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 .
Response to Election/Restrictions
1. Applicant's election with traverse of Group I, claims 1-9 in the reply filed on 01/22/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that “the Office has not provided any indication that the content of the claims interpreted in light of the description was considered in making the assertion of a lack of unity and therefor has not met the burden necessary to support the assertion...”. This is not found persuasive because of the following reasons.
The technical feature of “a granule” of Group I does not appear to be a special technical feature because it does not make a contribution over the prior art as this technical feature of “a granule” is known and disclosed by a newly discovered prior art to Yang et al. (US 2019/0231650 A1). See rejection section for detailed explanation. The method claims of Group II are subjected to rejoinder upon allowance of the product claims once the elected product claims are found allowable, in accordance with the MPEP. However, for purposes of search and examination on the merits, the restriction is maintained.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
2. Claims 10-14 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention(s), there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 01/22/2026.
Status of Application
3. This application is a 371 of PCT/JP2021/047686, which was filed on 12/22/2021.
Claims 1-14 were originally presented in this application for examination.
Claims 1-14 are currently pending in this application.
Specification
4. The examiner has not checked the specification to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors (grammatical, typographical, and idiomatic). Cooperation of the applicant(s) is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant(s) may become aware of in the specification, in the claims and in any further amendment(s) that applicant(s) may file.
Applicant(s) is also requested to complete the status of the copending applications referred to in the specification by their Attorney Docket Number or Application Serial Number, if any.
The status of the parent application(s) and/or any other application(s) cross-referenced to this application, if any, should be updated in a timely manner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102(a)(1)
5. The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yang et al. (US 2019/0231650 A1), hereinafter “Yang et al.”
Yang e al. discloses a powder, which comprises zirconia, yttria, and a binder (e.g. polyvinyl alcohol, polyethylene glycol, acrylic resin, and carboxymethyl cellulose) (see p. 3, claim 11). The powder has been granulated and thus it is in the form of granules (p. 3, claim 16). The average particle diameter of the granulated particles is 30 to 50 um (p. 3, claim 16).
Regarding claims 1, 3, 5, & 8, the reference appears to teach the claimed granule comprising zirconia, a stabilizing agent (yttria), and a binder (acrylic) (p. 3, claim 11).
Regarding claim 1, the reference does not indicate that, when granules are filled in a columnar mold with tapping, in accordance with JIS R 1628:1997, compressed at a speed of 1 mm/s by uniaxial pressing and pressed to 33 MPa, the compression ratio R calculated by the formula (I) is 0.46-0.53; (I): R = (H-D)/H, (wherein H represents a height of the granule tapped and filled into the columnar die before applying pressure, and D represents an amount of strain up to 33 MPa).
It is considered this feature is a limitation on physical property value of the compression ratio in an invention of granules as a product. Having selected the special parameter of the compression ratio and the conditions for measuring the compression ratio do not constitute differences in the invention defining features of the granules as a product. Since the granules of the reference are made of the same materials and by spray drying, which is the same technique is used in the instant application, when subjected to the same conditions as required by the claim, it is inherent and expected that the same compression ratio R would be obtained.
Regarding claim 2, same discussion on claim 1 also applies to claim 2, since this feature of claim 2 is a limitation of the compression ratio.
Regarding claim 4, the reference teaches the granules having an average particle diameter of 30 to 50 um (p. 3, claim 16), which overlaps with the claimed range of 45 to 200 nm.
Regarding claims 6 & 9, the molar percentage of yttrium oxide in zirconia powder is 3 to 5% (p. 3, claim 11 & p. 2, Table 1). The disclosed range appears falling well within the claimed range of 2.5 to 8.5 mol%.
Regarding claim 7, the density of the green body is 2.5 to 3.3 g/cm3 (p. 3, claim 20 & p. 2, Table 2), which overlaps with the claimed range of 2.9 to 3.5 g/cm3.
Citations
6. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. All references are cited for related art. See PTO-892 Form prepared.
Conclusion
7. Claims 1-14 are pending. Claims 1-9 are rejected. Claims 10-14 are withdrawn. No claims are allowed.
Contacts
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Primary Examiner CAM N. NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-1357. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F (8:30 am – 5:00 pm) at alternative worksite or at cam.nguyen@uspto.gov.
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.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anthony Zimmer, can be reached at 571-270-3591. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Cam N. Nguyen/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1736
/CNN/
February 20, 2026
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