DETAILED CORRESPONDENCE
This Office action is in response to the application received June 30, 2026.
Bolded text is new language to the OA.
The substitute specification received June 30, 2026, is entered based on the disclosure in Table 4 on page 32 of the specification supporting the correction to Tables 1 through 3.
The rejection under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) (1) as being clearly anticipated by KIM et al (2017/0108773) is withdrawn in view of the arguments by applicant wherein the content of the fluorine surfactant fails to meet the claimed content recited in claim 1.
New grounds for rejection are made in light of new art found.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KIM et al (2017/0108773) in view of KIM et al (2015/0139507) and ARAYAMA et al (2017/0174869 a1).
The claimed invention recites the following:
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Claim 2-4 are met by the disclosed fluorine surfactant on page 19.
Claim 5 to the dispersion medium is met by the disclose of a 10% dilution of the surfactant disclosed in para. [0186] above.
Claim 9 to the acrylic resin is met by the working examples in page 21, Table 1, see para. [0172].
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No claims above are allowed.
The claimed invention has been recited above and is included by reference.
KIM et al report a photosensitive resin composition comprising a binder, a photoinitiator, a polymerizable compound and a fluorine surfactant, see page 19 para. [0154] to [0156] for the content of the surfactant at 0.001 parts by weight (10 ppm) to 5.0% by weight meeting the content as recited in claim 1.
Claims 6 can be met by the weight ratio of the leveling agent (surfactant) to the silane coupling agent disclosed in para. [0155} and para. [0172], respectively.
Claim 7 is met by the disclosed amounts of the surfactant in para. [0156] to the amounts of the pigments from para. [0100] and para. [0105].
Claim 8 to the additives is reported on page 19, para. [0146].
Claim 10 to the blue pigment and/or violet pigment is met by para. [0102].
Claims 11-12 is met by the disclosure of solvents in para. [0140] to [0144] wherein the listed solvents such as alcohol and others have different boiling points and may be used in mixtures reported in KIM et al (2015/0139507) see para. [0166], attached below:
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ARAYAMA et al (2017/0174869 a1) disclose a curable composition comprising fluorine surfactants in an amount of 0.004 parts by mass, see page 59 para. [0586] and page 50, para. [0473] which teaches a content of a fluorine surfactant of 0.004 parts by mass (40 ppm):
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The disclosed examples fall in the disclose range with the lower endpoint starting at 0.001% parts by mass (10 ppm), see page 37, para. [0331] below:
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The disclosure teaches the skilled artisan that the lower range of the surfactant can be preferred, such as a range of the 1 ppm to 40 ppm and would give same or similar results to the composition for fluidity.
Claims 13, 15 -17 are met by the examples in page 21, Table 1 wherein color filters are known to be used in conventional semiconductor devices such as CMOS and display devices.
Claim 14 to the viscosity would inherently be due to the same or similar components used in KIM et al for the solvents.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of photosensitive composition to formulate photosensitive composition having a fluorine surfactant in the content of 0.001% to 0.004% parts by mass or 1 ppm to 40 ppm with a combination of solvents with different boiling points, use of blue or violet pigments and with the reasonable expectation of improved coating properties and generation of spots as taught in para. [0153].
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
SAKITA et al 2010/0121013 a1) report curable composition wherein the preferred content of fluorine surfactants is disclosed on page 7, para [0074], see below for the content of the surfactant preferably from 0.002% to 4% by mass (20 ppm to 40,000 ppm):
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Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN S. CHU whose telephone number is (571)272-1329. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F, IFP-Flex.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Keith Hendricks, can be reached at telephone number 571-272-1401. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/John S. Chu/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1737
J. Chu
September 2, 2026
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