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
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
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 1-3, 5-9, and 11-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sugimoto et al. (WO 2020/066907) in view of Tanaka et al. (4329539).
Sugimoto et al. discloses a precursor wire for compound superconducting wire, comprising: a compound superconducting precursor member (11) configured by a plurality of compound superconducting precursor filaments (15), and a first matrix precursor (16) embedding the plurality of compound superconducting precursor filaments and including a first stabilizing material: a cylindrical reinforcing member (12) arranged at the outer circumferential side of the compound superconducting precursor member, and configured by a plurality of reinforcing filaments (18), and a second matrix (19) embedding the plurality of reinforcing filaments and including a second stabilizing material (20): and a cylindrical stabilizing member (13) arranged to at least one of the inner circumferential side or outer circumferential side of the reinforcing member, and consisting of a third stabilizing material (re-claims 1 and 7). Sugimoto et al. also discloses that the compound superconducting precursor filaments are Nb (see the machine translation), and the precursor wire for compound superconducting wire further comprises an Sn diffusion prevention member (14) consisting of Nb or Ta arranged between the compound superconducting precursor member and the reinforcing member (re-claim 5); the first stabilizing material is copper or copper alloy, the reinforcing filaments are Nb or Ta, the second stabilizing material is copper or copper alloy, and the third stabilizing material is copper or copper alloy (re-claims 6 and 12); the plurality of compound superconducting filaments including a compound superconducting phase (re-claim 7); the compound superconducting phase is Nb3Sn, and the compound superconducting wire further comprising an Sn diffusion prevention member (14) consisting of Nb or Ta arranged between the compound superconducting member and the reinforcing member (re-claim 11); the compound superconducting wire further comprises an electrical insulation (30) containing a resin arranged at an outermost circumference (re-claim 13); a method (Fig. 6) of rewinding the compound superconducting wire according to claim 7, comprising when rewinding the compound superconducting wire from a first winding member to a second winding member, extending the compound superconducting wire from the first winding member in a tangential direction of the first winding member, and winding the compound superconducting wire onto the second winding member while bending in a bending direction which is the same as when being wound onto the first winding member (re-claim 14).
Sugimoto et al. does not disclose an aspect ratio Ab1 (Wb1/Tb1) of a width dimension Wb1 of the compound superconducting precursor member relative to a thickness dimension Tb1 of the compound superconducting precursor member in a cross section perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the compound superconducting precursor member is 1.80 or more, 11.00 or less, or between 2.00 and 10.00 (i.e., the precursor wire being a flat wire) (re-claims 1-3 and 7-9).
Tanaka et al. discloses a precursor (flat) wire comprising a compound superconducting precursor member (Fig. 4B) having an aspect ratio (W/t) between 2.00 and 10.00 (col. 6, lines 46-56).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to modify the precursor wire (1) of Sugimoto et al. to be a flat wire to meet the specific use of the resulting wire since a precursor wire having a flat shape is known in the art as taught by Tanaka et al., Fig. 1.
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to provide the modified precursor (flat) wire of Sugimoto with an aspect ratio taught by Tanaka et al. to obtain the required flexibility of the same, col. 6, lines 46-56.
Claims 4 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sugimoto et al. and Tanaka et al. as applied to claims 1 and 7 above, and further in view of Yoshihara et al. (2018/0122534).
Claims 4 and 10 additionally recite the total of the cross-sectional area of the compound superconducting member, the cross-sectional area of the reinforcing member, and the cross-sectional area of the stabilizing member being between 0.40 mm2 and 4.00 mm2. Yoshihara et al. discloses a compound superconducting wire (10) comprising a plurality of members (9, 12, 20), wherein the total of the cross-sectional area of all members constituted the compound superconducting wire (10) is between 0.40 mm2 and 4.00 mm2 (see EXAMPLE, [0074], W2 = 4.4 mm and t = L1 + L2 = 100 µm + 30 µm = 130 µm = 0.13 mm; the total cross-sectional area = 4.4 mm x 0.13 mm = 0.57 mm2). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art to provide the modified precursor wire (without the coatings 29 and 30) of Sugimoto et al. with the total cross-sectional area between 0.40 mm2 and 4.00 mm2 as taught by Yoshihara et al. to meet the specific use of the resulting wire. It has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable range involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 15 and 16 are 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 02/04/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that the width and thickness disclosed in Figure 4B of Tanaka corresponds to width and thickness of the cable, not of a precursor member as claimed. Examiner would disagree. As disclosed and claimed, the precursor member comprises a plurality of precursor filaments embedded in a material. Likewise, Tanaka, Fig. 4B, discloses a member comprising a plurality of filaments embedded in a material. Tanaka, in Fig. 4B, discloses the width and thickness of the member as a whole, and the ratio of width/thickness being between 2.00 and 10.00. Accordingly, Tanaka does teach the aspect ratio as claimed in claims 1-3 and 7-9.
Conclusion
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.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHAU N NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-1980. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th, 7am to 5:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Imani N Hayman can be reached at 571-270-5528. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHAU N NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841