Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/566,434

COLD ROLLED STEEL SHEET AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING SAME

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Dec 01, 2023
Examiner
ROE, JESSEE RANDALL
Art Unit
1759
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
Nippon Steel Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
76%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
3y 1m
To Grant
84%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 76% — above average
76%
Career Allow Rate
976 granted / 1279 resolved
+11.3% vs TC avg
Moderate +8% lift
Without
With
+7.9%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 1m
Avg Prosecution
49 currently pending
Career history
1328
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.2%
-38.8% vs TC avg
§103
51.0%
+11.0% vs TC avg
§102
9.8%
-30.2% vs TC avg
§112
27.4%
-12.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1279 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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. Status of the Claims Claims 1-5 are pending wherein claims 1-5 have been preliminarily amended. 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 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sato et al. (JP 2013-227657). In regard to claim 1, Sato et al. (JP ‘657) discloses cold rolled steel alloy sheets having compositions relative to that of the instant invention as set forth below ([0007 -0008 ] and [0060]). Element Instant Claim (mass percent) Sato et al. (JP ‘657) ( weight percent) Overlap C 0.16 – 0.40 0.1 – 0.2 0.16 – 0.2 Si 0.05 – 2 0.2 – 2 0.2 – 2 Mn 0.50 – 4 1 – 3 1 – 3 P 0 – 0.05 0 – 0.05 0 – 0.05 S 0 – 0.01 0 – 0.01 0 – 0.01 Al 0.001 – 1 0.01 – 0.1 0.01 – 0.1 N 0 – 0.01 0 – 0.01 0 – 0.01 O 0 – 0.005 0 0 Cr 0 – 2 greater than 0 – 1 greater than 0 – 1 Element Instant Claim (mass percent) Sato et al. (JP ‘657) (mass percent) Overlap Mo 0 – 1 greater than 0 – 1 greater than 0 – 1 Cu 0 – 1 greater than 0 – 1 greater than 0 – 1 Ni 0 – 1 greater than 0 – 1 greater than 0 – 1 B 0 – 0.01 0.0002 – 0.01 0.0002 – 0.01 Co 0 – 1 0 0 W 0 – 1 0 0 Sn 0 – 1 0 0 Sb 0 – 1 0 0 Nb 0 – 0.1 0 0 Ti 0 – 0.2 0.001 – 0.2 0.001 – 0.2 V 0 – 0.5 0 0 Ca 0 – 0.01 0 0 Mg 0 – 0.01 0 0 Ce 0 – 0.01 0 0 Zr 0 – 0.01 0 0 La 0 – 0.01 0 0 Hf 0 – 0.01 0 0 Bi 0 – 0.01 0 0 REM other than Ce/ La 0 – 0.01 0 0 Fe Balance Balance Balance The Examiner notes that the amounts of carbon, silicon, manganese, phosphorus, sulfur, aluminum, nitrogen, oxygen, chromium, molybdenum, copper, nickel, boron, cobalt, tungsten, tin, antimony, niobium, titanium, vanadium, calcium, magnesium, cerium, zirconium, lanthanum, hafnium, bismuth and rare earth metals other than cerium and/or lanthanum disclosed by Soto et al. (JP ‘657) overlap the amounts of the instant invention, which is prima facie evidence of obviousness. MPEP 2144.05 I. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the filing of the instant invention to select the claimed amounts of carbon, silicon, manganese, phosphorus, sulfur, aluminum, nitrogen, oxygen, chromium, molybdenum, copper, nickel, boron, cobalt, tungsten, tin, antimony, niobium, titanium, vanadium, calcium, magnesium, cerium, zirconium, lanthanum, hafnium, bismuth and rare earth metals other than cerium and/or lanthanum from the amounts disclosed by S a to e al. (JP ‘657) because S a to et al. (JP ‘657) discloses the same utility throughout the disclosed ranges. With respect to the recitation “a steel microstructure in a range of 1/8 thickness to 3/8 thickness centered on ¼ thickness form the surface comprising, by area%, martensite: 90.0 to 99.5%, ferrite: 0 to 5%, retained austenite: 0.5 to 7.0%, and balance bainite, wherein a ratio of tempered martensite to the total martensite is 80 to 100%” in claim 1, S a to et al. (JP ‘657) discloses steel test pieces that are measured ¼ with respect to the thickness [0075] , 65% area percent or more, but preferably 90% area or more [0060]. S a to et al. (JP ‘657) discloses 0 to 5% area retained austenite, which overlaps the range of the instant invention. MPEP 2144.05 I. S a to et al. (JP ‘657) discloses 0 to 20 area % ferrite, which encompasses the claimed range of ferrite [0062]. S a to et al. (JP ‘657) discloses 0 to 10 area % bainite, which would make up the remainder [0064]. Still regarding claim 1, S at o et al. (JP ‘657) discloses tensile strengths up to 1653 MPa (Table 3). With respect to the recitation “a maximum value of curvature 1/R obtained by measuring the shape at a total width x length 300 mm region and expressed by the following formula (1) is 0.010 or less” and Equation 1, S a to et al. (JP ‘657) discloses substantially similar compositions, substantially similar microstructures and substantially similar strengths. Therefore, the claimed curvature would be expected. MPEP 2112.01 I. In regard to claim 2, S a to et al. (JP ‘657) discloses greater than 0 to 1 weight percent chromium, which overlaps the range of the instant invention [0008]. MPEP 2144.05 I. With respect to the recitation “wherein no fracture occurs at sheared surfaces in a hydrogen embrittlement test of shearing the cold rolled steel sheet, then heat treating it at 170°C for 10 minutes, and then immersing it in a concentration 0.3 g/L ammonium thiocyanate aqueous solution for 48 hours” in claim 3, S a to et al. (JP ‘657) discloses substantially similar compositions, substantially similar microstructures and substantially similar strengths. Therefore, the claimed property would be expected. MPEP 2112.01 I. Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sato et al. (JP 2013-227657) as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Irie et al. (US 4,640,872). In regard to claim 4, Sato et al. (JP ‘657) discloses steel alloy sheets as set forth above, but Sato et al. (JP ‘657) does not specify wherein the steel alloy sheets would have an electrogalvanized layer, a hot dip galvanized layer or a hot dip galvannealed layer. Irie e al. (‘872) teaches electroplating Zn-Fe-P alloys on steel strips in order to improve corrosion resistance (abstract and column 2). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the filing of the instant invention to electroplate Zn-Fe-P alloys, as disclosed by Irie et al. (‘872), on the steel sheets, as disclosed by Sato et al. (JP ‘657), in order to improve the corrosion resistance, as disclosed by Irie et al. (‘872) (abstract and column 2). Allowable Subject Matter Claim 5 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. In regard to claim 5, Sato et al. (JP ‘657) fails to specify a step where width edge parts are heated so that a temperature of the width edge parts of the steel sheet after rough rolling is 10 to 150°C higher than a temperature of a width center part; a tandem mill is used using greater than or equal to three stands for a rolling reduction of 30% or more; or a tension is applied to the cold rolled steel sheet of 5 to 20 MPa. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT Jessee Roe whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)272-5938 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT Monday thru Friday 7:30 am to 4 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, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT Curt Mayes can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 571-272-1234 . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /JESSEE R ROE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1759
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Dec 01, 2023
Application Filed
Mar 02, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
76%
Grant Probability
84%
With Interview (+7.9%)
3y 1m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1279 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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