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 .
Status of the Claims
Claims 1-7 are pending wherein claims 1 and 3-7 have been preliminarily amended.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3, 6 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Gebresenbut et al. (Syntheses optimization, structural and thermoelectric properties of 1/1 Tsai-type quasicrystal approximants in RE-Au-SM systems (RE = Yb, Gb and SM = Si, Ge).
In regard to claims 1, 3 and 7, Gebresenbut et al. discloses the syntheses of Yb15.78Au65.22Ge19.00, Gd14.34Au67.16Ge18.5 and Gd14.19Au69.87Si15.94 (abstract and page 2, left column). Gebresenbut et al. discloses sealing the masses of Yb, Gd, Au, Ge and Si in a stainless steel tube, filling the tube with an inert atmosphere and heated to a temperature to melt the samples (page 2, right column). This is the same or substantially similar to the melting that occurs in the instant invention [0039]. Therefore, Au-X-RE-based hypermaterial dispersed in a gold matrix phase would be present. MPEP 2112.01 I.
In regard to claim 2, the Gd14.19Au69.87Si15.94 alloy when converted into weight percentages rather than atomic percentages as provided in Gebresenbut et al. would have 83.7 weight percent gold, 13.6 weight percent gadolinium and 2.7 weight percent silicon and would therefore anticipate the claim.
In regard to claim 6, the Gd14.34Au67.16Ge18.5 sample would with the subscript of Ge being represented by “a” and the subscript of Gd being represented by “b” would have an a:b ratio of 18.5:14.34, which would be 1.29 and the range set forth in claim 6 is approximately is 1.14 to 1.35 and 1.29 would be within this range and therefore anticipate the claim.
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.
Claims 4 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gebresenbut et al. (Syntheses optimization, structural and thermoelectric properties of 1/1 Tsai-type quasicrystal approximants in RE-Au-SM systems (RE = Yb, Gb and SM = Si, Ge).
In regard to claim 4, Gebresenbut et al. discloses the syntheses of Yb15.78Au65.22Ge19.00, Gd14.34Au67.16Ge18.5 and Gd14.19Au69.87Si15.94 (abstract and page 2, left column). The Gd14.19Au69.87Si15.94 sample would with the subscript of Si being represented by “a” and the subscript of Gd being represented by “b” would have an a:b ratio of 15.94:14.19, which would be 1.12, which would be close enough to the ratio of 8:7 or 1.142 as claimed to establish prima facie obviousness. MPEP 2144.05 I.
In regard to claim 5, Gebresenbut et al. discloses the syntheses of Yb15.78Au65.22Ge19.00, Gd14.34Au67.16Ge18.5 and Gd14.19Au69.87Si15.94 (abstract and page 2, left column). The Gd14.34Au67.16Ge18.5 sample would with the subscript of Ge being represented by “a” and the subscript of Gd being represented by “b” would have an a:b ratio of 18.5:14.34, which would be 1.29, which would be close enough to the ratio of 9.5:7 or 1.37 as claimed to establish prima facie obviousness. MPEP 2144.05 I.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Ning, Yuantao. "Properties and applications of some gold alloys modified by rare earth additions." Gold Bulletin 38.1 (2005): 3-8.
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/JESSEE R ROE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1759
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