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 1-12are examined in the office action.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in CN on 2022-12-08. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the 202211572075.8 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Should applicant desire to obtain the benefit of foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) prior to declaration of an interference, a certified English translation of the foreign application must be submitted in reply to this action. 37 CFR 41.154(b) and 41.202(e).
Failure to provide a certified translation may result in no benefit being accorded for the non-English application.
Information Disclosure Statement
In nonprovisional applications, applicants and other individuals substantively involved with the preparation and/or prosecution of the application have a duty to submit to the Office information which is material to patentability as defined in 37 CFR 1.56. The provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98 provide a mechanism by which patent applicants may comply with the duty of disclosure provided in 37 CFR 1.56 using an IDS. The IDS may be filed using form PTO/SB/08. Applicants and other individuals substantively involved with the preparation and/or prosecution of the patent application also may want the Office to consider information for a variety of other reasons; e.g., to make sure that the examiner has an opportunity to consider the same information that was considered by these individuals, or by another patent office in a counterpart or related patent application filed in another country. See MPEP § 609.
Specification
Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure.
The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details.
The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided.
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because it contains phrases which can be implied: see lines 6, 10. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
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 1-12 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.
Regarding claims 1-12, claim 1 recites “subjecting the neodymium iron boron magnet to electrochemical deposition in a diffusion water-based solution to obtain a neodymium iron boron magnet containing a heavy rare earth”. Although the term “heavy rare earth” is not followed by the term “element”, it is interpreted as a heavy rare earth element. The term “heavy rare earth” in claim 1 is a relative term which renders the claims indefinite. The aforementioned term is not defined by the claims, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. As shown in Rare Earth Elements: A New Approach to the Nexus of Supply, Demand and Use: Exemplified along the Use of Neodymium in Permanent Magnets of Zepf (NPL’1), the term “heavy rare earth” is subjective and include different elements depending on the authors of different works (Please see 2.1.3 Light, Medium and Heavy REE, Table 2.2, pages 14-15). As neither the specification nor the claims provide an explicit definition for the term and there exists various interpretations for the term, it is unclear what element(s) would be required to meet the recited term and thereby the scope of the claims. Claims 2-12 are dependents of claim 1, do not resolve the aforementioned issues and thereby also indefinite.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by WO 2022/091286 A1 via its US English equivalent US 2023/0377783 A1 of Iwasaki (US’783).
Regarding claim 1, WO 2022/091286 A1 via its US English equivalent US 2023/0377783 A1 of Iwasaki (US’783) teaches “a rare earth sintered magnet, a method of manufacturing the rare earth sintered magnet, a rotor including the rare earth sintered magnet, and a rotating machine including the rare earth sintered magnet” “[0008] According to the present disclosure, there is provided the grain boundary phase including the Sm enriched portions, in which Sm is enriched by the Sm substitution in the crystalline NdO phase, and the heavy rare earth element RH enriched portions, in which the heavy rare earth element RH is enriched at least on part of the peripheries of the Sm enriched portions; this allows the heavy rare earth element RH to diffuse deeper into the rare earth sintered magnet while suppressing the deterioration of the magnetic properties.” “[0016] A rare earth sintered magnet 1 according to Embodiment 1 is an R—Fe—B system rare earth sintered magnet in which the contained rare earth element R is mainly composed of a light rare earth element RL and a heavy rare earth element RH. The light rare earth element RL includes at least Nd and Sm. Another light rare earth element RL may be included. The heavy rare earth element RH includes at least Dy or Tb.” “The heavy rare earth element RH present in the main phase 2 contributes to the improvement of the coercive force but decreases the residual magnetic flux density because the magnetic moment of the heavy rare earth element RH and the magnetic moment of Fe are coupled antiparallel to each other. Thus, by making the content of the heavy rare earth element RH higher in the grain boundary phase 3 than in the main phase 2, the scarce heavy rare earth element RH can be saved while maintaining the magnetic properties with high residual magnetic flux density and high coercive force.” [0039] “The sintering-and-aging process 24 enables to produce the sintered compact provided with the plurality of regions of the main phase 2 each having the R2Fe14B crystal structure containing at least Nd as the rare earth element R, and the grain boundary phase 3 having the Sm enriched portions 4 in which Sm is enriched by Sm substitution in the crystalline NdO phase.”
The prior art further teaches that the grain boundary diffusion process that comprises: “[0040] As shown in FIG. 2 , the grain boundary diffusion process 31 includes an adhesion process 32 for adhering the heavy rare earth element RH to the sintered compact produced in the sintered magnet production process 21 to produce a diffusion precursor, and a diffusion process 33 for heat-treating the diffusion precursor to diffuse the heavy rare earth element RH into the grain boundary. In the diffusion process 33, the heavy rare earth element RH is selectively diffused into at least a part of the grain boundary phase 3 on the peripheries of the Sm enriched portions 4. In the grain boundary diffusion process 31, a known grain boundary diffusion method may be used. Various techniques have been proposed for the grain boundary diffusion method depending on the form of supply of the heavy rare earth element RH; typical examples thereof include a coating diffusion method, a sputtering diffusion method, and a vapor diffusion method. The grain boundary diffusion process 31 may be performed simultaneously with the sintering-and-aging process 24. [0041] The grain boundary diffusion process 31 using the coating diffusion method is described. In the adhesion process 32, a slurry prepared by mixing a powdery heavy rare earth element RH compound with water or an organic solvent is adhered to the surface of the sintered compact to produce a diffusion precursor. The adhesion is performed by spraying, dip coating, spin coating, screen printing, electrodeposition, or the like. In the diffusion process 33, the heavy rare earth element RH is diffused into the inside of the diffusion precursor by heat-treating the diffusion precursor at a temperature equal to or lower than that of the sintering process. The heat treatment is performed at a temperature lower than that of the sintering process, for example, 300 deg C. to 1000 deg C., for 0.1 hours to 100 hours, preferably 1 hour to 20 hours. [0042] The grain boundary diffusion process 31 using the sputtering diffusion method is described. In the adhesion process 32, a thin film of an elemental metal or alloy composition of the heavy rare earth element RH is formed on the surface of the sintered compact in a dry environment to produce the diffusion precursor. In the diffusion process 33, the heavy rare earth element RH is diffused into the inside of the diffusion precursor by heat-treating the diffusion precursor at a temperature equal to or lower than that of the sintering process. The heat treatment is performed at a temperature lower than that of the sintering process, for example, 300 deg C. to 1000 deg C., for 0.1 hours to 100 hours, preferably 1 hour to 20 hours. [0043] The grain boundary diffusion process 31 using the vapor diffusion method is described. In the adhesion process 32, the sintered compact and a supply source of the heavy rare earth element RH are placed in a vacuum furnace. In the diffusion process 33, the heavy rare earth element RH is diffused into the inside of the diffusion precursor by heat-treating the diffusion precursor at a temperature equal to or lower than that of the sintering process. In the heat treatment, the heavy rare earth element RH is supplied to the diffusion precursor through a gas phase by vacuum heating. The heat treatment is performed at a temperature lower than that of the sintering process, for example, 600 deg C. to 900 deg C., for 0.1 hours to 100 hours, preferably 1 hour to 20 hours. The vapor diffusion method can shorten the time of the grain boundary diffusion process 31 because the adhesion process 32 and the diffusion process 33 of the heavy rare earth element RH can be performed at the same time.” thereby reading on the instant claimed limitations. {abstract, [0001]-[0045], claims 10-19}.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOPHY S. KOSHY whose telephone number is (571)272-0030. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30 AM- 5:00 PM.
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/JOPHY S. KOSHY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1733
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