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 .
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 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) 1-24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saito et al, WO 2020129958, (equivalent to U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0292240).
Saito discloses incorporating an absorber such as SiO into a powder mixture for additive manufacturing. See paragraphs 0007 and 0044. The absorber has a higher light-absorbing ability than the other components in the powder mixture. See paragraph 0008. The other materials in the powder can include Al2O3 and ZrO2. The absorber particle is preferably smaller than the other particles. See paragraph 0024. The absorber should have a size of 10 microns or less and should be one third or less the size of the other particles. See paragraph 0025. The absorber can be present in small amounts of 10 vol% or less and 0.5 vol% or more See paragraphs 0072-0074. Suitable additional components of the powder other than the absorber include aluminum oxide, zirconium oxide, cordierite, zircon, mullite, yttrium oxide and aluminum titanate. See paragraph 0080. The powder mixture can be subjected to irradiation by a laser light. See paragraph 0086. The powder sinter, or melts and solidifies the inorganic material powder. See paragraph 0087. The laser can be a Nd:YAG laser or a Yb fiber laser. See paragraph 0091. Laser shaping is performed incrementally with high accuracy. See paragraph 0037-0038. The irradiation is performed region by region which is equated with applying the laser according to slice data. See paragraphs 0041-0042. The absorber powder is present in amounts of 0.5 vol.% or more and 10 vol.% or less. See claim 7. The structures formed would necessarily include alumina, silica and silicon monoxide since the starting materials can include aluminum oxide and mullite as well as silicon monoxide.
With regard to the claims as amended, since Saito teaches that the SiO can also include a positive amount of SiO2, (see paragraph 0049) , the compositions of Saito would render obvious the claimed amounts of SiO, SiO2 and Al2O3. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to vary the proportions of each component within the ranges disclosed by Saito which overlap with and/or encompass the claimed range in order to find the optimum composition.
Saito teaches using the powder in additive manufacturing processes wherein they are subjected to laser light/heat.
Applicant's arguments filed 5/27/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that although there is overlap between the claimed composition and the composition of Saito, the specification establishes unexpected results for the claimed invention. However, the examples in the instant specification are not commensurate in scope with the claimed invention because they are limited to particular powders and powder sizes and do not establish unexpected results over the entire claimed ranges. In order to establish unexpected results over the claimed range, the showing needs to show value over the entirety of the range as well as outside the range in order to established criticality for the range.
Applicant’s amendments have overcome the rejection over Davy et al.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 ELIZABETH M IMANI whose telephone number is (571)272-1475. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Wednesday 7AM-7:30; Thursday 10AM -2 PM.
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/ELIZABETH M IMANI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1789
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