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
Response to Amendment
1. The amendment filed on 05/21/2026 has been made of record and entered.
Specification, paragraphs [0047], [0070]- [0073], and [0075]-[0077] have been amended.
Claims 1 & 10 have been amended.
Claims 3 & 11 have been canceled.
Claims 1-2, 4-10, & 12-14 are currently pending in this application and under consideration.
Status of Withdrawn Claim(s)
2. Claims 10-14 were previously withdrawn from consideration. They have been rejoined with the elected product claims since the product claims are now found allowable.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(b) (Second Paragraph)
3. 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 13 & 14 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 claims appear not positively reciting the process steps for the method claimed. The claim is drawn to “a method for producing a green compact”, however it only recites the physical properties (compression ratio) of the green compact when the granule of claim 1 is tapped and filled into a column die and compressed by uniaxial pressing at a rate of 1 mm/s to 33 MPa.
Response to Applicants’ Arguments
4. Applicants’ remarks submitted with the amendment on 05/21/2026 have been fully reviewed, the arguments are deemed persuasive and the amendments to the claims appeared overcome the rejection(s) and/or objection(s) made in the last office action (dated 02/25/2026).
Reasons for allowance of the claimed subject matter can be found in Applicants’ response filed on 05/21/2026.
Claims 13 & 14 have been rejoined, however they are being rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) (Second Paragraph) for a reason as explained in the precedent paragraph.
5. THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Conclusion
6. Claims 1-2, 4-10, & 12-14 are pending. Claims 1-2, 4-10, & 12 are allowed. Claims 13 & 14 are rejected.
Contacts
7. 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/
August 06, 2026
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