DETAILED ACTION
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
2. This application is entitled to and claims the benefit of priority of JP Patent App. No. 2022-147963, filed 09/16/2022. The preliminary amendment filed on 08/23/2023 is entered and acknowledged by the Examiner.
3. Claims 1-10 are pending. Claims 1-10 are under examination on the merits.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. The information disclosure statement submitted on 08/23/2023 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the examiner has considered the information disclosure statement.
Drawings
5. The drawing is received on 08/23/2023. These drawings are acceptable.
Priority
6. Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted on 09/23/2023 under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
7. 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.
8. Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Yuichiro Kubo (US Pub. No. 2020/0270455 A1, hereinafter “Kubo”) in view of Voigt et al. (Surface Functionalization of ZnO Nanorods with C60 Derivatives Carrying Phosphonic Acid Functionalities, J. Phys. Chem. C 2011, 115, 5561–5565, hereinafter “Voigt”).
Regarding claims 1-2,4: Kubo teaches a light-absorbing composition (Page 1, [0008]) comprising: a light absorber agent formed by a phosphonic acid represented by the following formula (a) and copper ion (Page 1, [0009])
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where R11 is an alkyl group, an aryl group, a nitroaryl group, a hydroxyaryl group, or a halogenated aryl group in which at least one hydrogen atom in an aryl group is substituted by a halogen atom (Page 1, [0013]; Page 24, Claim 1). Kubo does not expressly teach a compound expressed by Formula (1), wherein R1 is a group expressed by Formula (2) below having n=1, wherein the group expressed by Formula (2) has a molecular weight of no greater than 5,000.
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However, Voigt teaches the surface functionalization of ZnO nanorods by a series of C60 derivatives. The latter share in common (i) a phosphonic acid as an anchor to ZnO, (ii) an alkyl chain as a flexible spacer, and (iii) a C60 as the headgroup as shown in Scheme 1(Page 5562, Scheme 1) with benefit of providing a control of the electronic properties of ZnO nanorods by means of surface functionalization with a variety of C60 phosphonic acid derivatives (1-3) (Page 5565, left Col., Conclusions, line 1-3).
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In an analogous art of the light-absorbing composition comprising the light absorbing agent, and in the light of such benefit before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the side-chains of phosphonic acid by Kubo, so as to include R1 group expressed by Formula (2), wherein the group expressed by Formula (2) has a molecular weight of no greater than 5,000 as taught by Voigt, and would have been motivated to do so with reasonable expectation that this would result in providing a control of the electronic properties of the copper ion by means of surface functionalization with a variety of C60 phosphonic acid derivatives (1-3) (Page 5565, left Col., Conclusions, line 1-3).
Therefore, the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made, since it is held to be a prima facie case of obviousness since a person of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized the interchangeability of the element (i.e. functional group) shown in the prior art for the corresponding element disclosed in the specification wherein the side chains syntheses merely done by routine experimentation. Caterpillar Inc. v. Deere & Co., 224 F.3d 1374, 56 USPQ2d 1305 (Fed. Cir. 2000).
Regarding claim 3: Kubo teaches the light-absorbing composition (Page 1, [0008]), wherein a mole ratio of the compound expressed by Formula (1) to the copper ion is 1/4-4/1 (Page 13, Table 1).
Regarding claim 5: Kubo teaches the light-absorbing composition (Page 1, [0008]), comprising: the light absorbing agent, and a resin (Page 4, [0060]).
Regarding claims 6-7: Kubo teaches the light-absorbing composition (Page 1, [0008]), wherein the resin is a silicone resin. Specific examples of the silicone resin used as a matrix resin include KR-255, KR-300, KR-2621-1, KR-211, KR-311, KR-216, KR-212, KR-251, and KR-5230. They are all silicone resins manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. (Page 4, [0062]), wherein the resin has a weight- average molecular weight of 10,000-300,000 g/mol (Page 4, [0062]).
Thus, the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made, since the selection of silicone resins of known material based on its suitability for its intended use has generally been held to be prima facie obvious (MPEP §2144.07).
Regarding claim 8: Kubo teaches the light-absorbing composition (Page 1, [0008]), further comprising an organic solvent (Page 4, [0064]).
Regarding claim 9: Kubo teaches an optical member (Page 9, [0104]; Page 24, Claim 4), comprising the light absorbing agent dispersed in a matrix resin (Page 4, [0063]; Page 8, [0098], Example 1).
Regarding claim 10: Kubo teaches a method of manufacturing the light absorbing agent, the method comprising: preparing a solution that includes a copper ion source, a compound expressed by Formula (a) below, and a solvent; and reacting the copper ion and the compound expressed by Formula (a) below
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where R11 is an alkyl group, an aryl group, a nitroaryl group, a hydroxyaryl group, or a halogenated aryl group in which at least one hydrogen atom in an aryl group is substituted by a halogen atom (Page 4, [0063]; Page 8, [0098], Example 1). Kubo does not expressly teach a compound expressed by Formula (1), wherein R1 is a group expressed by Formula (2) below having n=1.
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However, Voigt teaches the surface functionalization of ZnO nanorods by a series of C60 derivatives. The latter share in common (i) a phosphonic acid as an anchor to ZnO, (ii) an alkyl chain as a flexible spacer, and (iii) a C60 as the headgroup as shown in Scheme 1( Page 5562, Scheme 1) with benefit of providing a control of the electronic properties
of ZnO nanorods by means of surface functionalization with a variety of C60 phosphonic acid derivatives (1-3) (Page 5565, left Col., Conclusions, line 1-3).
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In an analogous art of the method of manufacturing the light-absorbing composition comprising the light absorbing agent, and in the light of such benefit before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the side-chains of phosphonic acid by Kubo, so as to include R1 group expressed by Formula (2) as taught by Voigt, and would have been motivated to do so with reasonable expectation that this would result in providing a control of the electronic properties of the copper ion by means of surface functionalization with a variety of C60 phosphonic acid derivatives (1-3) (Page 5565, left Col., Conclusions, line 1-3).
Therefore, the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made, since it is held to be a prima facie case of obviousness since a person of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized the interchangeability of the element (i.e. functional group) shown in the prior art for the corresponding element disclosed in the specification wherein the side chains syntheses merely done by routine experimentation. Caterpillar Inc. v. Deere & Co., 224 F.3d 1374, 56 USPQ2d 1305 (Fed. Cir. 2000).
Examiner Information
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Bijan Ahvazi, Ph.D. whose telephone number is (571) 270-3449. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 9.00 A.M. -7 P.M..
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joseph Del Sole can be reached on 571-272-1130. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Bijan Ahvazi/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1763
08/12/2025
bijan.ahvazi@uspto.gov