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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copies have been filed in parent Application No. JP2020-029193, filed on 02/25/2020 and Application No. JP2020-208347, filed on 12/16/2020.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hanlon et al. (US 20140141929 A1).
Considering claim 1, Hanlon discloses a silver-plated product comprising: a base material (abstract); and a surface layer of silver which is formed on the base material, the surface layer having an average crystallite size of not greater than 25 nm and having a Vickers hardness HV of not less than 150 [0044], the amount of antimony in the surface layer being 0.1 % by weight or less [0035].
Claim(s) 1, 2 and 4-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Trenkle et al. (US 20120121925 A1).
Considering claims 1, 2 and 4, Trenkle discloses a silver-plated product comprising: a base material (abstract); and a surface layer of silver which is formed on the base material, the surface layer having an average crystallite size of not greater than 25 nm [0081] and having a hardness of at least 2 GPa (about 200 HV) [0080], which is within the claimed range of not less than 150. Trankle does not use antimony therefore, the amount of antimony in the surface layer being 0.1 % by weight or less. In particular example Trinkle discloses 1.5 at% of tungsten, 22 nm train size, and hardness of 2.4 GPa (about 240 HV) ([0091], Table 1 example 1).
Considering claims 5 and 6, Hanlon discloses base material is copper alloy (brass) with nickel layer between the base material and the surface layer ([0090] and Table 2).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Trenkle et al. as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Rehbein et al. (US 20070275611 A1).
Considering claim 3, Trankle teaches lubricating layer may be further applied comprising for example carbon nanotubes [0064].
Trankle does not disclose the surface layer contains 1 to 10% by weight of carbon.
However, Rehbein discloses a silver coating layer on a copper-based substrate with graphite content of 1 to 3 wt% (abstract), for the purpose of lubricating and good electrical conductivity of the contact in plug-in cycle [0024].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a 1-3 wt% of graphite in the silver coting layer of Trankle, because Trankle teaches using a lubricating carbon nanotube, and Rehbein discloses a silver coating layer on a copper-based substrate with graphite content of 1 to 3 wt%, for the purpose of lubricating and good electrical conductivity of the contact in plug-in cycle.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Wojciech Haske whose telephone number is (571)272-5666. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:30 am - 6:00 pm.
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/WOJCIECH HASKE/Examiner, Art Unit 1794