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 § 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 1-4 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.
With respect to claims 1 and 3, recited formula (1) limitation “Mo + 0.5 x W ≥ 2.50” is ambiguous and inconsistent with claimed amounts of Mo and W. Specifically, examiner notes that W amount of 0% makes tungsten (W) optional and moreover, even if one selects 1% W (which is 50% of the claimed range) and 1.5% Mo (mass %), formula 1 results in a value of 2.00, which is still less than required value of 2.50. The recited features are conflicting in scope, rendering the claims indefinite. According to applicant’s examples in the specification, the amount of Mo is greater than 2% while the amount of W is 0.15% (see Table 1- [00124]). Therefore, examiner suggests to amend the amounts of Mo and W so as to comply with the claimed formula (1).
Appropriate corrections are required.
Prior Art
The following references are considered to be the most pertinent to the claims:
Yoshioka (US 11008635, US 11085099) - Steel sheet composition including tempered martensite and Cu concentration distribution in the surface
Nishimura (US 2023/0366071)- Martensitic stainless steel having tempered martensite and Cu concentration measurement
Claims 1-4 appear to be allowable over prior art ONLY IF amended to overcome 112 indefiniteness rejection above.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 1/28/25, 4/18/24 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 (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 Applicant. If 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 Applicant 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.
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/DEVANG R PATEL/
Primary Examiner, AU 1735
Prosecution Insights