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 .
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.
Response to Amendment
Applicant's arguments filed 1/27/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to applicant's arguments that neither Watanabe nor Rigato teach that the metal-containing layer includes silver in the form of a single metal or an alloy, examiner respectfully disagrees. Paragraphs 0001, 0005, 0018, and 0028 of Rigato each teach a metallic layer made of silver as a single metal, and paragraph 0001 further states that the metallic layer may be made up as a mixture including silver and zirconium.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) filed on 5/1/2026 have been acknowledged and considered by the examiner. Initialed copies of supplied IDS(s) forms are included in this correspondence.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Watanabe US 20170131438 (hereinafter “Watanabe”) of record in view of Rigato et. al US 20130258278 (hereinafter “Rigato”) of record.
Regarding claim 1, Watanabe teaches a spectacle lens (Watanabe para. 0011) comprising:
a lens substrate (Watanabe para. 0011-0013 - lens substrate); and
an inorganic layer (Watanabe para. 0011-0013 - hard coat layer, where para. 0012 says the hard coat layer contains an inorganic oxide),
the spectacle lens further comprising:
a metal-containing layer (Watanabe para. 0013 - ground layer) between the lens substrate and the inorganic layer (Watanabe para. 0013 - places the ground layer between the lens substrate and the hard coat layer),
wherein metals that are contained in the metal-containing layer (Watanabe para. 0066) are one or more metals selected from the group consisting of cobalt, nickel, zinc, copper, zirconium, molybdenum, lead, gold and palladium (Watanabe para. 0066 - zirconium, zinc).
Watanabe does not specify using silver in the form of a single metal or an alloy in the metal-containing layer, however Watanabe does teach utilizing a metal oxide and mixing two or more kinds of metal oxides to adjust the refractive index of the ground layer (Watanabe para. 0066).
In the same field of endeavor, Rigato teaches a metal-containing layer containing silver in the form of a single metal or an alloy (Rigato para. 0001, 0005, 0018, 0028), though it could also contain zirconium as a mixture (Rigato para. 0001) for the purpose of reflecting the radiation of the solar to the infrared spectrum (Rigato para. 0041). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a metal-containing layer including silver as taught by Rigato in the spectacle lens of Watanabe in order to reflect the radiation of the solar to the infrared spectrum (Rigato para. 0041).
Regarding claim 2, Watanabe and Rigato teach the spectacle lens according to claim 1, and Watanabe further teaches
wherein, as the one or more metals that are contained in the metal-containing layer, one or more metals selected from the group consisting of zirconium, gold and palladium are contained (Watanabe para. 0066).
Regarding claim 3, Watanabe and Rigato teach the spectacle lens according to claim 1, and Watanabe further teaches
wherein, as the one or more metals that are contained in the metal-containing layer, zirconium is contained (Watanabe para. 0066).
Regarding claim 4, Watanabe and Rigato teach the spectacle lens according to claim 1, and Watanabe further teaches
wherein the spectacle lens has the lens substrate, a cured layer obtained by curing a curable composition and the inorganic layer in this order (Watanabe para. 0031 – a lens substrate has a ground layer and a hard coat disposed sequentially on its surface, and para. 0066-0067 – the ground layer may include a resin), and
the metal-containing layer is the cured layer (Watanabe para. 0066-0067 – the ground layer may include a resin).
Regarding claim 5, Watanabe and Rigato teach spectacles comprising:
the spectacle lens according to claim 1 (Watanabe para. 0080, see also claim 1 rejection above).
Regarding claim 6, Watanabe and Rigato teach the spectacle lens according to claim 2, and Watanabe further teaches
wherein, as the one or more metals that are contained in the metal-containing layer, zirconium is contained (Watanabe para. 0066).
Regarding claim 7, Watanabe and Rigato teach the spectacle lens according to claim 2, and Watanabe further teaches
wherein the spectacle lens has the lens substrate, a cured layer obtained by curing a curable composition and the inorganic layer in this order (Watanabe para. 0031 – a lens substrate has a ground layer and a hard coat disposed sequentially on its surface, and para. 0066-0067 – the ground layer may include a resin), and
the metal-containing layer is the cured layer (Watanabe para. 0066-0067 – the ground layer may include a resin).
Regarding claim 8, Watanabe and Rigato teach spectacles comprising:
the spectacle lens according to claim 2 (Watanabe para. 0080, see also claim 2 rejection above).
Regarding claim 9, Watanabe and Rigato teach the spectacle lens according to claim 3, and Watanabe further teaches
wherein the spectacle lens has the lens substrate, a cured layer obtained by curing a curable composition and the inorganic layer in this order (Watanabe para. 0031 – a lens substrate has a ground layer and a hard coat disposed sequentially on its surface, and para. 0066-0067 – the ground layer may include a resin), and
the metal-containing layer is the cured layer (Watanabe para. 0066-0067 – the ground layer may include a resin).
Regarding claim 10, Watanabe and Rigato teach spectacles comprising:
the spectacle lens according to claim 3 (Watanabe para. 0080, see also claim 3 rejection above).
Regarding claim 11, Watanabe and Rigato teach spectacles comprising:
the spectacle lens according to claim 4 (Watanabe para. 0080, see also claim 4 rejection above).
Regarding claim 12, Watanabe and Rigato teach the spectacle lens according to claim 1, and Watanabe further teaches
wherein the metal-containing layer (ground layer) is a single layer (Watanabe para. 0013, 0030-0031).
Regarding claim 13, Watanabe and Rigato teach the spectacle lens according to claim 1, and Watanabe further teaches
wherein the one or more metals selected from the group consisting of cobalt, nickel, zinc, copper, zirconium, molybdenum, lead, gold and palladium (Watanabe para. 0066 - zirconium, zinc) is an oxide (Watanabe para. 0066).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ELIZABETH M HALL whose telephone number is (703)756-5795. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9-5:30 pm PST.
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/ELIZABETH M HALL/ Examiner, Art Unit 2872
/RICKY L MACK/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2872
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