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
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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) 1-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO 2019/188512 (‘512), EP 2444462 (‘462), an JP 2019006903 (‘903) in combination.
The claims are drawn to a composition comprising a compound (1), and a compound (A), which is an alkanolamine compound, and to a process for preparing said composition.
The ‘512 reference teaches an ink for the production of an electronic device, wherein the ink comprises a solution of a compound of formula (1) and a fluid organic substance. The ‘512 reference does not teach that the fluid organic substance is an alkanolamine compound.
The ‘462 reference teaches an electrically conductive ink comprises a metal colloid solution containing metal particles, and a stabilizing agent that is dispersed in the metal colloid solution and comprises an amine compound (abstract). The amine compound may be an alkanolamine selected from diethanolamine, diglycolamine, triethanolamine, n-propanolamine, N-aminoethylethanolamine, and the like (0018-0020).
The ’903 reference teaches a conductive copper ink composition comprising copper formate and an amino-alcohol (abstract). The amino-alcohol may be selected from diethanolamine, N-methyldiethanolamine, N-ethyldiethanolamine, 3-amino-1,2-propanediol, and the like (0011). The amino-alcohol is added to facilitate reduction of the copper salt and protect metallic copper. A thickening agent, of which the amino-alcohol may also act as, may be added to the electrically conductive copper ink composition in order to improve the coatability and stability of the ink (0027).
The instant claims are rendered obvious by the combined reference teachings, since the ‘512 reference teaches that ink for producing an electronic device, i.e., electrically conductive ink, may be stabilized using a composition comprising a compound of formula (1) and a fluid organic substance. Both the ‘462 and ‘903 references teach that fluid organic substances including alkanolamine compounds may be employed as thickening agents or stabilizers in conductive ink compositions, thereby providing the motivation to include an alkanolamine as a fluid organic substance in the compositions taught by the ‘512 reference.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SIKARL A WITHERSPOON whose telephone number is (571)272-0649. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-9pm IFP.
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/SIKARL A WITHERSPOON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1692