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. 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. Claims 1 7 -26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bian (US 2011/0132502) . Regarding claim 1 7 , Bian discloses a hot-formed steel part [0012] , wherein the steel has a composition that consists of the following , by weight% : Element Claimed range Prior art- Bian Table 1; [0026]; claim 17 C 0.22-0.35% 0.29; 0.25-0.6% Mn 0.50-1.70% 1.13; 0.5-2.0% Cr 0.50-1.70% 0.43; U p to 1.2% B 0.001-0.01% 0.001; 0.00 0 8-0.005% Ti 0.01-0.06% 0.03; Up to 0.05% Si <0.40% 0.24; Up to 0.40% Al <0.10% 0.035; 0.01-0.06% P <0.10% 0.017; Up to 0.03% Fe remainder remainder The respective amounts of elements taught by Bian overlap with the claimed ranges ([0026], see Table 1 examples; claims 16-18). In the case where the claimed ranges “overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art” a prima facie case of obviousness exists. In re Woodruff , 919 F.2d 1575, 16 USPQ2d 1934 (Fed. Cir. 1990), MPEP 2144.05 . The composition containing 0.29%C, 1.13%Mn, 0.6%Cr, 0.1%Mo, 0.1%Ni, 0.03%Ti, and 0.004%N also meets the recited relation ship: 540 ≤ (830 - 270*C% - 90*Mn% - 70*Cr% - 83*Mo% - 37*Ni%) ≤ 600 [yields 596]; and Ti% ≥ 2.5*N%. Bian also discloses that the steel has a microstructure that consists of , in surface fractions: 9 0% of a mixture of bain ite (40%) & ferrite (50%), a residual austenite portion of 6% and a martensite portion of 4% ([0019-0021], [0046])- this overlaps with claimed ranges. It is also noted that term “and/or” is taken to mean OR. Accordingly, recited steel part structure is at least rendered obvious. As to cla i m 18 , B ian tea c hes a residual austenite portion below 10% [0019], which overlaps with claimed portion of less than or equal to 5 % . As to claim s 19-25, Bian discloses respective amounts of C, Mn, Mo, Si, Ni, Cu, and V that overlap with recited ranges (see [0026] ; claims 16-18 ). In the case where the claimed ranges “overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art” a prima facie case of obviousness exists. MPEP 2144.05 . As to claim 26, Bian teaches the steel composition containing 0.29%C, 1.13%Mn, 0.6%Cr, 0.1%Mo, 0.1%Ni, 0.03%Ti, and 0.004%N also meets the recited relationship: 540 ≤ (830 - 270*C% - 90*Mn% - 70*Cr% - 83*Mo% - 37*Ni%) ≤ 600 [yields 596] . Claims 27-32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bi a n as applied to claim 17 above, and in view of Kurosawa et al. (JP 2006-052459-A, see attached translation, hereafter “Kurosawa”) . Rega r ding claim 27, Bian discloses a method of manufacturing a steel part comprising [0011-0012]: hot-forming a steel semi-finished product in the austenitic phase and having a recited composition by weight - rejection of claim 17 above is incorporated herein for the steel composition. With respect to cooling, Bian discloses cooling down to the bainite forming temperature and after the end tempering period, cooling down to room temperature [0019]. Bian also teaches that the austenitizing temperature of the steel is within the range of 750-810°C [0027, 0029], which overlaps with 750 °C just before cooling down to the bainitic forming temperature. Bian lacks specific cooling rate of between 0.1-0.5 °C /s. Examiner notes that cooling rate of 0.2-0.5 °C /s from 750 °C to room temperature meets the recited cooling conditions. Such cooling rate is known in the steel manufacturing art. Analogous to Bian [0002, 0028] , Kurosawa also discloses hot forming steel part s useful for mechanical structural parts such as automobile shafts [0002] . After hot working, Kurosawa teaches cooling rate of 0.2 °C/s in order to obtain a sufficiently uniform and fine bainitic structure [0041] , which falls within the claimed cooling rate range of 0.2- 0.5 °C/s . Bian desires to form ‘bainitic grade’ structure. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to perform cooling at rate of 0.2°C/s in method of Bian with a motivation to obtain a sufficiently uniform and fine bainitic structure . As to claim 28 , Bian discloses the steel blanks have been split from a previously cold-formed or cold-rolled flat product [0034], prior to hot forming. As to claim 29, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to carry out cold machining on the hot-formed semi-finished product after cooling in the method of Bian order to fabricate a desired size/shape of the target product, such as vehicle part pillars bumpers [0002, 0028] As to claim 30 -31 , Bian does not mention induction hardening. However, Kurosawa teaches performing induction hardening in order to refine austenite grain structure [0042]. Kurosawa teaches induction hardening with a frequency of 15 kHz and then tempering in a heating furnace at 170 °C , which meets the recited temperature range, thereby improving torsional fatigue strength [0077]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to carry out subsequent induction hardening and tempering after cooling in the method of Bian in order to refine & tailor the steel part to improved mechanical properties such as enhanced fatigue strength. As to claim 32, B ian teaches that it has been known to perform work hardening of steel blanks in practice for producing high-strength body components [0003-0004]. Accordingly, i t would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to perform work hardening as a finishing step in the method of Bian since such step is conventional and doing so would yield desired strength for the steel component/part. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/30/23 complies with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. Inquiry Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DEVANG R PATEL whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571) 270-3636 . The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8am-5pm , EST. To schedule an interview, Applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at https://www.uspto.gov/patents/laws/interview-practice . Communications via Internet email are at the discretion of A pplicant. I f Applicant wishes to communicate via email , a written authorization form must be filed by Applicant: Form PTO/SB/439, available at www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms . The form may be filed via the Patent Center and can be found using the document description Internet Communications , see https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/forms . In limited circumstances , the A pplicant may make an oral authorization for Internet communication. See MPEP § 502.03. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Keith Walker can be reached on 571-272-3458 . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Center. For more information, see https://patentcenter.uspto.gov . For questions, technical issues or troubleshooting, please contact the Patent Electronic Business Center at ebc@uspto.gov or 1- 866-217-9197 (toll-free) . /DEVANG R PATEL/ Primary Examiner, AU 1735