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 .
This is in response to the Amendment dated March 2, 2026. The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office Action.
Response to Amendment
Election/Restrictions
This application contains claims 1-6 (composition) and 13-15 (product) drawn to an invention nonelected without traverse in the reply filed on October 20, 2025.
Specification
The abstract of the disclosure has been objected to because the word “said” is used in lines 3 and 6.
The objection of the abstract of the disclosure has been withdrawn in view of Applicant’s amendment.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 7-11 stand 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 7
line 8, the word “kind” is indefinite.
It is unclear what the word “kind” is intended to convey.1
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
I. Claim(s) 7 and 9-11 have been rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over EP 0 182 964 (‘964) in view of KR 100226912 (‘912).
The rejection of claims 7 and 9-11 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over EP 0 182 964 (‘964) in view of KR 100226912 (‘912) has been withdrawn in view of Applicant’s amendment.
II. Claim(s) 8 has been rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over EP 0 182 964 (‘964) in view of KR 100226912 (‘912) as applied to claims 7 and 9-11 above, and further in view of Steck et al. (“Zinc-Chromium Coated Steel Sheet: Properties and Production,” The 8th
International Conference on Zinc and Zinc Alloy Coated Steel Sheet Galvatech (2011), pp. 1-8).
The rejection of claim 8 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over EP 0 182 964
(‘964) in view of KR 100226912 (‘912) as applied to claims 7 and 9-11 above, and further in view
of Steck et al. has been withdrawn in view of Applicant’s amendment.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed March 2, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The rejection of claims 7-11 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, has been maintained for the following reasons:
Applicant states that that the word “kind” is used throughout the specification, and that based on the use of the word in the specification, any person having ordinary skill in the art would readily understand what this word means, in the context of the present description.
In response, while the word “kind” might be replaced in the claims by a synonym such as “type”, either one of the words would have still been indefinite in the claim because MPEP § 2173.05(b)(III)(E) states that “the addition of the word “type” to an otherwise definite expression (e.g., Friedel-Crafts catalyst) extends the scope of the expression so as to render it indefinite.”
Thus, the word “kind” added to the definite expression of the “oxide-hydroxide particles” extends the scope of the expression so as to render it indefinite.
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claims 7-11 define over the prior art of record because the prior art does not contain any language that teaches or suggests a method for depositing a chromium or zinc-free chromium alloy layer on a substrate, the method comprising the following steps of (a) providing, (b) providing and (c) contacting as presently claimed. Therefore, a person skilled in
the art would not have been motivated to adopt the above conditions, and a prima facie case of obviousness cannot be established.
EP 0182964 teaches an acidic zinc plating bath (page 3, line 26).
Claims 7-11 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
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 EDNA WONG whose telephone number is (571) 272-1349. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 7:00 AM- 3:30 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing
using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Luan Van can be reached at (571) 272-8521. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/EDNA WONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1795
1 Please see the Response to Arguments.
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