DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restriction
REQUIREMENT FOR UNITY OF INVENTION
As provided in 37 CFR 1.475(a), a national stage application shall relate to one invention only or to a group of inventions so linked as to form a single general inventive concept (“requirement of unity of invention”). Where a group of inventions is claimed in a national stage application, the requirement of unity of invention shall be fulfilled only when there is a technical relationship among those inventions involving one or more of the same or corresponding special technical features. The expression “special technical features” shall mean those technical features that define a contribution which each of the claimed inventions, considered as a whole, makes over the prior art.
The determination whether a group of inventions is so linked as to form a single general inventive concept shall be made without regard to whether the inventions are claimed in separate claims or as alternatives within a single claim. See 37 CFR 1.475(e).
When Claims Are Directed to Multiple Categories of Inventions:
As provided in 37 CFR 1.475 (b), a national stage application containing claims to different categories of invention will be considered to have unity of invention if the claims are drawn only to one of the following combinations of categories:
(1) A product and a process specially adapted for the manufacture of said product; or
(2) A product and a process of use of said product; or
(3) A product, a process specially adapted for the manufacture of the said product, and a use of the said product; or
(4) A process and an apparatus or means specifically designed for carrying out the said process; or
(5) A product, a process specially adapted for the manufacture of the said product, and an apparatus or means specifically designed for carrying out the said process.
Otherwise, unity of invention might not be present. See 37 CFR 1.475 (c).
Restriction is required under 35 U.S.C. 121 and 372.
This application contains the following inventions or groups of inventions which are not so linked as to form a single general inventive concept under PCT Rule 13.1.
In accordance with 37 CFR 1.499, applicant is required, in reply to this action, to elect a single invention to which the claims must be restricted.
Group I, claim(s) 1-9, 12, 17-20, and 28, drawn to a light absorber.
Group II, claim(s) 29-31, 33, and 34, drawn to a method for manufacturing a light absorber.
The groups of inventions listed above do not relate to a single general inventive concept under PCT Rule 13.1 because, under PCT Rule 13.2, they lack the same or corresponding special technical features for the following reasons:
Groups I and II lack unity of invention because the groups do not share the same or corresponding technical feature. Specifically, Group II recites at least “…a step of stamping, onto a surface of the precursor, a mold having a surface on which a plurality of fine protrusions are formed, before the resin liquid cures, and curing the resin liquid to form a light absorbing layer having a surface including an optical confinement structure…”.
During a telephone conversation with James Armstrong (Reg. No. 42266) on 01/06/2026 a provisional election was made without traverse to prosecute the invention of Group I, claims 1-9, 12, 17-20, and 28. Affirmation of this election must be made by applicant in replying to this Office action. Claims 29-31, 33, and 34 are withdrawn from further consideration by the examiner, 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a non-elected invention.
The examiner has required restriction between product or apparatus claims and process claims. Where applicant elects claims directed to the product/apparatus, and all product/apparatus claims are subsequently found allowable, withdrawn process claims that include all the limitations of the allowable product/apparatus claims should be considered for rejoinder. All claims directed to a nonelected process invention must include all the limitations of an allowable product/apparatus claim for that process invention to be rejoined.
In the event of rejoinder, the requirement for restriction between the product/apparatus claims and the rejoined process claims will be withdrawn, and the rejoined process claims will be fully examined for patentability in accordance with 37 CFR 1.104. Thus, to be allowable, the rejoined claims must meet all criteria for patentability including the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 101, 102, 103 and 112. Until all claims to the elected product/apparatus are found allowable, an otherwise proper restriction requirement between product/apparatus claims and process claims may be maintained. Withdrawn process claims that are not commensurate in scope with an allowable product/apparatus claim will not be rejoined. See MPEP § 821.04. Additionally, in order for rejoinder to occur, applicant is advised that the process claims should be amended during prosecution to require the limitations of the product/apparatus claims. Failure to do so may result in no rejoinder. Further, note that the prohibition against double patenting rejections of 35 U.S.C. 121 does not apply where the restriction requirement is withdrawn by the examiner before the patent issues. See MPEP § 804.01.
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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 03/02/2023 and 04/12/2024 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 1-9, 12, 17-20, and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Amemiya (Examiner provided machine translation of WO 2019087439 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Amemiya discloses a light absorber ([0009] teaches a light absorber) comprising: a light absorbing layer made of a resin which contains a light absorbing material ([0009] teaches the light absorber is made of a resin substrate; [0024] teaches including carbon nanotubes mixed into the resin, known in the art to be absorptive), and an optical confinement structure including a plurality of fine protrusions formed on a surface of the light absorber ([0009] teaches an uneven surface on the surface of the resin substrate), wherein the light absorber is configured such that luminous reflectance RSCI according to a specular components included (SCI) method, which detects a total of specular reflected light and diffuse reflected light, does not exceed 0.20% (Examiner notes RSCI is interpreted as analogous to the total reflectance; at least Figure 19; [0011, 0063] teach the resin substrate with an uneven surface has a total reflectance of 0.1% or less in the wavelength range of 4 to 15 micrometers).
Regarding claim 2, Amemiya discloses the light absorber according to claim 1, wherein the optical confinement structure has a plurality of protrusions which protrude outward from the surface, the protrusions have tips being connected like ridges or having a conical shape and have a cross-sectional shape gradually expanding from a tip toward a base, and a distance between adjacent ridges or adjacent conical tips is from 0.1 μm to 100 μm (Figure 10, [0052]).
Regarding claim 3, Amemiya discloses the light absorber according to claim 1, wherein the light absorber is configured such that luminous reflectance RSCE according to a specular components excluded (SCE) method, which detects diffuse reflected light, does not exceed 0.20% when the surface on which the optical confinement structure is formed is mirror finished (Examiner notes that the recitation "when the surface … is mirror finished" is interpreted as a necessary condition for when the diffuse reflection amount is to be met, however if the surface is not mirror finished, the diffuse reflection amount is not required to be met; since Amemiya is silent as to the surface being mirror finished, the diffuse reflection amount is not considered to be required).
Regarding claim 4, Amemiya discloses the light absorber according to claim 3, wherein the mirror finished surface is formed by filling, with a transparent resin, the surface on which the optical confinement structure is formed (Amemiya is silent as to the surface being mirror finished in parent claim 3, which was written in an alternative, therefore the present claim limitation is interpreted as not being required if the mirror finish condition is not true).
Regarding claim 5, Amemiya discloses the light absorber according to claim 3, wherein the mirror finished surface is formed by flattening the surface on which the optical confinement structure is formed (Amemiya is silent as to the surface being mirror finished in parent claim 3, which was written in an alternative, therefore the present claim limitation is interpreted as not being required if the mirror finish condition is not true).
Regarding claim 6, Amemiya discloses the light absorber according to claim 1, wherein the light absorbing material includes a material selected from the group consisting of black lacquer, an inorganic black pigment, aligned carbon nanotubes and a black dye ([0024] teaches including carbon nanotubes mixed into the resin).
Regarding claim 7, Amemiya discloses the light absorber according to claim 6, further comprising: a porous inorganic black film or a resin layer containing carbon black under the light absorbing layer, when the light absorbing material is black lacquer or a black dye (Examiner has relied upon carbon nanotubes to teach the limitations of the parent claim 6).
Regarding claim 8, Amemiya discloses the light absorber according to claim 6, further containing carbon black as the light absorbing material, when the light absorbing material is a black dye (Examiner has relied upon carbon nanotubes to teach the limitations of the parent claim 6).
Regarding claim 9, Amemiya discloses the light absorber according to claim 1, wherein the resin of the light absorbing layer comprises at least one resin selected from the group consisting of epoxy resin, polyester resin, acrylic resin, polycarbonate resin and vinyl chloride resin or an ultraviolet curable resin, or the light absorbing layer has a surface on which the optical confinement structure is formed (at least [0009] teaches the uneven surface is formed on a surface of the resin substrate).
Regarding claim 12, Amemiya discloses a light absorber ([0009] teaches a light absorber) comprising: one other light absorbing layer containing a light absorbing material ([0009] teaches the light absorber is made of a resin substrate; [0024] teaches including carbon nanotubes mixed into the resin, known in the art to be absorptive), and a surface layer provided on the other light absorbing layer, and made of a resin including an optical confinement structure including a plurality of fine protrusions formed on a surface thereof ([0009] teaches an uneven surface on the surface of the resin substrate; the uneven surface is viewed to be made of the same material as the resin substrate), wherein the light absorber is configured such that luminous reflectance RSCI according to a specular components included (SCI) method, which detects a total of specular reflected light and diffuse reflected light, does not exceed 0.20% (Examiner notes RSCI is interpreted as analogous to the total reflectance; at least Figure 19; [0011, 0063] teach the resin substrate with an uneven surface has a total reflectance of 0.1% or less in the wavelength range of 4 to 15 micrometers).
Regarding claim 17, Amemiya discloses the light absorber according to claim 12, wherein the other light absorbing layer contains a resin ([0009] teaches the light absorber is made of a resin substrate) and a light absorbing material selected from the group consisting of black lacquer, an inorganic black pigment, aligned carbon nanotubes and a black dye, or contains a light absorbing material selected from the group consisting of a porous inorganic black film, an electrostatic flocking black cloth and a foamed polyurethane black sheet ([0024] teaches including carbon nanotubes mixed into the resin).
Regarding claim 18, Amemiya discloses the light absorber according to claim 17, further containing carbon black as the light absorbing material, when the light absorbing material contains a black dye (Examiner has relied upon carbon nanotubes to teach the limitations of the parent claim 17).
Regarding claim 19, Amemiya discloses the light absorber according to claim 17, further comprising a porous inorganic black film or a resin layer containing carbon black under the light absorbing layer, when the light absorbing material contains black lacquer, aligned carbon nanotubes or a black dye (at least [0024] teaches carbon powder such as carbon black being mixed into the photocurable resin or silicone composition of the retransfer body).
Regarding claim 20, Amemiya discloses the light absorber according to claim 12, wherein the surface layer contains a black dye, or the surface layer is made of at least one resin selected from the group consisting of epoxy resin, polyester resin, acrylic resin, polycarbonate resin and vinyl chloride resin, or the surface layer is made of an ultraviolet curable resin (at least [0021]).
Regarding claim 28, Amemiya discloses the light absorber according to claim 1, wherein the light absorber is configured such that the luminous reflectance RSCI according to the SCI method does not exceed 0.10% (Examiner notes RSCI is interpreted as analogous to the total reflectance; at least Figure 19; [0011, 0063] teach the resin substrate with an uneven surface has a total reflectance of 0.1% or less in the wavelength range of 4 to 15 micrometers).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Suwa (2020/0363570), Szambolics (2020/0183052), Gregorski (2019/0219739), Shimatsu (2016/0091632), Watanabe (2006/0139749), and Hitoshi (JP 2016033659 A) disclose relevant light absorbers.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BALRAM T PARBADIA whose telephone number is (571)270-0602. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 am - 5:00 pm, Monday - Friday.
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, Bumsuk Won can be reached at (571) 272-2713. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BALRAM T PARBADIA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872