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
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 4 and 9-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Araujo et al (US 2016/0305547).
Regarding claim 1, Araujo et al. discloses a piston ring 1 Fig. 1 for an internal combustion engine including a cylinder with a cylinder liner (Para. 0012), the piston ring comprising: a piston ring base material 2 comprising a joint portion Fig. 1; and a coating 4 covering at least an outer peripheral surface of the piston ring base material, wherein the coating defines at least an outermost peripheral surface of the piston ring Fig. 2, wherein the coating comprises chromium nitride and is capable of having a thermal resistance value of 4.0 x 10-6 to 12.0 x 10-6 m2K/W capable of reducing the amount of gas leakage in the internal combustion engine and wherein the coating comes into sliding contact with the cylinder liner when in use within the internal combustion engine (Para. 0012). However, Araujo et al. fails to explicitly disclose the thermal resistance value of 4.0 x 10-6 to 12.0 x 10-6 m2K/W. Nevertheless, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the thermal resistance value to any number of ranges (i.e. 4.0 x 10-6 to 12.0 x 10-6 m2K/W) disclosed by Applicant, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233. Regarding claim 2, Araujo et al. discloses wherein the coating 4 contains Al or Si (Para. 0019).
Regarding claim 3, Araujo et al. as modified discloses an intermediate layer 10 provided between the piston ring base material 2 and the coating 4 wherein the intermediate layer is formed on a surface of the piston ring base material 2, and the coating 4 is formed on a surface of the intermediate layer 10. Regarding claim 4, Araujo et al. as modified discloses wherein the intermediate layer 10 contains Al or Si (Para. 0041).
Regarding claims 9 and 10, Araujo et al. as modified discloses the invention as claimed above but fails to explicitly disclose a thermal resistance value of the coating is 5.0 x 10-6 m2 K/W, 7.0 x 10-6 m2 K/W or more. Nevertheless, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the thermal resistance value to any number of ranges (i.e. 5.0 x 10-6 m2 K/W or more or 7.0 x 10-6 m2 K/W or more) disclosed by Applicant, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Regarding claims 11-13, Araujo et al. as modified discloses the invention as claimed above but fails to explicitly disclose a thermal resistance value of the coating is 11.0 x 10-6 m2 K/W, 10.3 x 10-6 m2 K/W, 9.0 x 10-6 m2 K/W or less. Nevertheless, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the thermal resistance value to any number of ranges (i.e. 11.0 x 10-6 m2 K/W, 10.3 x 10-6 m2 K/W, 9.0 x 10-6 m2 K/W or less) disclosed by Applicant, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Claim(s) 2 and 5-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Araujo et al. in view of Kawai (US 2008/0007006).
Regarding claim 2, Araujo et al. discloses the invention as claimed above but fails to explicitly disclose wherein the coating contains Al or Si. Kawai, a coated piston ring 1 Fig. 1 shows this to be well known in the art. Kawai discloses a piston ring 1 Fig. 1 having a coating 2 that contains Al or Si. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the coating Araujo et al. with Al or Si as taught by Kawai in order to increase a thermal load applied to the piston ring and the surface pressure during usage, and also adversely affects the lubrication environment due to contamination from corrosive components and dilution of the lubricating oil (Para. 0004 of Kawai).
Regarding claim 5, the combination discloses the coating (2 of Kawai) is made of chromium nitride containing Si, and the intermediate layer is made of chromium containing Si (Para. 0024 of Kawai).
Regarding claim 6, the combination discloses wherein the coating (2 of Kawai) is made of chromium nitride containing Al, and the intermediate layer (3 of Kawai) is made of chromium containing Al (Para. 0061).
Regarding claim 7, the combination discloses wherein the coating (2 of Kawai) is made of chromium nitride containing Si and consisting of crystal grains, or is made of chromium nitride in which an amorphous phase is formed (abstract of Kawai).
Regarding claim 8, the combination discloses wherein the coating (2 of Kawai) is made of chromium nitride containing Al, and does not contain Ti (Abstract of Kawai).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-13 have been considered but are moot because the new ground(s) of rejection.
Conclusion
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EUGENE G BYRD whose telephone number is (571)270-1824. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5:30pm.
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/EUGENE G BYRD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3675