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 .
Response to Amendment/Argument
Applicant’s arguments, see remarks, filed 03/05/2026, with respect to the rejection of claim 19 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of claim 19 has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see remarks, filed 03/05/2026, with respect to the use of Gardner in the claim 1 rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The specific ground of rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of teaching reference Urasaki.
Applicant’s arguments, see remarks, filed 03/05/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 and 2 under Cho 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 Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.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 an updated prior art search.
Applicant's arguments filed 03/05/2026 with respect to a reflective layer disposed directly on a light emitting element not corresponding to the claimed first reflective member have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. While Cho is not relied upon in the amended rejection, the location of the reflective layer with respect to the light emitting element is not relevant because the feature as a whole is not relied upon, only its reflective surface properties. A reflective member surrounding a light emitting element is already taught by Omori.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5, 11 and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Omori (US-20230005891-A1) in view of Urasaki et al. (US-20180130931-A1 – hereinafter Urasaki), and further in view of Zhou et al. (US-20240088333-A1 – hereinafter Zhou).
Regarding claim 1, Omori teaches a light-emitting device (Fig.1 1; ¶0027) comprising:
a substrate (Fig.2A 2; ¶0063) having a first surface (top surface);
one or more light-emitting elements (Fig.2A 3; ¶0063) disposed on the first surface (top surface) of the substrate (2); and
a first reflective member (Fig.2A 6; ¶0074) disposed on the first surface (top surface) of the substrate (2) and surrounding the light-emitting elements (3), the first reflective member (6) comprising:
a first resin (¶0074).
Omori does not teach the first reflective member comprising:
a plurality of first hollow particles in the first resin;
each of first hollow particles has a median diameter of 16 μm or more and 65 μm or less;
a content of the first hollow particles is 20 parts by mass or more and 50 parts by mass or less with respect to 100 parts by mass of the first resin,
wherein the first reflective member has an uneven surface formed with the first hollow particles; and
wherein a surface roughness Ra of the first reflective member is 0.10 μm or more and 3.0 μm or less, and a reflectance of the first reflective member is 40% or more.
Urasaki teaches a light emitting device (Fig.3; ¶0003 of Urasaki) with a reflective resin (Fig.3 403; ¶0003 and abstract of Urasaki) having a white pigment comprising hollow particles (¶0013 and ¶0015 of Urasaki), the white pigment particles and additional filler particles filling 70-85% of the resin volume (¶0042 of Urasaki), and the particles having a reflectance of 40% or more (¶0013 of Urasaki) and a diameter overlapping with the claimed range (¶0016 of Urasaki).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to fabricate the resin of Omori (6 of Omori) with the material taught by Urasaki (¶0013-0015 of Urasaki) at the same resin volume amount to arrive at the claimed invention. While the claimed amount is in parts by mass and not %volume, comparing this taught %volume to Figure 8 of the application appears to reasonably align. A practitioner would have been motivated to use this material for the benefit of better light reflectivity and light resistance (¶0008 of Urasaki).
Omori in view of Urasaki does not teach wherein the first reflective member has an uneven surface formed with the first hollow particles; and
wherein a surface roughness Ra of the first reflective member is 0.10 μm or more and 3.0 μm or less.
Omori in view of Urasaki does, however, teach the outer surfaces of the first reflective member (6 of Omori) being formed with the first hollow particles (¶0013 and ¶0015 of Urasaki).
Zhou teaches a reflective layer (Fig.1 top surface of 20; ¶0062 of Zhou) with a surface roughness Ra of 3 microns of fewer (¶0062 of Zhou).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the surface of the reflective member of Omori in view of Urasaki (6 of Omori) to have the surface roughness like that taught by Zhou (¶0062 of Zhou) to arrive at the claimed invention. A practitioner of ordinary skill would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improved increased color consistency (¶0055 of Zhou).
Regarding claim 2, the aforementioned combination of Omori in view of Urasaki, and further in view of Zhou from claim 1 teaches the light-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the surface roughness Ra of the first reflective member is 0.50 μm or more and 2.0 μm or less (this range is covered by ¶0062 of Zhou).
Regarding claim 3, the aforementioned combination of Omori in view of Urasaki, and further in view of Zhou from claim 1 teaches the light-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the first reflective member has a substantially semi-circular shape or substantially semi-elliptical shape in a cross-sectional view in a direction perpendicular to the first surface of the substrate (this is depicted in Fig.2A of Omori).
Regarding claim 5, the aforementioned combination of Omori in view of Urasaki, and further in view of Zhou from claim 1 teaches the light-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein each of the first hollow particles includes a hollow silica microsphere or a hollow glass microsphere (¶0014 and ¶0015 of Urasaki).
Regarding claim 11, the aforementioned combination of Omori in view of Urasaki, and further in view of Zhou from claim 1 teaches the light-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the first reflective member has a reflectance of 60% or more (¶0013 of Urasaki).
Regarding claim 18, the aforementioned combination of Omori in view of Urasaki, and further in view of Zhou from claim 3 teaches the light-emitting device according to claim 3, wherein:
the first reflective member (6 of Omori) has the substantially semi-circular shape (Fig.2A of Omori shows reflective member 6 having a semi-circular shape) in a cross-sectional view in the direction perpendicular to the first surface (top surface) of the substrate (2 of Omori); and
the substantially semi-circular shape includes a semi-circle obtained from a true circle divided into two equal parts, or a semi-circle obtained from a circle distorted or deformed with a tolerance or error within 5% with respect to a diameter of the circle.
Regarding claim 19, the aforementioned combination of Omori in view of Urasaki, and further in view of Zhou from claim 3 teaches the light-emitting device according to claim 3, wherein:
the first reflective member (6 of Omori) has the substantially semi-elliptical shape (Fig.2A of Omori shows reflective member 6 having a semi-circular shape, which is also a semi-elliptical shape) in a cross-sectional view in the direction perpendicular to the first surface (top surface) of the substrate (2 of Omori); and
the substantially semi-elliptical shape is:
a semi-ellipse obtained from an ellipse divided into two equal parts, the ellipse including a locus of points with a sum of distances being constant from two fixed points on a plane, an oval obtained from a circle stretched in one direction;
a shape obtained from a shape of a oval gold coin or a running track divided into two equal parts,
a shape obtained from a shape divided into two equal parts, the shape surrounded by both a pair of straight lines or first curved lines extending in a longitudinal or transverse direction and a pair of second curved lines connected to the pair of straight lines or the pair of first curved lines, the second curved lines being curved convexly outward, or
a shape obtained from a shape divided into two equal parts, the shape having two sets of two adjacent ends of two parallel sides facing each other or two sets of two adjacent ends of two curved sides facing each other, the two sets of the adjacent ends connected with two arcs having the same diameter.
Regarding claim 20, the aforementioned combination of Omori in view of Urasaki, and further in view of Zhou from claim 1 teaches the light-emitting device according to claim 1,
wherein an angle formed between the first surface of the first substrate and the first reflective member is 60 degrees or more and 135 degrees or less (Figure 2A of Omori shows the angle between the top surface of 2 and the side surface of 6 being roughly a 90 degree angle, which falls within the claimed range).
Claim(s) 7-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Omori in view of Urasaki, and further in view of Zhou, and further in view of Hong et al. (US-20160104827-A1 – hereinafter Hong).
Regarding claim 7, the aforementioned combination of Omori in view of Urasaki, and further in view of Zhou from claim 1 teaches the light-emitting device according to claim 1 further comprising:
a sealing member (Fig.2A 5; ¶0073 of Omori) disposed on the first surface (top surface) of the substrate (2 of Omori) and covering the light-emitting element (3 of Omori);
wherein the sealing member (5) comprises:
a second resin (¶0073 of Omori).
The aforementioned combination does not explicitly teach the sealing member comprising:
a plurality of second hollow particles in the second resin.
Hong teaches an encapsulant (Fig.4A 114; ¶0055 of Hong) for covering an LED (Fig.4A 111; ¶0054) having hollow particles (Fig.4A 216; ¶0055 of Hong).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to include the hollow particles of Hong (216 of Hong) in the sealing member of Omori (5 of Omori) to arrive at the claimed invention. A practitioner of ordinary skill would be motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improved light scattering compared to a resin without hollow particles.
Regarding claim 8, the aforementioned combination of Omori in view of Urasaki, and further in view of Zhou, and further in view of Hong from claim 7 teaches the light-emitting device according to claim 7.
The aforementioned combination does not explicitly teach wherein a proportion of the second hollow particles at positions closer to a front surface of the sealing member is 1.5 times or more than a proportion of the second hollow particles at positions closer to a bottom surface of the sealing member.
However, it would have been obvious to form the particle sizes within the claimed range, since it has been held by the Federal circuit that, where the only difference between the prior art and the claims was a recitation of relative dimensions of the claimed device and a device having the claimed relative dimensions would not perform differently than the prior art device, the claimed device was not patentably distinct from the prior art device. (In Gardner v. TEC Systems, Inc., 725 F.2d 1338, 220 USPQ 777 (Fed. Cir. 1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 830, 225 USPQ 232 (1984)).
Regarding claim 9, the aforementioned combination of Omori in view of Urasaki, and further in view of Zhou, and further in view of Hong from claim 7 teaches the light-emitting device according to claim 7, wherein each of the second hollow particles has a median diameter of 16 μm or more and 65 μm or less (¶0055 of Hong teaches the particle sizes being on the nanometer scale).
Regarding claim 10, the aforementioned combination of Omori in view of Urasaki, and further in view of Zhou, and further in view of Hong from claim 7 teaches the light-emitting device according to claim 7, wherein each of the second hollow particles comprises a hollow silica microsphere or a hollow glass microsphere (¶0056 of Hong).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THADDEUS J KOLB whose telephone number is (571)272-0276. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:30am - 5:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Eliseo Ramos-Feliciano can be reached at (571) 272-7925. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/T.J.K./ Examiner, Art Unit 2817
/ELISEO RAMOS FELICIANO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2817