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.
Claim(s) 1 and 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishikawa (WO 2022145069).
Ishikawa is directed to steel sheet having applicability in the automobile industry (suggests a non-oriented, electrical steel sheet) comprising the following composition:
C: 0.001% to 1%
Si: 0.01%-3%
Al: 0.001%-5%
Mn: 0.1%-4.5%
P: 0%
S: < 0.03%
N: <0.2%
Ti: 0-0.5%
B: 0-0.02%
Sn: 0-0.3%
Sb: 0-0.3%
Given that each of Sn and Sb can be included at 0%, it reasons that a composition of Ishikawa satisfies formula (1) in the claimed invention. Additionally, while Ishikawa fails to expressly teach an iron loss as, the following are seen to contribute to low iron loss in view of Applicant’s original disclosure: small C content (below 0.003%), Si content between 1.0% and 3.5%, Al content between 0.10 % and 2.0%, small N content (below 0.003%), small Ti content (below 0.003%), and small B content (less than 0.002%). Given that the composition of Ishikawa satisfies each of these features, it reasons that Ishikawa encompasses compositions having the claimed iron loss. One of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to form a single steel composition with the aforementioned combination of features (and thus demonstrate an iron loss in accordance to the claimed invention) given the general disclosure of Ishikawa.
Regarding claim 2, Ishikawa teaches an Sn content and Sb content that fully encompasses that required by the claimed invention and as such, it reasons that Ishikawa encompasses compositions that satisfy formula (2) of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 3 and 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishikawa as applied in claims 1 and 2 above and further in view of Yamazaki (US 2018/0155840).
As detailed above, Ishikawa is directed to a steel sheet having applicability in the automotive industry. While Ishikawa is silent with respect to the inclusion of an insulating coating, it is well recognized that such coatings are commonly employed to provide, among other things, corrosions resistance, as shown for example by Yamazaki (Paragraph 2). One of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to include a conventional coating on a surface of the steel sheet disclosed by Ishikawa for the benefits detailed above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUSTIN R FISCHER whose telephone number is (571)272-1215. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 5:30-2:00.
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Justin Fischer
/JUSTIN R FISCHER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1749 August 26, 2026
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