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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group V (Claims 14-15) in the reply filed on 03/16/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 1-13 and 16-22 are withdrawn. Claims 14-15 are examined herein.
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 14-15 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.
Claim 14 recites “EBSD observation” in line 24. Please spell out the full term of EBSD to improve claim clarity. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (US 2023/0045797), and further in view of Kestens (Texture and Microstructures, 1996, Vol. 26-27, Page 321-335) and Natori (WO 2020/149405A1, US 12,283,845 is used as translation).
Regarding claims 14 and 15, Lee discloses (Abstract; [0030] to [0060]) a non-oriented electrical steel sheet with a composition that overlaps with the instant claimed composition and therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have selected amounts of each element from the ranges disclosed in Lee to produce a steel composition that meets the recited composition in claim 14. The recited amount of O in claim 14 is a well-known impurity level oxygen in non-oriented electrical steel. It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to control the O level as low as possible in order to make a non-oriented electrical steel having good magnetic properties.
The left side of formula (1) calculated based on the composition of Specimen A1 to A4 in Lee is in the range of -4 to -3, which meets the recited formula (1).
Element
Claim 14
(mass %)
Lee
(mass %)
Overlap
(mass %)
C
≤0.01
≤0.005
≤0.005
Mn+Ni+Co+Pt+Pb+Cu+Au
<2.5
0.05-0.55 Mn
0-0.05 Ni
0-0.01 Cu
0.05-0.61
Si
1.5-4.0
1.5-4.0
1.5-4.0
Al
0-4.0
0.5-1.5
0.5-1.5
P
≤0.4
≤0.02
≤0.02
S
≤0.04
≤0.005
≤0.005
N
≤0.01
≤0.005
≤0.005
Sn
0-0.4
0-0.1
0-0.1
Sb
0-0.4
0-0.1
0-0.1
Cr
0.00-0.1
0-0.05
0.00-0.05
B
0-0.005
0-0.002
0-0.002
O
0-0.02
impurity
impurity
Mg+Ca+Sr+Ba+Ce+La+Nd+Pr+Zn+Cd
0.00-0.01
0-0.005 Mg
0-0.005
Fe + Impurities
Balance
Balance
Balance
Lee is silent on Styl/Stot, S411/Stot, S411/Stra, d411/dave, d411/dtyl and d411/dtra as recited in claims 14 and 15. However, Styl/Stot, S411/Stot, S411/Stra, d411/dave, d411/dtyl and d411/dtra depend on the steel composition and the method of making the steel.
Lee discloses a method of making the steel sheet, comprising: reheating the slab to 1200° C or less, hot-rolling to manufacture a hot-rolled sheet, subjecting the hot-rolled sheet to cold rolling, and final annealing ([0082] to [0093]).
The difference between the method of Lee and the method of instant Specification is that Lee does not disclose that the cold rolling is performed in a width direction at a rolling reduction of 20% to 50%. Kestens teaches a method of making a non-oriented electrical steel with optimized texture, comprising performing cold rolling on a hot rolled steel sheet with a rolling direction perpendicular to the hot rolling direction at a true strain of 0.6 followed by annealing at 730 ºC (Abstract; Page 323, 2nd paragraph; Page 330 to Page 334). Thus, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to perform cold rolling on a hot rolled steel sheet with a rolling direction perpendicular to the hot rolling direction at a true strain of 0.6 as taught by Kestens in the process of Lee in order to make a non-oriented steel sheet with optimized texture as disclosed by Kestens. The reduction ratio R can be calculated from true strain: R=1-e-0.6=45%, which meets the reduction ratio disclosed in instant Specification. The annealing temperature disclosed in Lee also meet the annealing temperature disclosed in instant Specification.
Lee in view of Kestens does not teach a skin pass step and a heat treatment step after the skin pass step. Natori teaches a method of making a non-oriented electrical steel that is analogous to the method of Lee and discloses that performing skin pass at 1-10% on the cold-rolled steel sheet is beneficial for stain induced grain growth (Col 10, Ln 1 to Col 12, Ln 55). Thus, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to perform skin pass to the cold-rolled steel sheet as taught by Natori in the process of Lee in view of Kestens in order to promote stain induced grain growth as disclosed by Natori. The reduction ratio of skin pass disclosed by Natori overlaps the reduction ratio of skin pass. Natori discloses after the skin pass step, the steel is annealed at 750-900 ºC for 0.5-5 hours (Col 12, Ln 15-25), which meets the annealing conditions disclosed in instant Specification (see [0096] of instant Specification).
In view of the fact that Lee in view of Kestens and Natori teaches a steel composition that meets the recited composition in claim 14 and a method of making the steel sheet with processing conditions that meet the processing conditions disclosed in instant Specification, one of ordinary skill in the art would expect that the steel sheet disclosed by Lee in view of Kestens and Natori to meet the recited Styl/Stot, S411/Stot, S411/Stra, d411/dave, d411/dtyl and d411/dtra as recited in claims 14 and 15. “Where the claimed and prior art products are identical or substantially identical in structure or composition, or are produced by identical or substantially identical processes, a prima facie case of either anticipation or obviousness has been established.” In re Best, 562 F.2d 1252, 1255, 195 USPQ 430, 433 (CCPA 1977). See MPEP 2112.01 I.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Xiaowei Su whose telephone number is (571)272-3239. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00-5:00.
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/XIAOWEI SU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1733
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