DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 29 April 2026 has been entered.
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 Rejections - 35 USC § 102
Claims 1-12 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kotikian et al. (Adv. Mater., vol. 30, 2018) as evidenced by the Daken Chemical RM82 information sheet.
Kotikian is directed to additive manufacturing of liquid crystal actuators employing liquid crystal elastomers which exhibit large reversible contractions wherein the mesogen domains are aligned along the direction of the print path (page 1, column 2). The liquid crystal elastomer ink comprises oligomers formed from reactive mesogens with acrylate end groups and amine linkers (paragraph bridging pages 1 and 2 and Figure 1).
In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 2(a), an H-shaped top layer is printed over a square bottom layer wherein the top layer is printed at 90o from horizontal while the bottom layer is printed at 45o from horizontal (paragraph bridging the column on page 2).
In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 4, the article comprises four layers in the form of two pairs of perpendicularly oriented layers (paragraph bridging pages 3 and 4). In the embodiment of Figure 4(a), the actuator transforms into a cone when heated above the nematic-isotropic temperature and recovers to its original dimensions and shape upon cooling (column 2 of page 3). This corresponds to a three-dimensional structure configured to return to the as-formed shape in the absence of the stimulus (i.e., heat).
Since the mesogen domains are aligned along the direction of the print path, one of ordinary skill in the art would expect the H-shaped top layer and square bottom layer to be aligned in different directions.
Regarding claim 2, one of ordinary skill in the art would expect a layer in the first pair of layers of the four layered article illustrated in Figure 4 to have the same as a layer in second pair of layers since the layers are perpendicularly oriented.
The since the actuators exhibit large reversible contractions, one of ordinary skill in the art would expect the limitations of claim 3 to be met during the reversible contractions performed during use.
The limitation of claim 9 is taken to be met since the top and bottom layers are printed to a thickness of 100 mm, i.e., greater than the minimum dimension recited in the claim.
The limitation of claim 10 is taken to be met since the photograph presented in Figure 3(c) illustrates a shape change of greater than 5%.
Regarding claim 14, the liquid crystal elastomer depicted by Kotikian in Figure 1 is the reactive liquid crystal known as RM82 (compare the structure in Figure 1(a) of Kotikian with the structure given for RM82 in the Daken Chemical RM information sheet). This compound has an aspect ratio of 4:1 (see page 3 of Daken).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kotikian et al. (Adv. Mater., vol. 30, 2018).
Kotikian teaches all the limitations of claim 3, as outlined above, except the reference is silent regarding the ratio of mesogen to linker.
However, in the absence of a showing of criticality or unexpected results, it would have required no more than routine experimentation and ordinary skill to determine a ratio of mesogen to linker suitable for use in an additive manufacturing process. Since claimed invention is also formed by additive manufacturing (e.g., see paragraph 0003 on page 2 of the specification) and thus would both be expected to require similar properties (e.g., viscosity), one of ordinary skill in the art would expect the ratio determined by routine experimentation to satisfy the limitation of claim 13.
Response to Amendment
The 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejections of claims 12 and 13 are withdrawn in view of the amendments to these claims filed 29 April 2026.
The nonstatutory obviousness type double patenting rejection of claims 1 and 3-14 is withdrawn in view of the amendment to claim 1 filed 29 April 2026.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 29 April 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The applicant argues that Kotikian does not teach the invention as claimed, noting that the embodiment illustrated in Figure 4b does not return to its original flat conformation when the stimulus (i.e., heat) is removed.
This is not persuasive for the following reasons. While the examiner agrees that the embodiment illustrated in Figure 4b does not return to its as-formed shape in the absence of the stimulus, the teachings of Kotikian are not limited to the embodiment shown in Figure 4b. Rather, Kotikian also teaches an embodiment (illustrated in Figure 4a) in which the liquid crystal elastomer actuator transforms into a core when heated above the nematic-isotropic temperature and, as expected, "recovers to its original dimensions and shape upon cooling" (column 2 of page 3). That is, the actuator returns to its as-formed shape in the absence of the stimulus.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAMSEY E ZACHARIA whose telephone number is (571)272-1518. The best time to reach the examiner is weekday mornings, Eastern time.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Callie Shosho, can be reached on 571 272-1123. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RAMSEY ZACHARIA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1787
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