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 1-15 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 1-15 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 1 recites “immersing the anodized stainless steel of Step 2 into 0.05 to 1.0 M a phosphoric acid solution to widen pores(step 3). However, claim 1 does not recite which pores are to be widened. It is not clear if the pores are in the anodized film or in the stainless steel surface, which renders the instant claim 1 indefinite.
Additionally, claim 1 recites “coating with a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) coatable hydrophobic coating agent (Step 5)”. However, the instant claim 1 does not recite what makes the hydrophobic coating agent coatable with a self-assembled monolayer (SAM). It is also unclear if claimed coating with the hydrophobic coating agent forms a coating layer as a base for a subsequent deposition of a self-assembled monolayer or the claimed coating with the hydrophobic coating agent forms a self-assembled monolayer. The instant specification also does not provide a clear scope of why a coated surface is considered self-assembled monolayer coatable. In other words, what characteristics the coated surface have to allow a self-assemble monolayer to be coated have not been provided.
Claims 2-15 are also rejected because they depend on vague and indefinite claim 1.
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) 9-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over KR 2022-0122292(KR292).
KR292 teaches a method for forming a hydrophobic and corrosion resistant oxide form on a stainless steel surface(abstract), comprising:
Washing and drying the stainless steel surface[0033, 0061];
Anodizing the stainless steel surface at 65-75V for 2.5-3.5 hours to form a porous anodization film[0013, 0034];
Plasma treatment to remove organic residue and making the anodized film surface hydrophilic[0035]; and
Forming a self-assembled monolayer(SAM) with a coatable hydrophobic coating agent[0036].
Regarding claim 9-10, instant claim 1 recites a step of immersing the anodized stainless steel into 0.05-1.0M a phosphoric acid solution to widen pores, which is not taught by KR292. However, since the claimed immersion step 3 only widens pores and does not impart extra material to the anodized stainless steel, the examiner concludes that the process of KR292, although performed without the phosphoric acid immersion step, still produces a stainless steel with a hydrophobic and corrosion resist oxide film that is materially the same as the hydrophobic and corrosion resistant oxide film on the claimed stainless steel. The stainless steel produced by the process of KR292 reads on the claimed stainless steel with a hydrophobic and corrosion resistant anodized film.
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) 11-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over KR 2022-0122292(KR292) and further in view of CN 108660993 (CN996)
The teachings of KR292 are discussed in section 6 above. However, KR292 does not explicitly teach that the treated stainless steel is part of a medical device, a transportation vehicle, a water and sewage pipe or a water and sewage filter as claimed.
CN993 teaches a medical cleaning vehicle (abstract) comprising a water and sewage filter pipeline with a water inlet made of stainless steel (claim 4).
Regarding claims 11-15, it would have been obvious to have applied the stainless steel produced by the process of KR292 to making the water inlet in the medical cleaning vehicle of CN993 with expected success. The medical cleaning vehicle as taught by KR292 in view of CN993 reads on the claimed medical device, claimed land transportation vehicle, the claimed water and sewage pipeline, and the claimed water and sewage filter, based on the broadest reasonable interpretation.
Claim(s) 1-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR 2022-0122292(KR292), and further in view of KR2022-0109277(KR277)
KR292 teaches a method for forming a hydrophobic and corrosion resistant oxide form on a stainless steel surface(abstract), comprising:
Washing and drying the stainless steel surface[0033, 0061];
Anodizing the stainless steel surface at 65-75V for 2.5-3.5 hours to form a porous anodization film[0034];
Plasma treatment to remove organic residue and making the anodized film surface hydrophilic[0035]; and
Forming a self-assembled monolayer(SAM) with a coatable hydrophobic coating agent[0036].
Regarding claim 1, KR292 does not explicitly teach the claimed step of immersing the anodized stainless steel into 0.05-1.0M a phosphoric acid solution to widen pores.
KR277 teaches a method for forming a water-repellent coating on the surface of a metal substrate such as stainless steel(abstract, [0046]), wherein the metal surface is anodized and subjected to a pore widening step by immersing the metal surface in 0.1M phosphoric acid solution[0097].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have incorporate the step of immersion in 0.1M phosphoric acid as taught by KR277 after the anodization step of KR292 in order to achieve widen the pores in the anodized surface layer in the process of KR292 as taught by KR277.
Additionally, KR292 further teaches that anodizing voltage affects the physical properties of the metal be treated[0019], which indicates that the claimed anodizing voltage is a result effective variable. Therefore, it would have been well within the skills of an ordinary artisan to have been able to arrive at the claimed voltage during the anodization step of KR292 in view or KR277 via routing optimization in order to achieve desired physical properties in the treated metal surface.
Regarding claim 2, the table in [0063] of KR292 further teaches the claimed SUS 316 or SUS 316L stainless steel.
Regarding claim 3, KR292 further teaches that the anodization step uses an electrolyte comprising NH4F, ethylene glycol and water[0041].
Regarding claims 4-5, KR292 teaches the claimed anodizing time of 2.8-3.2 hours and 2.9-3.1 hours[0043]. Additionally, as set forth in rejection of claim 1 above, the claimed anodizing voltage is a result effective variable. Therefore, it would have been well within the skills of an ordinary artisan to have been able to arrive at the claimed voltage during the anodization step of KR292 in view or KR277 via routing optimization in order to achieve desired physical properties in the treated metal surface.
Regarding claim 6, KR292 further teaches that the hydrophobic coating agent is 1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-Perfluorodecyltrichlorosilane (FDTS), trichlorooctylsilane (OTS) or octadecyltrichlorosilane (ODTS) [0046, 0072] as claimed.
Regarding claims 7-8, KR292 further teaches that the contact angle for anodization is 160° or more with a corrosion inhibition rate of 90% or more[0044].
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
