]-[0060]). Wang teaches a more preferred alloy composition (see claim 5). The composition of the alloy of Wang is compared with the claimed alloy composition in the chart below (values in mass percent).
Element
Claim 1
Wang [0009]-[0010]
Wang claim 5
Si
Mg
Mn
Cu
Ti
Sr
V
RE
Fe
Other impurities
Al
8-10
0.1-0.5
0.5-0.8
0.05-0.5
0.05-0.2
0.01-0.05
0.01-0.1
0.01-0.15
<0.2
≤0.4
balance
0.5-14
0.1-1.0
0-1.0
0.25-2.0
0-0.2
0.01-0.2
--
0-2
0.1-1.0
--
balance
8-12
0.3-0.6
0.5-1.0
0.25-1.5
0-0.2
0.01-0.1
--
0-1
0.1-0.5
--
balance
The composition of Wang except for vanadium overlaps the claimed composition, establishing a prima facie case of obviousness. It would have been an obvious matter to the skilled artisan to have selected compositional elements within the claimed ranges because Wang teaches the same utility over the whole ranges disclosed. Applicant is directed to MPEP 2144.05. Additionally, Wang teaches the purposes of adding the elements such as Cu ([0049]-[0053), Si ([0054]-[0056]), Fe/Mn ([0057]-[0060]). The optimization of these elements would have been an obvious matter to obtain the desired effects.
Wang does not teach addition of vanadium to the alloy.
Mueller teaches an aluminum-silicon alloy for casting with addition of vanadium (see title and claim 1). Mueller teaches about 4-10% of Si (see [0006]). Mueller teaches that the alloying additions may include Mg ([0007]), Cu ([0008]), Mn, TI, Sr ([0011]).
Mueller teaches that the addition of vanadium allows improved strength and elongation (see [0004]). Mueller teaches that the effective amount of V addition is 0.01-0.15% by weight (see [0004]), overlapping the claimed range and establishing a prima facie case of obviousness.
It would have been an obvious matter to the skilled artisan at time of filing to have made the alloy of Wang, and to have added vanadium as taught by Mueller in order to improve the strength and elongation.
Regarding claim 2, Wang teaches La may be added ([0023], [0043])).
Allowable Subject Matter
NO claims are allowable. NO prior art rejections are made for claims 3-10, only rejections under 35 USC 112 .
The prior art does not teach or fairly suggest applicant’s method of making the aluminum alloy, including the preheating of the separate alloys used for the melt,
The smelting with the magnesium control specified, and the sequence of adding ingredients. When all of the evidence is considered as a whole it seems unlikely that the skilled artisan would arrive at both of the composition required and also the method as required, without benefit of applicant’s work.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 20230008295 A1 is exemplary of die cast aluminums. US 20200325558 A1 teaches a semisolid casting method with Al-Si alloys. US 20230046008 A1 teaches a die cast ally with most of the required ingredient, but is silent as to REM.
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CHRISTOPHER S. KESSLER
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1734
/CHRISTOPHER S KESSLER/ Examiner, Art Unit 1759