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
Claims 44-48 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 06/12/2026.
Applicant's election with traverse of Claims 25-43 in the reply filed on 06/12/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that 2013/0180360 does not disclose the claimed S, N, O or N amounts in molten steel and molten iron S composition differs from the molten steel amounts and the molten steel before provided to the turdish is 0.1-0.2%, outside of the claimed range. This is not found persuasive because Claim 4 is an optional embodiment, [0031] teaches a molten iron content of 0.005-0.1% S, overlapping with the claimed range, the converter than refines the S content to less than 0.005% [0033], reading on the claimed range.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
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 25-43 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 25 recites the limitation "to the one of a desired composition of a steel powder" in Line 7. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claims 26-43 are rejected from their dependency on claim 25.
Double Patenting
Claim 25-26 is provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 24 and 25 of copending Application No. 18/287106 in view of Hwang (US20130152740A1). The difference between the claims of the copending application and the present application is that the ‘106 application requires refining in a vacuum degasser, whereas the present application requires refining in a converter. However, Hwang teaches molten iron may be obtained from converter steelmaking and electric arc furnace is generally refined by ladle furnace or vacuum arc degasses to reduce the contents of P, S, O and N [0004].
This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection.
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/RICARDO D MORALES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1738
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