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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 7 May 2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s cancellation of claims 4-5 and addition of claim 15 is acknowledged.
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 6-8, filed 7 May 2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 and its dependent claims under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of KR 20160103279 A (hereby referred to as KR ‘279).
Applicant has amended instant claim 1 to further specify the coloring composition. Specifically, instant claim 1 now recites that the colorant includes a green colorant selected from Color Index Pigment Green 36 or Color Index Pigment Green 58. Applicant has also added claim 15, which is functionally the previously presented version of instant claim 1, with the requirement that the other yellow colorant is at least one selected from Color Index Pigment Yellow 185 or Color Index Pigment Yellow 215. Applicant argues that the previously cited art (KR ‘552 in view of Muro) fails to disclose or render obvious the invention recited by instant claims 1 and/or 15. Specifically, Applicant argues that KR ‘552 contains C.I. Pigment Green 7 as an essential component, and thus it would not be obvious to modify KR ‘552 such that the green colorant does not include C.I. Pigment Green 7. Applicant further argues that KR ‘552 requires C.I. Pigment Yellow 138 and/or 139 as essential components, and thus the invention of claim 15 is both novel and nonobvious in view of KR ‘552. Upon review of the Applicant’s arguments and the previously cited prior art, the Examiner finds the Applicant’s arguments persuasive. In particular, whilst it is known in the prior art as a whole that C.I. Pigment Green 7 may be interchangeably used with C.I. Pigment Green 36 or 58, there does not appear to be sufficient suggestion or motivation to modify KR ‘552 by changing the C.I. Pigment Green 7 (which is described as an essential component) to C.I. Pigment Green 36 or 58, per the requirements outlined in MPEP 2143.01. Similarly, in regards to newly added claim 15, the same justification applies to the modification of the yellow colorants recited by KR ‘552. It is understood in the prior art as a whole that the C.I. Pigment Yellow used in a coloring composition may be interchanged depending on the desired properties of the inventor, but due to the seemingly essential nature of the inclusion of the C.I. Pigment Yellow 138 or 139 in the composition taught by KR ‘552 there is a lack of sufficient suggestion or motivation to modify KR ‘552 to change the C.I Pigment Yellow used in combination with C.I. Pigment Yellow 129, per the requirements outlined in MPEP 2143.01. The modification of the aforementioned pigments may additionally render the prior art (KR ‘552) unsatisfactory for the intended purpose, as outlined by MPEP 2145 X. D. Therefore, the previous rejection has been withdrawn. However, a new rejection is presented in view of KR 20160103279 A (hereby referred to as KR ‘279), as explained below.
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) 1-2, 6-12, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR 20160103279 A (hereby referred to as KR ‘279) in view of US 20140151614 A1 (hereby referred to as Muro).
Regarding Claims 1 and 15, KR ‘279 discloses colored photosensitive resin composition. The colorant composition comprises a resin, a solvent, a photopolymerizable compound, a photopolymerization initiator, and a coloring agent (KR ‘279, paragraph 0015 of the English translation). The colorant includes C.I. Pigment Green 7, C.I. Pigment Green 58, or a combination of both (KR ‘279, paragraph 0016 of the English translation) in addition to a mixture of C.I. Pigment Blue 16 and C.I. Pigment Yellow 129 (KR ‘279, paragraph 0016 of the English translation). Additional colorants, particularly additional green and yellow pigments, may be included in the composition as well (KR ‘279, paragraph 0031 of the English translation). The additional yellow pigment may include, for instance, C.I. Pigment Yellow 185 (KR ‘279, paragraph 0035 and 0038 of the English translation). The additional green pigment may include, for instance, C.I. Pigment Green 36 (KR ‘279, paragraph 0036 of the English translation). The coloring agent of the composition of KR ‘279 is used together with a dispersant and a dispersion aid if necessary (KR ‘279, paragraph 0040 of the English translation). The dispersant may include resins and/or polymers (KR ‘279, paragraph 0041 of the English translation). Table 1 of KR ‘279 (see page 13-14 of the original publication) shows inventive examples of the photosensitive resin composition. A machine translated copy of Table 1 is reproduced below.
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media_image1.png
870
646
media_image1.png
Greyscale
The Examiner brings attention to Example 5 as shown in Table 1. In Example 5, 2.51 parts by mass of C.I. Pigment Green 7 (PG7) is combined with 1.07 parts by mass of C.I. Pigment Green 58 (PG58), 1.56 parts by mass of C.I. Pigment Blue 16 (PB16), 1.09 parts by mass of C.I. Pigment Yellow 185 (PY185), and 9.35 parts by mass of C.I. Pigment Yellow 129 (PY129) as the colorant. These amounts are with respect to 100 parts by mass of the total composition (obtained by adding the amounts of each of the colorants with the additional components listed in Table 1). Example 5 of KR ‘279 is a coloring composition comprising a yellow and a green colorant, a resin, and a solvent, wherein the yellow colorant comprises C.I. Pigment Yellow 129 and C.I. Pigment Yellow 185 and the green colorant comprises C.I. Pigment Green 7 and C.I. Pigment Green 58. That is to say, Example 5 of KR ‘279 includes each of the necessary components recited by instant claims 1 and 15. The relevant content ratios of the respective components in Example 5 are shown below, with the corresponding calculations.
Content of the yellow colorant with respect to the total amount of colorant:
Y
e
l
l
o
w
C
o
l
o
r
a
n
t
=
P
Y
185
+
P
Y
129
=
1.09
+
9.35
=
10.44
T
o
t
a
l
C
o
l
o
r
a
n
t
=
P
G
7
+
P
G
58
+
P
B
16
+
P
Y
185
+
P
Y
129
=
2.51
+
1.07
+
1.56
+
1.09
+
9.35
=
15.58
Y
e
l
l
o
w
C
o
l
o
r
a
n
t
C
o
n
t
e
n
t
%
=
Y
e
l
l
o
w
C
o
l
o
r
a
n
t
T
o
t
a
l
C
o
l
o
r
a
n
t
*
100
%
=
10.44
15.58
*
100
%
=
67.01
%
Thus, the content of the yellow colorant in the colorant (67.01%) is 30% by mass or more, as recited by instant claims 1 and 15.
Content of the azomethine metal complex (hereby referred to as AMC) in the yellow colorant:
A
M
C
=
P
Y
129
=
9.35
Y
e
l
l
o
w
C
o
l
o
r
a
n
t
=
P
Y
185
+
P
Y
129
=
1.09
+
9.35
=
10.44
A
M
C
C
o
n
t
e
n
t
%
=
A
M
C
Y
e
l
l
o
w
C
o
l
o
r
a
n
t
*
100
%
=
9.35
10.44
*
100
%
=
89.56
%
The content of the AMC with respect to the total amount of the yellow colorant content does not fall within the range recited by instant claims 1 and 15 (27 to 63% by mass). However, the broader disclosure of KR ‘279 states that the content of the colorants in the composition may be varied to obtain a desired hue and coloring power while maintaining pattern formation ability (KR ‘279, paragraphs 0030 and 0039 of the English translation). Therefore, one having ordinary skill in the art would find the claimed range of the azomethine metal complex colorant (e.g. C.I. Pigment Yellow 129) with respect to the total yellow colorant as prima facie obvious. For instance, one having ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to routinely optimize the contents of the Example 5 composition (which contains each of the required components of instant claims 1 and 15) such that a desired hue and color intensity is obtained (KR ‘279, paragraphs 0030 and 0039 of the English translation). Refer to MPEP 2144.05 II.
However, KR ‘279 is silent in regards to the inclusion of a graft resin. Muro teaches a coloring composition and a method of producing a color filter using the same. The composition for forming a green color filter contains a color pigment (Muro, paragraph 0083), which may include a green pigment (Muro, paragraph 0085) and further include a yellow pigment, such as C.I. Pigment Yellow 129, 139, 185, and others (Muro, paragraph 0089-0090). The colorant combination is determined such that the light transmittance of a layer having a thickness of 0.6 μm has specific behavior at specified wavelengths (Muro, paragraph 0089). Particularly, the light transmittance is controlled such that the light transmittance of light having a wavelength of 450 nm is less than 50% and the light transmittance of light having a wavelength of 550 nm is 80% or more (Muro, paragraph 0106). The composition further contains a dispersing agent (Muro, paragraph 0108), which is preferably a graft polymer (Muro, paragraph 0120). Specific examples of the graft polymer include formulas (1) to (4) (Muro, paragraph 0128).
KR ‘279 and Muro are analogous art because both references pertain to coloring compositions used to manufacture color filters. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant application to use the graft polymer taught by Muro as the polymer dispersant disclosed by KR ‘279 because the use of a graft polymer in the coloring composition improves the dispersibility of the color pigment and improves the dispersion stability with respect to time (Muro, paragraph 0121). Further, the graft polymer allows the coloring composition to form a coating layer with better thickness uniformity (Muro, paragraph 0121).
Regarding Claim 2, in the above-described coloring composition obtained by combining the teachings of KR ‘279 and Muro, a quinophthalone compound is not utilized. Thus, the content of a quinophthalone compound in the yellow colorant is inherently less than 50% by mass.
Regarding Claim 6, KR ‘279 is silent in regards to the light transmittance of a film produced from the colorant composition. Muro teaches the transmittance of a film formed from a colored composition having a thickness of 0.6 μm (Muro, paragraph 0073-0076), emphasizing the importance of the transmittance properties recited by instant claim 6 for transmitting the green component of light whilst sufficiently cutting the blue component of light (Muro, paragraph 0076).
Whilst neither KR ‘279 nor Muro teach the transmittance properties of a film having a thickness of 0.65 μm, one having ordinary skill in the art would expect that the colorant composition obtained by combining the teachings of KR ‘279 and Muro, as described above, would possess the light transmission properties recited by instant claim 6. In particular, the colorant composition obtained by combining the teachings of KR ‘279 and Muro, as described above, comprises C.I. Pigment Yellow 129 and 185 in addition to a green colorant selected from the group of C.I. Pigment Green 36 and 58. The composition comprises similar or identical chemical species as the claimed invention in similar or identical amounts. KR ‘279 further teaches that the transmittance of the coloring composition is dependent on the content of the colorants in the composition (KR ‘279, paragraph 0039 of the English translation). Thus, one having ordinary skill would find the light transmittance properties recited by instant claim 6 to be prima facie obvious because the prior art encourages routine optimization of the colorant content to achieve a desired light transmittance property (see KR ‘279, paragraph 0039 of the English translation). Refer to MPEP 2144.05 II. Therefore, the combination of KR ‘279 and Muro renders instant claim 6 prima facie obvious.
Regarding Claim 7, KR ‘279 teaches inventive Example 5 (see page 13-14 of KR ‘279), which as described above renders obvious the composition according to instant claim 1 when combined with the teachings of Muro. As shown in Table 1, which is reproduced above, the colorant composition comprises a photopolymerizable compound (Kayarad DPHA) and a mixture of photopolymerization initiators (Irgacure 369 and EAB-F) (refer to the translated copy of Table 1 shown above).
Regarding Claim 8, KR ‘279 teaches inventive Example 5 (see page 13-14 of KR ‘279), which as described above renders obvious the composition according to instant claim 1 when combined with the teachings of Muro. KR ‘279 further teaches that the colorant composition is used for the formation of a color filter (KR ‘279, paragraph 0094-0095 of the English translation).
Regarding Claims 9-12, KR ‘279 teaches inventive Example 5 (see page 13-14 of KR ‘279), which as described above renders obvious the composition according to instant claim 1 when combined with the teachings of Muro. KR ‘279 further teaches that the colored composition is applied to a transparent substrate via a coating method to form a coating film, wherein the coating film is then subjected to selective exposure from an exposure light (i.e. a photolithography technique) and development with a developer to obtain a patterned film (KR ‘279, paragraphs 0097-0099 of the English translation). The patterned film is used in a color filter, which may be used for a liquid crystal display device (KR ‘279, paragraph 0101 of the English translation).
However, KR ‘279 is silent in regards to an imaging element. Muro teaches that the coloring composition is used to produce a film which is used in a color filter (Muro, paragraph 0492). The produced color filter may be used in liquid crystal display devices or solid-state imaging devices (Muro, paragraph 0493). It is well understood in the art that coloring compositions used to produce color filters may be used to produce display devices and solid-state imaging elements (see Muro, paragraph 0003-0008).
KR ‘279 and Muro are analogous art because both references pertain to coloring compositions used to manufacture color filters. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant application to use the color filter disclosed by KR ‘279, which is formed from the composition obtained by combining the teachings of KR ‘279 and Muro, to produce a solid-state imaging device because the coloring composition (and subsequent color filter) provide images of high image quality and display characteristics in a display device (Muro, paragraph 0494) and because it is well known in the art that color filters have end use as solid-state imaging elements (Muro, paragraph 0003-0008).
Claim(s) 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR 20160103279 A (hereby referred to as KR ‘279) in view of US 20140151614 A1 (hereby referred to as Muro) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of WO2008007776A1 (hereby referred to as WO ‘776).
Regarding Claim 14, the combination of KR ‘279 and Muro, as described above, renders obvious the coloring composition according to instant claim 1. KR ‘279 is silent in regards to graft polymers. Muro teaches graft polymer pigment dispersants (Muro, paragraph 0120). However, KR ‘279 and Muro are both silent in regards to a graft resin including a repeating unit represented by Formula (Ac-2).
WO ‘776 teaches a polyester dispersant and a pigment composition using the same. The polyester dispersant is formed by reacting a tetracarboxylic anhydride with a polyol monohydrate (WO ‘776, paragraph 0036 of the English translation). The reaction scheme is shown on page 10 of the original WO ‘776 publication (WO ‘776, paragraph 0037 of the English translation). Specifically, WO ‘776 teaches a polymer synthesized by reacting n-butyl methacrylate with 3-mercapto-1,2-propanediol (also known as thioglycerol) and pyromellitic anhydride (WO ‘776, paragraph 0130 of the English translation). Comparing the synthesis taught by WO ‘776 with the synthesis of resin dispersant B-2 of the instant application (refer to page 63-64 of the instant application’s specification), it is clear that the synthetic route described by WO ‘776 yields a comparable resin, wherein the difference between WO ‘776 and dispersant B-2 is the inclusion of additional (meth)acrylate monomers. In other words, the polymer described by WO ‘776 has a repeating unit represented by Formula (Ac-2), wherein Ar10 is the aromatic group from the pyromellitic anhydride, L11 is -COO-, L12 is the trivalent linking group from the 3-mercapto-1,2-propanediol, and P10 is the polymer chain obtained from the n-butyl methacrylate. The tables on pages 41-47 of WO ‘776 show other embodiments of the polymer, wherein the amounts and types of the respective monomers are changed between the examples.
KR ‘279, Muro, and WO ‘776 are analogous art because each reference pertains to coloring compositions containing dispersing resins. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant application to use a pigment dispersant having the graft resin structure taught by WO ‘776, which has the structure of Formula (Ac-2), in the coloring composition obtained by combining the teachings of KR ‘279 and Muro because the graft resin structure taught by WO ‘776 provides improved solvent affinity and improved pigment dispersibility (WO ‘776, paragraphs 0068 and 0184 of the English translation).
Conclusion
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/JAYSON D COSGROVE/Examiner, Art Unit 1737
/MARK F. HUFF/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1737
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