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
Claim 13-15, 17-18, and 29-33 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected Groups, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 5/11/2026.
Applicant's election with traverse of Claims 1-7 and 9-12 in the reply filed on 5/11/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that the searching of all groups with claims 1-7, 9-15, 17-18, and 29-33 would not be a serious burden. This is not found persuasive: different search terms and strategies would be required for each of the different products and processes of making those products.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claim Interpretation
In Claim 1, line 7 “submicron” is interpreted in line with paragraph 0050 of the instant specification: less than 1 micron. The interpretation will be used for all dependent claims of claim 1.
Claim Objections
Claim 7 is objected to because of the following informalities: in line 2, “nickel iron” should read “nickel, iron”. Appropriate correction is required.
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) 1, 4-7, and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Muecke (US 20120244456 A1, cited in the 1/11/2024 IDS as US 9048498 B2).
Regarding Claim 1, Muecke teaches a metal substrate suitable for use in a metal-supported electrochemical cell, comprising:
a porous metal support comprising a first metal, configured as a layer and having pores ranging in size from 3 microns to 75 microns (Claim 4, 0029 – metallic substrate); and
a barrier layer applied onto one side of the porous metal support, the barrier layer comprising micron-sized grains of a second metal and submicron-sized grains of a metal oxide (0035 – a first anode layer comprising nickel particles/metal and yttria-stabilized zirconia/metal oxide or cerium oxide/metal oxide is applied to a side of the metal substrate; 0036 – the nickel/metal is between 3 and 20 µm and would be considered micron sized and the zirconia is between 0.5 µm and 1.5 µm, preferably around 0.6 µm, and would be submicron sized, 0.6 µm providing sufficient specificity ).
Regarding Claim 4, Muecke teaches the substrate of Claim 1. The layer of metallic substrate/porous metal support comprises a ferritic alloy (0030, Claim 3).
Regarding Claim 5, Muecke teaches the substrate of Claim 1. The first anode layer/barrier layer has a thickness between 10 and 80 µm (0036). Specifically, the first anode layer/barrier layer has a thickness of 20 µm (Table 1 – A1).
Regarding Claim 6, Muecke teaches the substrate of Claim 1. The micron-sized grains of the second metal (Ni) range in size from preferably 3 µm to 20 µm (0036), which falls within the claimed range of 2 to 20 microns. Specifically, the mean particle size of the Ni/second metal is be 12.5 µm (Table 1 – A1).
Regarding Claim 7, Muecke teaches the substrate of Claim 1. The second metal is nickel (0036).
Regarding Claim 9, Muecke teaches the substrate of Claim 1. The submicron-sized grains of metal oxide range in size from 0.5 µm to 1.5 µm (0036). Specifically, the metal oxide has a mean particle size of 0.6 µm (Table 1 – A1).
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) 2-3 and 10-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Muecke (US 20120244456 A1, cited in the 1/11/2024 IDS as US 9048498 B2).
Regarding Claim 2, Muecke teaches the substrate of Claim 1. The thickness of the metallic substrate/porous metal support can range between 200 and 1500 (0029; Table 1), which overlaps the claimed range of 80 microns to 1000 microns.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have routinely selected the overlapping portions of the disclosed thickness ranges as the selection of overlapping portions of ranges has been held to be a prima facie case of obviousness (see MPEP 2144.05).
Regarding Claim 3, Muecke teaches the substrate of Claim 1. The porosity of the metallic substrate/porous metal support ranges from 20% to 70% by volume (0029), which overlaps the claimed range of 25 vol. percent to 50 vol. percent.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have routinely selected the overlapping portions of the disclosed porosity ranges as the selection of overlapping portions of ranges has been held to be a prima facie case of obviousness (see MPEP 2144.05).
Regarding Claim 10, Muecke teaches the substrate of Claim 1. The metal oxide can be a doped cerium oxide (0013, 0035), which would comprise cerium and gadolinium.
Although Muecke only teaches embodiments where the metal oxide is yttria-stabilized zirconia, it has been held that choosing from a finite number of identified, predictable solutions, with a reasonable expectation for success, is likely to be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art (see MPEP 2143 E). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have selected doped cerium oxide as the metal oxide as Muecke teaches it as a possible metal oxide.
Regarding Claim 11, Muecke teaches the substrate of Claim 1. The submicron-sized grains of the metal oxide comprise a rare-earth doped ceria (0013, 0035 – gadolinium-doped cerium oxide, CGO).
Regarding Claim 12, Muecke teaches the substrate of Claim 11. The micron-sized grains comprise nickel (0036).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Ohtani (US 20140170532 A1) teaches a solid-oxide fuel cell comprising a support substrate formed from a porous metal (0030). A back surface layer is applied on a surface of the metal substrate (0008, Fig. 1). The back surface layer can comprise a metal such as nickel and a metal oxide, which can be micron and submicron-sized, respectively (Claim 6, 0032, 0086).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZIHENG LU whose telephone number is (703)756-1077. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30 - 5 ET.
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/ZIHENG LU/Examiner, Art Unit 1752
/Maria Laios/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1727
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