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 Claims
Claims 1-13 are currently under examination.
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 5-7 and 13 is 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.
Claims 5-6 recite “a yield tensile strength”. However, strength properties of an Al alloy are generally measured either as tensile strength or yield strength. It is unclear the recited “yield tensile strength” is directed to a tensile strength or a yield strength. Therefore, the instant claims are vague and indefinite.
Claim 7 recites “excellent machinability performance” wherein the word “excellent” is a relative term with no standard by which one would be able to assess the metes and bounds of the claimed invention. Therefore, claim 7 is vague and indefinite.
Claim 13 recites the limitation "the extrusions" in line 7. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 5-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by EP 0826072(EP072).
EP072 teaches a 6XXX aluminum alloy that applies to the claimed Al alloy as follows:
Al alloy (wt%)
Instant Application
EP072 [0010]
Example 2,
Alloys 5 (Table 6)
Si
0.5-1.5
About 0.6-1.4
0.77
Mg
0.5-1.5
About 0.6-1.4
0.93
Cu
0.1-0.7
≤ about 0.6
0.29
Zn
0.3-1.2
About 0.4-1.4
0.73
Cr
0.05-0.35
About 0.05-0.3
0.15
Fe
≤ 0.8
≤ about 0.5
0.16
Mn
≤ 0.8
About 0.2-0.8
<0.01
Zr
≤ 0.15
-
-
Ti
≤ 0.15
0.02-0.05(Table 6)
0.05
Other elements (Unavoidable impurities)
≤ 0.05 each, and
≤ 0.15 total
Impurities
Impurities
Balance being Al
Balance being Al
Balance being Al
Balance being Al
Tensile Strength
>295MPa
363MPa
Regarding claims 1-2, Alloy 5 in Example 2 of EP072 is compositionally the same as claimed Al alloy and has a tensile strength that reads on the claimed tensile strength.
Regarding claims 5-6, EP072 further teaches that the Al alloy is worked by extrusion or hot rolling[0019].
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.
Claim(s) 7-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over EP 0826072(EP072).
The teachings of EP072 are discussed in section 6 above.
Regarding claim 8, EP072 further teaches that the hot rolled or extruded Al alloy has a thickness of about 0.15-0.30 inch[0019], which overlaps the claimed thickness. Therefore, a prima facie case of obviousness exists. See MPEP 2144.05. The selection of claimed thickness from the thickness disclosed by EP072 would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art since EP072 teaches the same utilities in its disclosed product thickness.
Regarding claim 9, although the claimed extruded and hot rolled Al alloy thickness is higher than the extruded or hot rolled Al alloy thickness, it would have been well within the skills of an ordinary artisan to have arrived at the claimed thickness via routine optimization since the claimed Al alloy thickness is a result effective variable that varies depending on the application and would affect the final properties of the Al alloy product.
Regarding claims 10-13, EP072 further teaches a method of manufacturing an Al alloy comprising homogenizing a direct chill cast ingot[0025] at about 950-1050°F(510-566°C) for about 2-20 hours[0018], hot working the homogenized ingot by extrusion, hot rolling or forging at 800-950°F(427-510°C), cooling [0020], solution heat treatment at a temperature 1000-1080°F(538-582°C)[0021], rapid cooling to room temperature[0023] and artificially aging the Al alloy product at 300-400°F(149-504°C) for 2-20 hours[0024].
Therefore, the process of EP072 comprises the same steps as claimed method. The process conditions such as temperature and duration as taught by EP072 significantly overlap the process conditions in the claimed method. A prima facie case of obviousness exists. See MPEP 2144.05. The selection of claimed process conditions from the process conditions of EP072 would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art since the processing conditions and steps as taught by EP072 has the same utilities in the process of manufacturing the 6xxx series Al alloy as claimed.
Regarding claim 7, since EP072 teaches a process comprising process steps that are the same as claimed under process conditions that are significantly similar to the claimed process conditions using the same starting Al alloy material, one of ordinary skill in the art would have expected the final property of the produced Al alloy to be significantly similar to claimed Al alloy product, including the B grade machinability as claimed.
Claim(s) 3-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over EP 0826072(EP072), and further in view of Koch et al. US 2001/0006606(Koch)
The teachings of EP072 are discussed in section 6 and 8 above. However EP072 does not explicitly teach that the Al alloy includes greater than 75% or greater than 90% scrap as recited in claims 3-4.
Koch teaches a 6XXX aluminum alloy comprising at least 50% scrap(abstract), preferably at least 80% and ideally 100% scrap[0009].
Regarding claims 3-4, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have incorporated ideally 100% scrap as the source of Al alloy as taught by Koch into the Al alloy of EP072 since Koch teaches using scrap metal leads to relatively pure base material without high contents of undesirable accompanying elements[0007].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LOIS L ZHENG whose telephone number is (571)272-1248. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8:15-4:45.
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LOIS ZHENG
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1733
/LOIS L ZHENG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1733