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 .
Response to Amendment
Amendments to the claims, filed on 7/27/26, have been entered in the above-identified application.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, Claims 16-25 in the reply filed on 7/27/26 is acknowledged.
Claim Objections
Claim 25 is objected to because of the following informalities: “stabilizing” appears to be redundant (line 2). Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claim 25 is 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.
It would have been unclear to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention of how the ratio the ratio of the main stabiliser Gd2O3 to the secondary stabiliser or the sum of the stabilising secondary stabilisers is 1:1 to 1:120; when the content of Gd2O3 is between 2.5 and 4 mol% relative to content of ZrO2 and the secondary stabilizer is present in an amount of between 0.2 and 0.8 mol% relative to the content of ZrO2. Nothing in these amounts would allow the ratio to be at least 1 (Gd2O3):1 (sum of the stabilising secondary stabilisers) or greater than one.
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.
Claims 16-19, 21, and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mayr et al (US 2018/0148378 A1).
Regarding claims 16-19, Mayr teaches Dental or orthodontic articles (i.e., a blank used for producing a dental product comprising zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) in a tetragonal phase, wherein the zirconium oxide is stabilised with gadolinium(Ill) oxide (Gd2O3) as a main stabiliser and with at least one oxide selected from the group comprising Y, Yb, Dy, Nd, Ca, Ce, Mg, Sm, Er, Tb, and La as a secondary stabiliser, and mixtures of colouring oxides from the group comprising Pr, Er, Fe, Co, Ni, V, Cr, Cu, and Mn (abstract; para 211, 248, 260-261)
Regarding the limitations “as a main stabiliser;“ “wherein the secondary stabilizer is present in an amount of between 0.2 and 0.8 mol% relative to the content of ZrO2;” “wherein the content of Gd2O3 is between 2.5 and 4 mol% relative to content of ZrO2;” “the tetragonal phase of the zirconium oxide is present in an amount of between 40 and 80 vol%;” “the tetragonal phase of the zirconium oxide is present in an amount of between 45 and 75 vol%;” and “the proportion of the at least one colouring oxide in the blank is at most 1.5 wt%;”
Mayr teaches mixtures of Gd2O3, Y2O3, Dy2O3, Nd2O3, CeO2, Sm2O3, Er2O3, and Tb2O3 may be used up to up to 5 mol-% (para 260) in the article; in certain embodiments may comprise 0 to 100 % wt (i.e., 0% to 100 vol%) tetragonal phase (para 452); and the colouring agent may be at most 0.5 wt.% (para 261); which would have suggested ranges overlapping that of the instant claim. It has been held that overlapping ranges are sufficient to establish prima facie obviousness. 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 Mayr, because overlapping ranges have been held to establish prima facie obviousness (MPEP § 2144.05).
Furthermore, with regard to the mol% of the constituents in the article and vol% of tetragonal phase of ZrO2 in the article, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to adjust the vol% of tetragonal phase of ZrO2, and the mol% of the Gd2O3, Y2O3, Dy2O3, Nd2O3, CeO2, Sm2O3, Er2O3, and Tb2O3 to optimize the final properties (strength, density, etc) of the blank; and, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to adjust the amount of colouring agent in the article to optimize its color. "[W]here the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation." In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955) (MPEP § 2144.05 II A).
Regarding claim 21, Mayr teaches mixtures a colouring oxide comprising Pr (i.e., at least one element that produces a fluorescence effect), and the colouring agent may be at most 0.5 wt.% (para 261); which would have suggested ranges overlapping that of the instant claim. It has been held that overlapping ranges are sufficient to establish prima facie obviousness. 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 Mayr, because overlapping ranges have been held to establish prima facie obviousness (MPEP § 2144.05).
In addition, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to adjust the amount of colouring agent in the article to optimize its color. "[W]here the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation." In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955) (MPEP § 2144.05 II A).
Regarding claim 25, In addition, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to adjust the amount of the main stabiliser to that of the second stabiliser to optimize phase transformation of the zirconium oxide and ultimately the stability of the article to prevent unwanted failure. "[W]here the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation." In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955) (MPEP § 2144.05 II A).
Claims 20 and 22-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mayr as applied to claim 16 above, and further in view of Volkl et al (US 2020/0030064 A1).
Mayr teaches the blank for use in producing a dental product.
Mayr fails to suggest the limitation of claims 20 and 22-24,
Regarding claim 20, Volkl teaches dental blanks which satisfies aesthetic requirements and moreover is of high strength in regions under severe loads comprising wherein the regions or layers comprise a first ceramic material and then a second ceramic material of different compositions; wherein the thermal expansion coefficient of the second ceramic material to be 0.2 μm/m·K to 0.8 μm/m·K higher than the thermal expansion coefficient of the first ceramic material; so a compressive stress is created in the first material i.e. in the incisor material which leads to an increase in strength of the dental restoration derived from the blank; wherein the ceramic materials used contain zirconium dioxide; wherein the first ceramic material differs from the material of the second ceramic material in terms of color and/or crystal forms stabilized at room temperature (abstract, para 2-3, 9, 18, 26).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to combine the dentals blanks of Volkl with the dental articles of Mayr for dental blanks or articles that satisfy aesthetic requirements and have high strength in regions under severe loads; therein creating a dental blank that has at least two regions with differing compositions, wherein either the total content of the stabilisers is the same in each region, or the total content of the stabilisers in the regions and/or the composition of the stabilisers is different.
Regarding claim 22, Volkl teaches embodiments wherein a number of first open cavities are provided in the layer of the first ceramic material, and the second ceramic material is filled into these (i.e., a first region has a cavity, within which a second region extends, which has a composition that differs from the first region, wherein the first region optionally has a plurality of cavities (para 17).
The limitation “optionally of different internal geometry, in which a plurality of second regions extend, and in that optionally the first region has a greater translucency than the second region, the strength of which is greater than that of the first region” is an optional limitation that need not be taught by prior art.
Regarding claims 23 and 24, Volkl teaches coloring the ceramic materials to the desired extent, in particular such that for the first region an incisor material is used which is more translucent and less colored compared to the second ceramic material; wherein the ceramic material is colored from a color-imparting oxide from at least one oxide comprising Co (i.e., the blank is multi-layered, comprising at least one bottom layer and one top layer of different compositions, wherein the layers contain at least one first colouring oxide, the proportion of which in the bottom layer having the first colouring oxide is lower than in the top layer having the first colouring oxide, wherein the first colouring oxide comprises at least one oxide from the group comprising Co, Mn, Ni, and Cr) (para 19, 25).
Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to create a middle region between the first region and the second region comprising a material of the upper layer and the lower layer; so a color gradient exist between the two regions so a distinct change in color or translucency is not apparent.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHAN L VAN SELL whose telephone number is (571)270-5152. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thur, Generally 7am-6pm.
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NATHAN VAN SELL
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1783
/NATHAN L VAN SELL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1783
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