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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I: claims 1-5 in the reply filed on 1/12/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 6-16 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to nonelected inventions, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 1/12/2026.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 3 are objected to because of the following informalities: In claims 1 and 3, the element names should not be capitalized, because they are common nouns, not proper nouns. For example, “Gold” should read –gold–. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim 5 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.
The term “good heat and electrical conductivity” in claim 5 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “good heat and electrical conductivity” is not defined by the claim, 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. It is unclear what level of heat conductivity and electrical conductivity would and would not be considered “good,” which renders the metes and bounds of the claim indefinite. For the purposes of examination, claim 5 is given the broadest reasonable interpretation such that any alloy reading on claim 1 is considered to have “good heat and electrical conductivity.”
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)(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(s) 1-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Bales (US 4,396,578).
Regarding claim 1, Bales teaches a jewelry alloy consisting essentially of, by weight, about 21-36% silver, 10-23% palladium, 3-15% nickel, 25-42% copper, 3-17% zinc, 0-25% gold, 0-5% platinum, 0-3% tin, and 0-3% iron (Abstract, claims 1 and 3).
Regarding claims 2 and 3, Bales teaches a preferred composition containing, by weight, 25.30% silver, 16.80% palladium, 9.60% nickel, 32.40% copper, 13.40% zinc, 1.55% platinum, 0.86% gold, and trace amounts of iron and tin (col. 1 ln. 67 – col. 2 ln 12). Note that trace amount meets the limitation of predetermined proportions.
Regarding claims 4-5, Bales teaches wherein the alloy is lustrous, tarnish resistant, and corrosion resistant (Abstract, col. 1 ln. 40-53, col. 2 ln. 20-24). Bales further teaches that its alloy is durable and may be plated with rhodium (col. 1 ln. 15-17, col. 2 ln.27-31), which further lends to durability. Bales discloses that its alloy can be made into wire (col. 2 ln. 23-25), which is considered ductile by definition. Bales does not explicitly state that its alloy has good heat and electrical conductivity. However, the term “good heat and electrical conductivity” is indefinite, as discussed above. Bales teaches an alloy that reads on claim 1 and is thus considered to meet the limitation of having “good heat and electrical conductivity.” Examiner notes that all metals are thermally and electrically conductive due to the presence of free valence electrons. Furthermore, the majority of the alloy of Bale is made up of silver, copper, and gold, which are well known by those skilled in the art to be the most thermally and electrically conductive metals. Thus, the alloy of Bale meets the limitation of having good heat and electrical conductivity.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANTHONY M LIANG whose telephone number is (571)272-0483. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:00am-5:00pm.
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/ANTHONY M LIANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1734