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 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ichigozaki et al. (PGPub US 2021/02727551).
Regarding applicants’ claim 1, Ichigozaki et al. disclose production of a rare earth magnet, the process comprising preparation of a magnetic powder of samarium, iron, and nitrogen (paragraphs 0059 and 0110), preparation of a binder powder of a material such as zinc (paragraph 0123), mixing of the magnetic powder with the binder powder, performing compression molding and subsequently pressure sintering (paragraphs 0087, 0090, and 0102), where the pressure sintering is carried out between the softening temperature of the binder powder, 380ºC for zinc, and a limit temperature (paragraph 0093). Ichigozaki et al. further set forth a pressure during pressure sintering of 500 to 5000MPa for a duration of 10 seconds to 3600 seconds (paragraph 0099).
While Ichigozaki et al. do not appear to disclose the exact ranges for the parameters claimed, the ranges disclosed overlap those claimed thereby establishing a prima facia case of obviousness. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of applicants’ claimed invention would have found it obvious to select from within the ranges disclosed by Ichigozaki et al. including values which fall within applicants’ claimed ranges.
Regarding applicants’ claim 2, Ichigozaki et al. do not appear to disclose a diffraction peak and bulk density value for the rare earth magnet, however substantially identical materials treated in a substantially identical manner are expected to result in substantially identical products. Given that Ichigozaki et al. disclose forming of a rare earth magnet by subjecting substantially identical materials, to a substantially identical process (as discussed above with respect to claim 1), the rare earth magnet of Ichigozaki et al. would be expected to have a substantially identical structure to that of applicants’ rare earth magnet, including having a diffraction peak value, and bulk density, within, or at least overlapping, applicants’ claimed values.
Conclusion
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/Adam Krupicka/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1784