DETAILED ACTION
In response to RCE filed 1/22/2026. Claims 1-22 are pending. Claims 1-17 are withdrawn. Claims 18-22 are examined thusly. Claim 18 was amended.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 1/22/2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 18-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 18 recites the newly added limitation “optionally” as it relates to the at least one colorant. There is no support of the colorant being optional. Indeed, when looking to the inventive examples, the examples all have a colorant. As such, there is no support for the colorant being optional with respect to the interlayer. Claims 19-22 are rejected as being dependent upon claim 18.
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.
Claims 18-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lu et al. (US 9815976).
Lu discloses a polyvinyl acetal composition and methods for forming interlayers from the said composition. With respect to claims 18-21, Lu discloses a process of providing at least one polyvinyl butyral resin and a high refractive index plasticizer of at least 1.500, melt blending, and extruding the composition into a sheet, resulting in a transmittance of at least 88.2 to 88.7% and a haze value of 0.2 to 0.4% (cols. 38-40; Tables 12 and 13, plasticizers P-3 and P-4; col. 25, lines 25-67). Given that the composition is the same and the plasticizer has the claimed refractive index, resulting the claimed transmittance, the L*, a*, and b* values would be the same as that claimed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 18-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kitano et al. (US 20130143049) in view of Lu et al. (US 9815976).
Kitano discloses an interlayer sheet, laminates, and methods of making the above. Concerning claim 18, Kitano discloses the method in forming the interlayer sheet is providing a polyvinyl butyral, plasticizer, at least one phthalocyanine dye, and ITO particles, kneading the above components, melting, and subsequently extruding through a die to form the film (para. 0058; Examples). The yellow index (i.e. a* and b* values) and visible transmittance are controlled by the content of ITO particles and phthalocyanine dye (para. 0066 and 0072); as such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to balance the at least two above components in the resin to form the claimed interlayer having the color. The haze of the interlayer sheet is 0.5% or lower (para. 0031 and 0102). Kitano discloses that the visible transmittance of the interlayer is required to be greater than 70% and as such, would include and encompass the claimed range when undergoing the testing under the ASTM standard (para. 0066). The thickness of the interlayer is not limited and can be multiple layers laminated produced and laminated (para. 0083-0088). Examiner notes that the instant application is silent to the specific dye and content used to produce the claimed properties and as such, the disclosure of Kitano would meet the instant claims. However, Kitano is silent to the plasticizer has a refractive index of at least 1.460.
Lu discloses a polyvinyl acetal resin composition and methods thereof, wherein the composition includes a polyvinyl acetal resin, a high RI balancing agent that can be a plasticizer having a refractive index of at least 1.460 and a colorant with said composition being melt blended and extruded to form an interlayer (cols. 16-25). The addition of the high RI balancing agent improves the refractive index of the interlayer to improve the optical properties such as clarity and reduce the haze of the resulting interlayer (cols. 11-12 and col. 2, lines 55-67). As such, in order to improve the optical properties of the resulting interlayer, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to use a plasticizer having a refractive index of at least 1.460 as at least one of the plasticizers of Kitano.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pp. 8-9, filed 1/22/2026, with respect to 35 USC 103 rejection under Kitano have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of the claims has been withdrawn. Examiner acknowledges the instant amendments overcome the previous rejection. However, Kitano is still applicable as a primary reference in an obviousness rejection as shown above. With respect to Applicant’s assertions, Examiner notes that Kitano discloses that any known plasticizer can be used (para. 0051). To that end, Lu, which was filed prior to the effective filing date of the instant application, discloses using plasticizers having a refractive index greater than 1.460 are used as high RI balancing agents to improve the optical properties of the resulting interlayer, wherein such materials improve haze and clarity of the resulting interlayer. As such, the instant claims are not found to be unobvious over the prior art as set forth above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PRASHANT J KHATRI whose telephone number is (571)270-3470. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10AM-6:30PM.
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PRASHANT J. KHATRI
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1783
/PRASHANT J KHATRI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1783