DETAILED ACTION
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 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over of Imai, JPH0681170(A), cited herein according to a machine translation, in view of Isaki et al., JP2001303262(A), cited herein according to the translation provided by Applicant on 2-25-2025.
Regarding claims 1-3, Imai teaches a checkered steel plate having flat parts and convex checkering with a height of 2 mm (Fig. 1, [0019]). Imai teaches that it is conventional for such steel plates to comprise a zinc-based alloy coating layer ([0004]-[0005], Fig. 3).
The teachings of Imai differ from the present invention in that Imai does not teach the claimed chemical treatment coating film. Isaki, however, teaches a steel sheet comprising a corrosion-resistant coating (corresponding to the claimed “chemical treatment coating film”) on a steel substrate, the steel substrate having convex portions that result in the coating having periodic thicker and thinner areas ([0006], [0009], Fig. 1 and 2). Isaki teaches that the coating may have a thickness of 0.1 – 5 microns ([0009]) and that the ratio of the thinner portions (“A” of Isaki’s Fig. 1) to the thicker portions (“B” of Isaki’s Fig. 1) may be 0.3 or 0.75 (Fig. 2), equating to a “thickness ratio” of 3.3 and 1.3 respectively, to achieve corrosion resistance.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to apply the chemical treatment coating of Isaki to the steel plate of Imai with a “thickness ratio” of either 3.3 or 1.3, because doing so would improve the corrosion resistance of the product.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Ian A Rummel whose telephone number is (571)270-5692. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday and alternating Fridays, 8:30-5:00.
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/IAN A RUMMEL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1785
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