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 .
Status of Claim
Pending and under examination: claim 1
Rejected: claim 1
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.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhong et al. (CN 102806353 B; Espacenet English machine translation cited and attached).
Regarding claim 1, with regard to the claimed “A method for manufacturing a hard coat-forming target, comprising: using V powder and M powder to obtain a target composed of (V1-aMa), wherein M is at least one selected from Mo and W)”, Zhong teaches a method of producing a molybdenum alloy tube target (Abstract), wherein the molybdenum alloy target is made by adding one or more alloying elements to molybdenum, such as V [0004] by mixing, pressing, and sintering metallic Mo powder with the alloy element powder(s) [0031].
With regard to the claimed “an atomic ratio a of M to the sum of V and M of 0.05 or more and 0.45 or less”, Zhong teaches that the alloy element content is 0.5-50 wt.% (claim 1 of Zhong). In the case where V is selected as the alloying element, this corresponds to an atomic % of V of 0.94-65%, which overlaps with the claimed range. In the case where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" a prima facie case of obviousness exists (MPEP 2144.05 I.). Similarly, a prima facie case of obviousness exists where the claimed ranges or amounts do not overlap with the prior art but are merely close (MPEP 2144.05 I.).
With regard to the claimed “and a particle diameter of the M powder is smaller than a particle diameter of the V powder”, Zhong teaches that niobium particles (which is the alloying element) has a size of 50-120 µm, while the molybdenum particles have a size of 10-50 µm; it would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to try to select a similar size of particles for the alloying element if a different alloying element is selected, such as V, which therefore meets the limitation for V and M. In the case where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" a prima facie case of obviousness exists (MPEP 2144.05 I.). Similarly, a prima facie case of obviousness exists where the claimed ranges or amounts do not overlap with the prior art but are merely close (MPEP 2144.05 I.).
With regard to the claimed “hard coat-forming target” in the preamble, the examiner notes that this is a statement of intended use (MPEP 2111.02 II.); furthermore, in view of the composition only consisting of 2 elements, in this case Mo and V, which are both hard elements absent specific additional listed properties, the composition of Zhong meets the claim; "Products of identical chemical composition can not have mutually exclusive properties." In re Spada, 911 F.2d 705, 709, 15 USPQ2d 1655, 1658 (Fed. Cir. 1990) (MPEP 2112).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Adil Siddiqui whose telephone number is (571)272-8047. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10AM-6PM CST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Keith Walker can be reached at 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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/ADIL A. SIDDIQUI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1735
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