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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 7/24/2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1 and 4-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takimoto et al. (JP 2015-030803) in view of Kawai et al. (JP 2019-094468).
Regarding claim 1, Takimoto discloses a composition (including methanol – MeOH; page 28, para [0058]) for an antifogging film of a spectacle lens (page 1, para [0001]; page 2, para [0002]) but does not expressly disclose that the composition (page 29, para [0058]) has a viscosity at 15°C of 47 mPa • s or more and 80 mPa • s or less, and a solid content of 10 mass% or more and 25 mass% or less.
However, Kawai discloses a composition for an antifogging film (page 4, para [0009]) having excellent antifogging properties (page 4, para [0009]), wherein the composition has a solid content of 17 mass% or more and 25 mass% or less, such as 20 mass% (page 35, para [0076]), and contains components (A) to (C) (Claim 1):
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Therefore before the time of the effective filing of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to configure the composition for an antifogging film of Takimoto with the composition for an antifogging film of Kawai (page 4, para [0009]), wherein the composition has a solid content of 17 mass% or more and 25 mass% or less, such as 20 mass% (Kawai: page 35, para [0076]), and contains components (A) to (C) (Kawai: Claim 1):
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in order to obtain the benefits of forming an antifogging film that has excellent antifogging properties as taught by Kawai (page 4, para [0009]). Furthermore, Examiner notes that the composition for an antifogging film of Kawai (Kawai: Claim 1) is the same as Applicant’s composition for an antifogging film (see Applicant’s Claim 4 and Specification pages 11-12, para [0014]), and therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing of the claimed invention would have reasonably expected the composition for the antifogging film of Kawai to have the same recited physical properties of Applicant’s composition for an antifogging film having a viscosity at 15°C of 47 mPa • s or more and 80 mPa • s or less, and at a solid content of 17 mass% or more and 25 mass% or less, such as 20 mass% (Kawai: page 35, para [0076]). Therefore, Takimoto as modified by Kawai discloses all the recited limitations of the claim.
Regarding claim 4, Takimoto as modified by Kawai discloses a composition with all the limitations above and further discloses wherein the composition contains components (A) to (C) (Kawai: components (A) to (C) of Claim 1 of Kawai):
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Regarding claim 5, Takimoto as modified by Kawai discloses a spectacle lens (Takimoto: page 2, para [0002]) comprising an antifogging film obtained by curing the composition for an antifogging film (Kawai: components (A) to (C) of Claim 1 of Kawai) according to claim 1.
Regarding claim 6, Takimoto as modified by Kawai discloses a spectacle lens with all the limitations of claim 5 above and further discloses wherein the antifogging film is an outermost layer (Takimoto: page 29, para [0059]; page 2, para [0002]).
Regarding claim 7, Takimoto as modified by Kawai discloses a spectacle lens with all the limitations of claim 5 above and further discloses wherein the spectacle lens (Takimoto: page 2, para [0002]) has a substrate (Takimoto: page 29, para [0059]), and an antifogging film (Kawai: components (A) to (C) of Claim 1 of Kawai) directly on the substrate (Takimoto: page 28, para [0058]; page 29, para [0059]).
Regarding claim 8, Takimoto as modified by Kawai discloses a spectacle lens with all the limitations of claim 5 above and further discloses wherein the antifogging film (Kawai: components (A) to (C) of Claim 1 of Kawai) is a single layer (Takimoto: antifogging film is coated then cured as a single layer; page 29, para [0059]; page 2, para [0002]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 6/26/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding claim 1, Applicant argues that the cited prior art reference of Kawai et. al. (JP 2019-094468) "only teaches a solid content of 5-60 mass% and preferably 10 to 50 mass%" and that the examples of Kawai only use 30 mass%. Applicant thus argues that Kawai does not teach a solid content within the claimed range but instead, at most, an overlapping range which is significantly larger on both ends and that nothing in Kawai indicates that the claimed solids content can provide a superior result.
However, Examiner disagrees with Applicant's arguments and notes that Kawai clearly teaches a solid content range of preferably 10 to 50% by mass (page 35, para [0076]) that overlaps with the claimed range of 17 mass% or more and 25 mass% or less. Thus, Kawai teaches a solid content of 20 mass%, which falls within the claimed range of 17 mass% or more and 25 mass% or less. Examiner notes that Kawai's disclosed solid content range of 10 to 50% by mass does not have to completely fall within or be exactly the same as the claimed range in the obviousness rejection. Since Kawai discloses a solid content range of 10 to 50% by mass, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing of the claimed invention to configure the solid content to be 20% by mass (which is within the claimed solid content range of 17 mass% or more and 25 mass% or less) in order to obtain the benefits of forming an antifogging film that has excellent antifogging properties as taught by Kawai (page 4, para [0009]). Therefore, the rejection is maintained.
Applicant further argues that the control of bubble behavior is not taught or suggested in Takimoto or Kawai and that “amended claim 1 should not be regarded as mere optimization or substitution, but rather as critical ranges that impart a new function, namely suppression of bubble residue.” However, Examiner notes that Applicant is arguing limitations that are not presently recited in the claims, and therefore, Applicant’s arguments are moot.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAUL CHANG LEE whose telephone number is (571)270-7923. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10am-6pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael H Caley can be reached at 571-272-2286. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PAUL C LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871
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