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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
1. This action is in response to the amendment filed April 7, 2026.
Claims 5, 14 and 16-17 were amended, claims 1-7, 9-12 and 15 were cancelled and claims 18-24 were added, rendering claims 5, 8, 13-14 and 16-24 pending, with claims 20-24 withdrawn as a non-elected invention withdrawn as a non-elected invention.
Restriction
2. Newly submitted claims 20-24 are directed to an invention that is independent or distinct from the invention originally claimed for the following reasons: A method to produce a segmented thermal barrier coating is a different invention than a coating system.
Since applicant has received an action on the merits for the originally presented invention, this invention has been constructively elected by original presentation for prosecution on the merits. Accordingly, claims 20-24 are withdrawn from consideration as being directed to a non-elected invention. See 37 CFR 1.142(b) and MPEP § 821.03.
Claim Rejections – 35 USC § 102(a)(1)
3. The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
4. Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chen et al (U.S. 2016/348226).
Chen discloses a segmented thermal barrier coating on a substrate (paragraph 5) along with a bond coat on the substrate (paragraph 7) , as shown in Figure 1B:
PNG
media_image1.png
113
403
media_image1.png
Greyscale
.
Because Chen discloses a coating system with the same materials as claimed and preferentially disclosed, the article of Chen will inherently possess the surface roughness claimed. Products of identical chemical composition can not have mutually exclusive properties. Therefore, because Chen has the same coating system with a substrate, bond coat and segmented thermal barrier coating, the properties, including surface roughness are necessarily present. MPEP 2112.01 II, as in claim 19.
Response to Arguments
5. The rejection made under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as obvious over Chen et al (U.S. 2016/348226) is withdrawn due to Applicant amending claim 5 to include “wherein a lower layer is a thermal barrier coating and an upper ceramic layer is a segmented thermal barrier coating produced by fully stabilized Zirconia, wherein the fully stabilized Zirconia used for the upper ceramic layer is a 48% Yttria stabilized Zirconia, wherein the substrate comprises a nickel or cobalt based substrate, wherein the segmented thermal barrier coating comprises a surface roughness of 8µm - 10um, wherein the segmented thermal barrier coating has a porosity higher than 8%, and a maximum of 20%, and wherein the segmented thermal barrier coating comprises vertical cracks that travel transversely through the segmented thermal barrier coating and that do not branch.”
The rejection made under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as obvious over Smialek (U.S. 6,316,078) is withdrawn due to Applicant amending claim 5 to include “wherein a lower layer is a thermal barrier coating and an upper ceramic layer is a segmented thermal barrier coating produced by fully stabilized Zirconia, wherein the fully stabilized Zirconia used for the upper ceramic layer is a 48% Yttria stabilized Zirconia, wherein the substrate comprises a nickel or cobalt based substrate, wherein the segmented thermal barrier coating comprises a surface roughness of 8µm - 10um, wherein the segmented thermal barrier coating has a porosity higher than 8%, and a maximum of 20%, and wherein the segmented thermal barrier coating comprises vertical cracks that travel transversely through the segmented thermal barrier coating and that do not branch.”
The rejection made under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al (U.S. 2016/348226) ) is withdrawn due to Applicant amending claim 5 to include “wherein a lower layer is a thermal barrier coating and an upper ceramic layer is a segmented thermal barrier coating produced by fully stabilized Zirconia, wherein the fully stabilized Zirconia used for the upper ceramic layer is a 48% Yttria stabilized Zirconia, wherein the substrate comprises a nickel or cobalt based substrate, wherein the segmented thermal barrier coating comprises a surface roughness of 8µm - 10um, wherein the segmented thermal barrier coating has a porosity higher than 8%, and a maximum of 20%, and wherein the segmented thermal barrier coating comprises vertical cracks that travel transversely through the segmented thermal barrier coating and that do not branch.”
The rejection made under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as obvious over JP 2001525015 A is withdrawn due to Applicant amending claim 5 to include “wherein a lower layer is a thermal barrier coating and an upper ceramic layer is a segmented thermal barrier coating produced by fully stabilized Zirconia, wherein the fully stabilized Zirconia used for the upper ceramic layer is a 48% Yttria stabilized Zirconia, wherein the substrate comprises a nickel or cobalt based substrate, wherein the segmented thermal barrier coating comprises a surface roughness of 8µm - 10um, wherein the segmented thermal barrier coating has a porosity higher than 8%, and a maximum of 20%, and wherein the segmented thermal barrier coating comprises vertical cracks that travel transversely through the segmented thermal barrier coating and that do not branch.”
Newly added claim 19 has been rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chen et al (U.S. 2016/348226). Chen discloses a segmented thermal barrier coating on a substrate (paragraph 5) along with a bond coat on the substrate (paragraph 7) , as shown in Figure 1B:
PNG
media_image1.png
113
403
media_image1.png
Greyscale
.
Because Chen discloses a coating system with the same materials as claimed and preferentially disclosed, the article of Chen will inherently possess the surface roughness claimed. Products of identical chemical composition can not have mutually exclusive properties. Therefore, because Chen has the same coating system with a substrate, bond coat and segmented thermal barrier coating, the properties, including surface roughness are necessarily present. MPEP 2112.01 II, absent any evidence to the contrary.
Conclusion
6. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Lawrence Ferguson whose telephone number is 571-272-1522. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Friday 9:00 AM – 5:30PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Frank Vineis, can be reached on 571-270-1547. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
/LAWRENCE D FERGUSON/Examiner, Art Unit 1781