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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 13 February 2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 4 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding Claim 4, the claimed value of I(110) being 120 to 200 appears to be an arbitrary value (Figure 1), which would be expected to be a consequence of sample being tested and testing conditions and not necessarily distinguishing of the sample being tested. It is unclear how these arbitrary values would differentiate a plated steel sheet. In other words, it would be expected that for any specific plated steel sheet which meets the requirements of Claim 1 and any specific testing configuration there could always be a circumstance that would lead to I(110) being in the claimed range, and thus it is not a further distinguishing characteristic of the plated steel sheet alone. For example, the sampling time could be adjusted to lead to values in the claimed range. Note that the intensity values are reported as “arbitrary units” (Figure 1). Analogous rejection applies to Claim 5.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claims 4 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends. Regarding Claims 4 and 5, to the extent that the claimed values of I(110) of Claim 4 or of I(103) of Claim 5 fail to further limit respective previous Claim 1 because these requirements can be satisfied for any plated steel sheet that meets the requirements of previous Claim 1 under claimed conditions since units being claimed are arbitrary, these claims do not further limit previous Claim 1 and are improper. Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-3 and 6-10 are allowed.
Regarding Claims 1-10, the reviewed prior art does not teach or suggest the subject matter of these claims. Particularly, the reviewed prior art does not teach or suggest plated steel sheet having plating layer of claimed composition wherein I(110)/I(103) range of ratios for MgZn2 is achieved, in the claimed context, and does not teach or suggest methods of making such plated steel sheet. For example, Tokuda USPA 2023/0193425 teaches or suggests claimed plating composition on steel but fails to expressly teach or suggest or to provide basis for establishing inherency of claimed I(110)/I(103) ratio. See Tokuda (entire document). Likewise, Harada USPA 2021/0147971 teaches or suggests claimed plating composition on steel but fails to expressly teach or suggest or to provide basis for establishing inherency of claimed I(110)/I(103) ratio. See Harada (entire document).
Response to Amendment
In view of applicant’s amendments and arguments, applicant traverses the NSDP rejection over Serial No. 18/681,688 of the Office Action mailed on 14 November 2025. Rejection is withdrawn.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL E. LA VILLA whose telephone number is (571)272-1539. The examiner can normally be reached Mon. through Fri. from 9:00 a.m. ET to 5:30 p.m. ET.
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, Humera N. Sheikh, can be reached at (571) 272-0604. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL E. LA VILLA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1784
28 February 2026
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