Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 18, 2026
Application No. 17/773,128

INFRARED-TRANSMISSIVE CURABLE COMPOSITION, CURED PRODUCT THEREFROM, AND OPTICAL SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE

Non-Final OA §103§112
Filed
Mar 06, 2024
Priority
Nov 01, 2019 — JP 2019-199486 +1 more
Examiner
WOODWARD, ANA LUCRECIA
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
73%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2m
Est. Remaining
90%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 73% — above average
73%
Career Allowance Rate
908 granted / 1240 resolved
+13.2% vs TC avg
Strong +16% interview lift
Without
With
+16.5%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 8m
Avg Prosecution
47 currently pending
Career history
1269
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.7%
-39.3% vs TC avg
§103
35.0%
-5.0% vs TC avg
§102
17.3%
-22.7% vs TC avg
§112
35.8%
-4.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1240 resolved cases

Office Action

§103 §112
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 . Applicants’ Claims The objections and rejections set forth hereinbelow pertain to the version of claims submitted on March 06, 2024. Claim Objections Claims 4 and 5 are objected to under 37 CFR 1.75(c) as being in improper form because a multiple dependent claim cannot depend upon another multiple dependent claim. See MPEP § 608.01(n). Accordingly, the claims 4 and 5 have not been further treated on the merits. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. In claim 1, the substituents defining the “substituted” R2 group are unclear. 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 JP 2019131806 A (Asakura) abstract and machine translation in view of US 2016/0326340 (Tabei). Asakura discloses an infrared transmitting curable composition comprising: an addition reaction product having two addition-reactive carbon-carbon double bonds made from (a) a compound having two silicon-bonded represented by formula (1) PNG media_image1.png 85 187 media_image1.png Greyscale and (b) a polycyclic hydrocarbon having two addition-reactive carbon-carbon double bonds (meets Applicant’s addition reaction product (A)); (B) a dye having an absorption band in the wavelength region of 350 to 650 nm (meets Applicant’s dye (B)); (C) an organosilicon compound having at least two hydrogen silicon-bonded hydrogen atoms and no addition-reactive carbon-carbon double bond-containing groups, no epoxy groups, no alkoxysilyl groups, nor carboxylic acid anhydride groups (meets Applicant’s organosilicon compound (C)); (D) a hydrosilylation reaction catalyst (meets Applicant’s catalyst (D)); and (E) optional additives inclusive of fumed silica (generically embraces Applicant’s hydrophobic fumed silica) (e.g., abstract, p.8, examples, claims). In essence, Asakura differs from claim 1 in not expressly disclosing a hydrophobic fumed silica. In this regard, Tabei teaches that hydrophobic fumed silica is commonly used in similar-such curable compositions for its addition effect on viscosity and workability performance (e.g., abstract, [0082-0085], Table 1). Thus, it would have been obvious to one having obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to use a hydrophobic fumed silica as the fumed silica disclosed by Asakura for its expected additive effect in accordance with the desired properties and with the reasonable expectation of success. As to claim 2, Asakura discloses the same polycyclic hydrocarbon compounds (p. 3 and examples). As to claim 3, Asakura discloses the same addition reaction product of formula PNG media_image2.png 80 482 media_image2.png Greyscale (p. 3). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Ana L Woodward whose telephone number is (571)272-1082. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5pm. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Heidi Kelley can be reached at 571-270-1831. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /ANA L. WOODWARD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1765
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Prosecution Timeline

Mar 06, 2024
Application Filed
Jul 22, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103, §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

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POLYOLEFINS COMPOSITIONS OBTAINED FROM RECYCLED POLYOLEFINS
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3y 8m to grant Granted Aug 11, 2026
Patent 12679967
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3y 2m to grant Granted Jul 14, 2026
Patent 12679973
PREPARATION METHOD OF BRANCHED POLYAMIDE (PA) COPOLYMER WITH ULTRA-HIGH TOUGHNESS, PA COPOLYMER PREPARED USING THE METHOD, AND USE OF THE PA COPOLYMER
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Patent 12668696
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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
73%
Grant Probability
90%
With Interview (+16.5%)
2y 8m (~2m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1240 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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