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 .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Status of Application
Claims 1-9 are pending and presented for examination. Claims 1-4 were elected with traverse in the response dated 25 June 2026. As such claims 5-9 are withdrawn by the Examiner as they are non-elected. The traversal is that no lack of unity exists because both Groups I and II are all directed to hexagonal boron nitride powder and Group III depends from Group I (should Group I be found allowable, Group III would be rejoined, however, the Groups lack unit as hBN is known as discussed in the Restriction Requirement dated 28 April 2026 and as also is shown infra, so the amendment to claim 1 does not present unity as it is not in Group II and nor would it make a contribution of the art as discussed infra. As such, THIS RESTRICTION REQUIREMENT IS MADE FINAL.
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 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US PG Pub No. 20160340191 to Ikemiya et al. (hereinafter, “Ikemiya at __”; cited by Applicants).
Regarding claims 1-3, Ikemiya discloses a hexagonal boron nitride powder (Ikemiya at [0053]) comprising:
Secondary particles formed thorugh agglomeration of primary particles of hBN (Ikemiya at [0055] & “Abstract”),
Wherein the D50 which is a particle size at which a cumulative value form smaller particle sizes reaches 50% of the total in a cumulative distribution of volume-based particle sizes measured through laser diffraction (Ikemiya at [0073]) is 5-100 microns ([0072]) and surface area of 1-40 m2/g ([0082]) such that the ratio of such is between 5/40-100/1 (0.125-100) all of which thusly overlaps 5 or more for the ratio as required by the claim which is prima facie obvious (see MPEP 2144.05) and 0.3g/cc or more which overlaps 0.47 or less ([0084]).
As to claim 4, while Ikemiya does not expressly state that the material is a raw material for cosmetics, given the same product the same aspect of being usable for such would be expected by one of ordinary skill in the art as it covers the same particle sizes, surface areas, and densities as those claimed.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP2016076586 to Nakano (cited and provided by Applicants).
Regarding claims 1-3, Nakano discloses a hexagonal boron nitride powder (Nakano at “Fig. 1” numeral 10) comprising:
Secondary particles formed through agglomeration of primary particles of hBN (Id.), wherein the D50 which is a particle size at which a cumulative value form smaller particle sizes reaches 50% of the total in a cumulative distribution of volume-based particle sizes measured through laser diffraction (Nakano at paragraph 42) such that the D50 is 30 microns or more and the surface area is 3 m2/g or less which is a ratio of 10 or more (Nakano at 60 paragraphs above “Example 1”) and a bulk density of 1.2 g/cc or less which overlaps 0.47 g/cc or less (Nakano at 50th paragraph).
As to claim 4, while Nakano does not expressly state that the material is a raw material for cosmetics, given the same product the same aspect of being usable for such would be expected by one of ordinary skill in the art as it covers the same particle sizes, surface areas, and densities as those claimed.
Citation of Relevant Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US PG Pub No. 20140349105 to Yamazaki et al., discloses hBN powder having a D50 of 5-25 microns and a surface area of at least 10 m2/g such that the ratio is less than 5.
US PG Pub No. 20180201818 (cited by applicants) discloses hBN but the density is at least 0.50 g/cc.
Conclusion
Claims 1-4 are rejected.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RICHARD M RUMP whose telephone number is (571)270-5848. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 06:45 AM to 04:45 PM.
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RICHARD M. RUMP
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1759
/RICHARD M RUMP/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1759
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