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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-2 and 7 in the reply filed on 01/15/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 3-6 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected group II, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Status of Claims
Claims 1-7 are pending. Claims 1-2 and 7 are presented for this examination. Claims 3-6 are withdrawn.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) was submitted on 08/29/2023, 07/23/2024, 04/28/2025 and 05/23/2025 and 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
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Honda (WO2020195012) in view of Nakano (US20200024706A1).
As for claims 1-2 and 7, Honda discloses a steel sheet for hot stamping use consisting of overlapping compositions as illustrated in Table 1 below. Area ratio of granular bainite is 10-95% and remainder of ferrite is 5-90%.
Table 1
Element
Applicant
(weight %)
Honda et al.
(weight %)
Overlap
(weight %)
C
0.4-0.7
0.15-0.7
0.4-0.7
Si
0.01-1.3
0.01-0.5
0.01-0.5
Mn
0.6-3
0.01-3
0.6-3
P
<=0.1
<=0.1
<=0.1
S
<=0.01
<=0.1
<=0.01
N
<=0.013
<=0.01
<=0.01
O
<=0.02
0
0
Al
0.001-0.5
0.0002-3
0.001-0.5
Cr
0.01-0.8
0-1
0.01-0.8
Nb
0-0.1
0-0.15
0-0.1
Ti
0-0.1
0-0.15
0-0.1
B
0-0.01
0-0.01
0-0.01
Mo
0-1
0-1
0-1
Co
0-2
0
0
Ni
0-3
3-15
3
Cu
0-1
0-1
0-1
V
0-1
0-1
0-1
W
0-1
0-1
0-1
Ca
0-0.01
0-0.01
0-0.01
Mg
0-1
0
0
REM
0-1
0-0.3
0-0.3
Sb
0-1
0
0
Zr
0-1
0
0
Sn
0-1
0-1
0-1
As
0-0.1
0
0
Nb (Claim 2)
0.001-0.1
0-0.15
0.001-0.1
Honda does not disclose instant claims 1 and 7 required wherein clause with respect to total area ratio of granular bainite and ferrite and ratio of granular bainite to total area ratio of granular bainite and ferrite.
Nakano discloses a steel with similar elemental compositions as Honda. Nakano discloses granular bainite and ferrite contained in the steel with appropriate area factions in order to obtain a high strength and excellent elongation and bendability. ([0047]) Broad range of ferrite is 30-50% and granular bainite is 5-20% by area. Hence, total area ratio of granular bainite and ferrite is expected to be 35-70%. In particular, Table 8 (Col 13) discloses Inventive Examples 5, 10, 18, 23, 29, 31 and 37 all have total area ratio of granular bainite and ferrite is 10-50%; and ratio of granular bainite to total area ratio of granular bainite and ferrite is 0.3-0.7 as claimed. Nakano discloses 30-50% ferrite and 5-20% granular bainite are achieved by annealing the cold rolled steel sheet at maximum heating temperature of Ac1 to Ac3 for 10 seconds or more followed by first cooling rate of 0.5-50 C/s and second cooling rate of 0.5-5 C/s. ([0105]-[0107])
It should be noted primary reference Honda expressly desires excellent strength and bendability in his claimed invention. (English translation pate 2 paragraph 5) Honda also discloses annealing after cold rolling. (English translation Page 12 last paragraph)
Hence, it would have been obvious to one skill in the art, at the time the invention is made, to modify annealing condition of Honda by applying maximum annealing temperature and time followed by first and second cooling rates as suggested by Nakano, in order to arrive at claimed steel sheet with the claimed ratios for the benefit of obtaining high strength and excellent elongation and bendability.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JENNY R WU whose telephone number is (571)270-5515. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:30 AM-5:00 PM.
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, Keith Hendricks can be reached on (571)272-1401. 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.
/JENNY R WU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1733
Prosecution Insights