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 .
Priority
The later-filed application must be an application for a patent for an invention which is also disclosed in the prior application (the parent or original nonprovisional application or provisional application). The disclosure of the invention in the parent application and in the later-filed application must be sufficient to comply with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, except for the best mode requirement. See Transco Products, Inc. v. Performance Contracting, Inc., 38 F.3d 551, 32 USPQ2d 1077 (Fed. Cir. 1994).
The disclosure of the prior-filed application, Application No. 62/681,623, fails to provide adequate support or enablement in the manner provided by 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph for one or more claims of this application. Application ‘623 does not provide support for “continually feeding” a pair of wires as in Claim 1 or “controlling voltage” as in Claim 8.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 05/18/2026 was filed after the mailing date of the non-final rejection on 12/23/2025. The submission complies with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Status of Claims
Claims 1, 3-5, and 8 are currently amended, Claims 2, 6, 7, and 9-54 are canceled, and Claims 55-59 are new.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 3 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In Claim 1, line 6, “atomized” should be “atomize.”
In Claim 3, line 2, “an” should be “a.”
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL - The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim 58 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. The disclosure as originally filed does not teach the use of a wire guide with a pair of wires. The wire guide is described in [0071] and [0073] for a single wire.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 10
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1, 3-5, 8, 55, 56, 58, and 59 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al (US 6,444,009 B1) in view of Anderson et al (US 5,125,574).
Liu et al teaches producing ultra-fine solid powders from a metal as represented below in the annotated drawing:
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The two wires can be fed continuously (column 3, line 2). Thermal device includes plasma spray (column 9, line 1). The atomizing nozzle configuration as a supersonic nozzle is not explicitly taught in Liu et al, but Liu et al refers to other prior art (column 10, lines 50-52).
Anderson et al teaches an atomizing nozzle in the form of supersonic spray (column 4, line 59). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the atomizing nozzle in Anderson et al in the process ultra-fine solid powder process in Liu et al, since Anderson et al teaches improved atomization performance, increased yield, and reduced cost of production (column 2, lines 46-64).
Regarding Claim 3, Liu et al teaches the arc is transferred within the stream of the torch. Anderson et al teaches a supersonic torch.
Regarding Claim 4, Liu et al teaches a powder collector and separator system to remove the powder with two atomizing means (column 10, line 53 to column 11, line 28) to prevent recirculation and reads on an “anti-satellite diffuser.”
Regarding Claim 5, Liu et al teaches two DC voltages, one “+” and one “-“ (column 8, lines 54 and 55).
Regarding Claim 8, Liu et al teaches supplying a DC voltage or pulsed power to form an arc (column 8, lines 54 and 55), which reads on controlling the voltage and current.
Regarding Claims 55 and 56, Liu et al teaches one wire is a cathode and one is an anode.
Regarding Claim 58, Liu et al teaches powered rollers as a wire-feeding device (column 8, lines 64-67), which reads on a wire guide.
Regarding Claim 59, Liu et al teaches supplying power to the feed wires (column 8, lines 52-55).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claims have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 57 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Liu et al does not suggest adding the wires centrally with the atomizing gas passage as claimed.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Tima M. McGuthry-Banks whose telephone number is (571)272-2744. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, 7:30 am to 4:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Keith D. Hendricks can be reached at (571) 272-1401. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Tima M. McGuthry-Banks
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1733
/Tima M. McGuthry-Banks/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1733
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