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 § 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.
Claims 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ito et al. (“Influence of plasma treatment on surface properties of zirconia”, J Osaka Dent Univ 2016 (October) ; 50 (2) : 79−84) in view of Kitamura (US 2018/0125616).
Ito shows a method for treating the surface of zirconia for dental use comprising the steps of (a) preparing zirconia which is stabilized with yttria (Y/yttria in the zirconia, page 83, 2nd paragraph on right); and (b) generating plasma composed of a mixed gas (helium stated as the active gas in the mixture; also states possibility of argon and nitrogen) and irradiating the plasma to the zirconia (page 83, beginning of discussion; left side of page 80). However, Ito fails to explicitly say the mol% of yttria in the zirconia and that the plasma is a mixed gas of nitrogen and argon.
Kitamura similarly shows the use of a dental zirconia that has been stabilized with 3 mol%, particularly for forming bridges or crowns ([0007]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ito’s yttria stabilized zirconia by utilizing 3 mol% of the yttria as taught by Kitamura in order to utilize known zirconia contents for effective production of bridges and crowns. However, Ito/Kitamura fails to explicitly state that the mixed gas is nitrogen and argon.
Ito does state the possibility of using nitrogen and argon (page 83, last paragraph, right side) and therefore, it would have been obvious to try a mixed gas of nitrogen and argon to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention since there are a finite number of gases and mixtures to try that are known for use in atmospheric-pressure low-temperature plasma, and a reasonable expectation of success (page 83, 3rd paragraph, right side states nitrogen and argon can also be used).
With respect to claim 2, Ito/Kitamura fails to show a specific ratio of nitrogen to argon gases of 0.3:9.7 to 1.5:8.5. Ito does discuss the use of multi-gas application, particularly mentioning argon and nitrogen (page 83, bottom right) and also the treated zirconia did not show significant differences physically compared to the control (page 83, left side, 2nd paragraph; the ratio of nitrogen to another gas would be expected to be on the lower side to avoid nitridation) and therefore it would have been obvious to try various ratios of nitrogen to argon including 0.3:9.7 to 1.5:8.5 to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention since there are a finite number of ratios to try, and a reasonable expectation of success (page 83, 3rd paragraph, right side states nitrogen and argon can also be used and multi-gas application).
With respect to claims 3 and 6, Zirconia for dental use whose surface is treated by the method of claim 1 (page 79, first paragraph, left side discusses the use of zirconia for dental use, particularly crowns).
With respect to claims 4 and 7, a dental material comprising the zirconia of claim 3 as an active ingredient (considered active ingredient since the zirconia is what is increasing bonding strength). With respect to claim claims 5 and 8, wherein the dental material is used to manufacture at least one dental article selected from the group consisting of an implant, a crown, an inlay, a post and an orthodontic bracket (page 79, first paragraph, left side discusses the use of zirconia for dental use, particularly crowns).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW NELSON whose telephone number is (571)270-5898. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 7:30am-5:00pm EDT.
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/MATTHEW M NELSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3772