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 .
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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mukai et al. (US20090014095A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Mukai teaches a rolled steel sheet with a chemical composition similar to the claimed composition for the following elements:
Elements
Claim 1
Prior Art Range
C
0.05-0.15
0.05-0.23 [0039]
Si
0.01-2
0.1-2 [0041]
Mn
0.1-4
0.3-4 [0042]
P
0-0.02
0-0.0013 (Table 1, [0050])
S
0-0.02
0-0.011 (Table 1, [0050])
Al
0.001-1
0.005-2 [0045]
N
0-0.02
9-71 ppm or 0.0009-0.0071 (Table 1)
Ti
0-0.5
0-0.050 (Table 1)
Co
0-0.5
0 (Table 1)
Ni
0-0.5
0-0.2 (Table 1)
Mo
0-0.5
0-0.49 (Table 1)
Cr
0-2
0-0.40 (Table 1)
O
0-0.01
9-39 ppm or 0.0009-0.0039 (Table 1)
B
0-0.01
0-19 ppm (Table 1)
Nb
0-0.5
0-0.5 (Table 1)
V
0-0.5
0-0.013 (Table 1)
Cu
0-0.5
0-0.3 (Table 1)
W
0-0.1
0 (Table 1)
Ta
0-0.1
0 (Table 1)
Sn
0-0.05
0 (Table 1)
Sb
0-0.05
0 (Table 1)
As
0-0.05
0 (Table 1)
Mg
0-0.05
0 (Table 1)
Ca
0-0.05
0-15 ppm (Table 1)
Y
0-0.05
0 (Table 1)
Zr
0-0.05
0 (Table 1)
La
0-0.05
0 (Table 1)
Ce
0-0.05
0 (Table 1)
Fe
Balance
Balance
The microstructure has 5-95% ferrite and 5-95% tempered martensite [0052]; overlapping with the claimed range of balance martensite and tempered martensite and 0-60%% of ferrite, pearlite and bainite and 0-1% of retained austenite. In the case where a claimed range overlaps with a range taught by the prior art, a prima facie case of obviousness exists. (See MPEP 2144.05(I))
The prior art teaches an average height of step differences of Ry of 10 microns or more (See claim 1) and the spacing or intervals is 30 microns or less (See claim 1); reading on the claimed range of more than 5 microns and intervals of 2 mm or less respectively.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mukai et al. (US20090014095A1) in view of Satoh et al. (US4861390).
Regarding Claim 3, the prior art teaches a method comprising:
Hot rolling a steel slab, coiling (winding) at 450-600 C (Table 2) the hot rolled steel sheet;
Cold rolling the sheet and heating and annealing and pickling [0058]
Mukai is silent regarding the rolling reduction of the hot rolling and cold rolling and if a lubricant was used. However, Satoh teaches a method of forming thin steel sheets comprising rolling (abstract) for automotive parts such as panels (Col. 2 lines 5-12) similar in application to that of Mukai [0002], where hot rolling reduction (draft) of 20%, 40% or 60% can be used (Col. 6, Lines 20-25) and where cold rolling in the form of skin passing may be performed of not more than 10% for the purpose of correcting shape and the adjustment of surface roughness (Col. 12, Lines 30-40); and teaches that during drafting or hot rolling, lubricant oil may be applied (Col. 4, Lines 50-58); therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art seeking to hot roll with a useable reduction range would have been motivated to use the claimed range of 30-70% at one stand before a final stand of a finishing mill for the purpose of forming a strong, thin material; further, an ordinary artisan would have been motivated to perform skin pass cold rolling the claimed range of 0.1-20% for the purpose of correcting shape and adjusting surface roughness to desired conditions; and would have been motivated to use lubricating oil during hot rolling for the purpose of protecting the rolls from wear and tear and preventing sticking.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-6 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The closest prior art of record is Mukai et al. as used above, which teaches a steel sheet with a similar composition to that of claim 5, however, the prior art does not teach or suggest the presence of each and every element in claim 2 including as Co, W, Y, La and Ce; regarding claim 4, Mukai does not teach or suggest the annealing treatment is a galvanizing heat treatment; and there is no teaching or suggestion to replacing the annealing heat treatment with a galvannealing heat treatment which serves a different function.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RICARDO D MORALES whose telephone number is (571)272-6691. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 9 am- 4 pm.
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/RICARDO D MORALES/Examiner, Art Unit 1738
/SALLY A MERKLING/SPE, Art Unit 1738