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 1-13 in the reply filed on 04/28/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 14-18 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected claims, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 04/28/2026.
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) 1-3, 8-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Martin et al. (US 2018/0133789).
Regarding claims 1-3, 8-10 Martin discloses metal matrix nanocomposite composition comprising metal-containing microparticles and nanoparticles, wherein the nanoparticles are chemically and/or physically disposed on surfaces of the microparticles (abstract). The composition is in powder form (claim 17). The microparticles contain an element selected from the group consisting of Al, Mg, Ni, Fe, Cu, Ti, V, Si, and combinations thereof (claim 4). Exemplary carbon or carbon-based materials for the nanoparticles and/or microparticles include (but are not limited to) graphite, activated carbon, graphene, carbon fibers, carbon nanostructures (e.g., carbon nanotubes), and diamond (e.g., nanodiamonds) [para 0236]. The nanoparticles are chemically and/or physically disposed on surfaces of the microparticles. That is, the nanoparticles may be attached using electrostatic forces, Van der Waals forces, chemical bonds, mechanical bonds, and/or any other force(s) (para 0096).
Regarding claims 11-12, Martin discloses the composition may contain from about 10 wt % to about 99.9 wt % of microparticles. In these or other embodiments, the composition contains from about 0.1 wt % to about 10 wt % of the nanoparticles (para 0021).
Regarding claim 13, As Martin discloses magnesium rich metal core particles as presently claimed, therefore it would have been obvious that when the magnesium-rich metal core particles without the nanodiamond particles bonded to the external surface have a core particle ignition temperature, and the composite particles have a composite particle ignition temperature would intrinsically be greater than the core particle ignition temperature.
Claim(s) 4-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Martin et al. (US 2018/0133789) as applied to claim 1, further in view of Myllymaki et al. (US 2016/0068398).
Regarding claim 4, Martin discloses Nanoparticles or microparticles may be spherical or of arbitrary shape with the largest dimension typically not exceeding the above largest dimensions (para 0227). Nanoparticles are particles with the largest dimension between about 1 nm and 1000 nm (para 0226). However, Martin fails to disclose nanodiamond having an amorphous carbon exterior.
Whereas, Myllymaki discloses method for producing zeta negative single digit carboxylated nanodiamond dispersion. The method comprises adjusting pH of zeta negative carboxylated nanodiamond suspension to at least 7, and subjecting the pH adjusted suspension to beads milling. The present invention further relates to zeta negative single digit carboxylated nanodiamond dispersion comprising zeta negative single digit carboxylated nanodiamond particles and a liquid medium, wherein zeta potential of the zeta negative single digit carboxylated nanodiamond dispersion is over −37 mV measured at pH over 7, zeta negative single digit carboxylated nanodiamond particle concentration in the dispersion is over 2 wt-% and D90 average primary particle size distribution of the zeta negative single digit carboxylated nanodiamond particles is from 2 nm to 12 nm (abstract). The carboxylated nanodiamond particles may contain graphite and amorphous carbon originating from the production of the nanodiamonds (para 0038).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was filed to include amorphous carbon as taught by Myllymaki on to nanodiamond of Martin motivated by the desire to have improved toughness and strength.
Regarding claims 5-7, Martin fails to disclose the amorphous carbon exterior is functionalized with amine functional group such that each negative zeta potential of -30 to less than 0 millivolts.
Whereas, Myllymaki discloses wherein the amorphous carbon exterior is functionalized such that each of the nanodiamond particles has a negative zeta potential (zeta negative carboxylates nanodiamond particles containing amorphous carbon may have their pH. adjusted by adding methyl amines to create a negative zeta potential of -30 mV or greater; figures 7; paragraphs [0038, 0050-0052, 0054]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify the nanodiamond of Martin to provide wherein the amorphous carbon exterior is functionalized with amine such that each of the nanodiamond particles has a negative zeta potential, as taught by Myllymaki, in order to provide customized zeta potentials for nanoparticle formulations regardless of the functional groups and to have excellent stability of nanodiamond.
Conclusion
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/RONAK C PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1788
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