Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/290,031

ALKALI-FREE GLASS SHEET

Non-Final OA §102§112
Filed
Nov 09, 2023
Examiner
BOLDEN, ELIZABETH A
Art Unit
1731
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
Nippon Electric Glass Co., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
85%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 9m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 85% — above average
85%
Career Allow Rate
794 granted / 932 resolved
+20.2% vs TC avg
Strong +22% interview lift
Without
With
+22.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
24 currently pending
Career history
956
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.9%
-39.1% vs TC avg
§103
24.7%
-15.3% vs TC avg
§102
32.2%
-7.8% vs TC avg
§112
23.8%
-16.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 932 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §112
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. 112, 102, and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 102, and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis 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. Priority Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. Receipt is acknowledged of the International Application PCT/JP2022/019703. A Notice of Acceptance of Application under 35 U.S.C. 371 and 37 CFR 1.495 was mailed 3 May 2024. Information Disclosure Statement The Information Disclosure Statements (IDS) submitted 19 January 2024, 28 August 2025, 16 October 2025 (three), 13 November 2025, 21 January 2026, 3 February 2026, and 12 February 2026 have been considered by the Examiner. Drawings The original drawings received on 9 November 2023 are accepted by the Examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(b) or second paragraph The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): (b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph: The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention. Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention. Claim 2 recites a range of 64 to 72 mol% of SiO 2 , and a range of 0 to 2 mol% of SrO , and further recites that the mol% ratio of SrO / SiO 2 is from 0 to 0.008. It is unclear how SrO can be present in an amount greater than 0.576 mol% and still meet the required ratio. This renders the claim indefinite. 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. Claims 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tokunaga et al. , U.S. Patent Application Publication US 2020/0407265 A1 . Tokunaga et al. disclose an alkali-free glass comprising in terms of mole percentages, 62-67% SiO 2 , 12.5-16.5% of Al 2 O 3 , 0-3% of B 2 O 3 , 8-13% of MgO , 6-12% of CaO , 0.5-4% of SrO , 0-0.5% of BaO , and 0-0.5% of SnO 2 . See Abstract and the entire specification, specifically, paragraphs [000 8 ]-[00 15 ] , [0024], and [00 39 ]-[00 57 ]. Tokunaga et al. disclose that the alkali-free glass has a Young’s modulus of at least 88 GPa . See paragraph [00 71 ]. Tokunaga et al. disclose that the alkali-free glass has a coefficient of thermal expansion in the range of 30 x 10 -7 to 4 3 x 10 -7 /°C . See paragraph s [00 67 ] -[0070] . Tokunaga et al. disclose that the alkali-free glass is used for information recording media and various displays including organic EL displays. See paragraphs [0001], [0002], [0030], [0032], [0097]-[0100], and [0103]-[0104]. The compositional ranges of Tokunaga et al. are sufficiently specific to anticipate the alkali-free glass composition as recited in claims 1-1 1 . See MPEP 2131.03. Specifically, as to claim 1, Tokunaga et al. disclose Examples 1-8, 15, and 24 (see Table s 1-4 ), which reads on an alkali free glass comprising in terms of mole percentages, 64-72% of SiO 2 , 12-16% of Al 2 O 3 , 0-3% of B 2 O 3 , 0-0.5% of Li 2 O + Na 2 O + K 2 O , 6-12% of MgO , 9-13% of CaO , 0-2% of SrO , 0-1% of BaO , and a mol% ratio of SrO / SiO 2 of 0-0.03 , as recited in instant claim 1. As to claim 2, Tokunaga et al. disclose Example 15 (see Table 3), which reads on an alkali free glass comprising in terms of mole percentages, 64-72% of SiO 2 , 12-16% of Al 2 O 3 , 0-<1% of B 2 O 3 , 0-0.5% of Li 2 O + Na 2 O + K 2 O , 6-12% of MgO , 9-13% of CaO , 0-2% of SrO , 0-1% of BaO , and a mol% ratio of SrO / SiO 2 of 0-0.008 , as recited in instant claim 2. As to claim 3, Tokunaga et al. disclose Examples 1-8, 15, and 24 (see Tables 1-4) , which reads on an alkali-free glass which does not substantially contain As 2 O 3 and Sb 2 O 3 , as recited in instant claim 3. As to claim 4, Tokunaga et al. disclose the alkali-free glass comprises 0-0.5 mol% of SnO 2 as a refining agent (see paragraphs [0024] and [0057] , which reads on an alkali-free glass comprising 0.001-1 mol% of SnO 2 , as recited in instant claim 4. As to claim 5, Tokunaga et al. discloses Example 15 (see Table 3 ), which reads on an alkali-free glass having a Young’s modulus of at least 83 GPa and a strain point of at least 730°C , as recited in instant claim 5. Furthermore, since the composition of the reference is the same as those claimed herein it follows that the glasses of Tokunaga et al. would inherently possess a liquidus temperature of at most 1350°C , as recited in claim 5 . See MPEP 2112. It is well settled that when a claimed composition appears to be substantially the same as a composition disclosed in the prior art, the burden is properly upon the applicant to prove by way of tangible evidence that the prior art composition does not necessarily possess characteristics attributed to the CLAIMED composition. In re Spada, 911 F.2d 705, 15 USPQ2d 1655 (Fed. Circ. 1990); In re Fitzgerald, 619 F.2d 67, 205 USPQ 594 (CCPA 1980); In re Swinehart , 439 F.2d 2109, 169 USPQ 226 (CCPA 1971). Products of identical composition may not have mutually exclusive properties. In re Spada 15 USPQ2d 1655,1658 (Fed. Circ. 1990). As to claim 6, Tokunaga et al. disclose Example 15 (see Table 3 ), which reads on an alkali-free glass having a strain point of at most 735°C , as recited in instant claim 6 . As to claim 7, Tokunaga et al. disclose Examples 1-8, 15, and 24 (see Tables 1-4), which reads on an alkali-free glass having a Young’s modulus of greater than 84 GPa , as recited in instant claim 7. As to claim 8, Tokunaga et al. disclose Examples 1-8, 15, and 24 (see Tables 1-4), which reads on an alkali-free glass having a coefficient of thermal expansion of 30 x 10 -7 to 50 x 10 -7 /°C , as recited in instant claim 8. As to claim 9 , since the composition of the reference is the same as those claimed herein it follows that the glasses of Tokunaga et al. would inherently possess a liquidus viscosity of at least 10 4.0 dPa·s , as recited in claim 9 . See MPEP 2112. It is well settled that when a claimed composition appears to be substantially the same as a composition disclosed in the prior art, the burden is properly upon the applicant to prove by way of tangible evidence that the prior art composition does not necessarily possess characteristics attributed to the CLAIMED composition. In re Spada, 911 F.2d 705, 15 USPQ2d 1655 (Fed. Circ. 1990); In re Fitzgerald, 619 F.2d 67, 205 USPQ 594 (CCPA 1980); In re Swinehart , 439 F.2d 2109, 169 USPQ 226 (CCPA 1971). Products of identical composition may not have mutually exclusive properties. In re Spada 15 USPQ2d 1655,1658 (Fed. Circ. 1990). As to claim 1 0 , Tokunaga et al. disclose that the alkali-free glass is used for various display technologies including organic EL displays (see paragraphs [0001], [0002], [0030], and [0097]-[0100]), which reads on an alkali-free glass sheet used for an organic EL device , as recited in instant claim 1 0 . As to claim 11, Tokunaga et al. disclose that the alkali-free glass is used for information recording medium (see paragraphs [0001], [0002], [003 2 ], and [0 103 ]-[010 4 ]), which reads on an alkali-free glass sheet used for a magnetic recording medium , as recited in instant claim 1 1 . Conclusion The additional references cited on the 892 have been cited as art of interest since they are considered to be cumulative to or less than the art relied upon in the rejections above. Specifically, US 6,329,310 B1 by Peuchert et al. disclose Example 2, which reads on at least claim 1. US 2015/0045203 A1 by Tokunaga et al. disclose Example 12, which reads on at least claim 1, and US 2016/0039710 A1 by Tokunaga et al. disclose Example 8, which reads on at least claim 1. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT Elizabeth A. Bolden whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)272-1363 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT 10:00 am to 6:30 pm M-F . Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT Amber R. Orlando can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 571-270-3149 . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /Elizabeth A. Bolden/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1731 EAB 13 March 2026
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Nov 09, 2023
Application Filed
Mar 13, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §112 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
85%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+22.3%)
2y 9m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 932 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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