DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Group II, claims 12-20 in the reply filed on April 13, 2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that the Election/Restriction purports to identify what the process is not, . This is not found persuasive because processes that are capable of producing ceramic nanofibers without gel extrusion and curing include melt-spinning, electrospinning, and chemical vapor deposition. The fibers may then be oriented in the length direction.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claims 1-11 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on April 13, 2026.
Summary
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Currently claims 1-11 are withdrawn resulting in claims 12-20 pending for examination.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claim(s) 12-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Liu (CN 107653518)1.
With respect to claims 12-13, Liu teaches an ultrafine/nano alumina-based ceramic fiber bundle with an orientation degree of 89% and a fiber diameter between 430 and 610 nm (paragraph [0065]). Liu teaches another example of an ultrafine/nano alumina-based fiber bundle with an orientation degree of 80% and a fiber diameter between 330 and 490 nm (paragraph [0073]).
The orientation degree is determined by the number of fibers with an angle that is within 0-5o of a reference line (paragraph [0009]). Since the reference line is parallel to 50% of the fibers in an SEM image (paragraph [0009]), the reference line will be oriented in the length direction of the fiber bundle, which is the extrusion direction. See e.g., Figs. 2-4 in the original CN 107653518 reference.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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(s) 14-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu (CN 107653518)2.
With respect to claims 14-20, Liu teaches highly oriented continuous ultrafine/nano alumina-based ceramic fiber bundle material (paragraph [0002]). The orientation degree of the bundle is greater than or equal to 80%, preferably greater than or equal to 85%, more preferably 85-93% (paragraphs [0008], [0032]). The diameter of a single fiber is 290-680 nm (paragraph [0010]).
The orientation degree is determined by the number of fibers with an angle that is within 0-5o of a reference line (paragraph [0009]). Since the reference line is parallel to 50% of the fibers in an SEM image (paragraph [0009]), the reference line will be oriented in the length direction of the fiber bundle, which is the extrusion direction. See e.g., Figs. 2-4 in the original CN 107653518 reference.
The orientation and diameter ranges of Liu substantially overlap the claimed range in the instant claims 14-50. It has been held that obviousness exists where the claimed ranges overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art. See MPEP 2144.05 (I). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to have selected from the overlapping portion of the range taught by Liu, because overlapping ranges have been held to establish prima facie obviousness.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Taylor (US 4792478) discloses a fibre product comprising fine-diameter inorganic oxide fibres, for example alumina fibres, which can be compressed to increase the volume fraction of fibres to at least 0.25 without excessive damage to the fibres (abstract). In a preferred embodiment the fibres are nominally-continuous and essentially-aligned and such a product is made by blow-spinning through a converging duct and collection on a wind-up drum (abstract). The product may be in the form of a mat or blanket, a tape or a woven material (abstract).
Hu (US 2004/0217010) discloses a method for producing microfibers and nanofibers and further fabricating derived solid monolithic materials having aligned uniform micro- or nanofibrils (abstract).
Smith (US 2017/0044016) discloses apparatus, systems, and methods for the continuous production of BNNT fibers, BNNT strands and BNNT initial yarns having few defects and good alignment (abstract). BNNTs may be formed by thermally exciting a boron feedstock in a chamber in the presence of pressurized nitrogen. BNNTs are encouraged to self-assemble into aligned BNNT fibers in a growth zone, and form BNNT strands and BNNT initial yams, through various combinations of nitrogen gas flow direction and velocities, heat source distribution, temperature gradients, and chamber geometries (abstract).
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LARISSA ROWE EMRICH
Examiner
Art Unit 1789
/LARISSA ROWE EMRICH/Examiner, Art Unit 1789
1 Machine translation used as reference
2 Machine translation used as reference
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