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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
Claims 1-10 and 15-20 are 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 1 is rejected as being vague and indefinite when the claim recites "wherein the liquid crystal compound is horizontally aligned”, because there is no reference being set forth for the horizontal direction as recited. In this office action, it is taken that the horizontal direction is in-plane direction of the light absorption anisotropic film, wherein the longest dimension of liquid crystal molecule is parallel with top or bottom surface of the light absorption anisotropic film. Claims 2-10 and 15-20 are also rejected for depending from claim 1, thus inclusion of its indefinite features.
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.
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.
Claims 1-4, 7-11, 13, and 15-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shibata et al (US 2020/0318011, of record, see IDS 11/25/25, ‘011 hereafter) in view of Namikawa et al (JP 2008225281, of record, see IDS 08/10/23 and attached English translation, ‘281 hereafter).
Regarding claims 1-3, 7, 11, 16 and 18, ‘011 discloses a light absorption anisotropic film formed of a liquid crystal composition that contains a liquid crystal compound, which includes a polymer liquid crystal compound as in present claims 7 and 18 ([0008]-[0012], [0077]-[0081], [0215]-[0249], M1 in Examples P1 to P9, Table 1, [0547]); and a dichroic substance ([0109]-[0191], D1, D2 as in Examples P1 to P9, Table 1, [0547]); wherein the liquid crystal compound is horizontally aligned ([0324]-[0325], Interface modifier F1 for horizontal alignment, Examples as in Table 1, [0547]). ‘011 does not disclose that the liquid crystal composition further contains a boronic acid compound having a polymerizable group. However, in the same field of endeavor, ‘281 discloses a liquid crystal composition comprising a liquid crystal compound ([0005]-[0006], [0022]-[0053]), wherein a boronic acid compound containing a polymerizable group represented by each of following chemical formulae ([0023]-[0034]) is used to render an optical film having better adhesion and durability ([0022]):
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The formulae read upon the instantly claimed compound represented by Formula (B-1) and Formula (B-2) as in present claims 2-3 and 16; wherein RB11 and RB21 each is hydrogen; LB1 and LB2 each is a single bond or a divalent group; RB12, RB13, RB22, RB23, and RB24 each is hydrogen. In light of these teachings, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to use the boric acid as taught by ‘281, to modify the liquid crystal composition of ‘011, in order to render a liquid composition being capable of forming an optical film having better adhesion to a substrate and better durability.
Regarding claims 4, 13 and 17, modified ‘011 teaches all the limitations of claims 1 and 11, ‘281 also disclose the preferred content of the boronic acid compound containing a polymerizable group is in a range of 0.005% to 8% by mass with respect to a total mass of a solid content of the liquid crystal composition, which significantly overlaps instantly claimed range ([0034]).
Regarding claims 8-10, 15 and 19-20, modified ‘011 teaches all the limitations of claims 1, ‘011 also discloses a laminate comprising the light absorption anisotropic film and a λ/4 plate on a side of the light absorption anisotropic film opposite, which are laminated together by an adhesive including polyvinyl alcohol-based adhesive ([0420], [0423]-[0425], [0472]-[0474]); and an image display device comprising the laminate ([0474]-[0487]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-6, 12 and 14 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome 112 rejections as set forth above and including all of the limitations of the base claims and any intervening claims. The reason for the allowance is that the prior art of record does not specifically disclose, teach or fairly suggest a liquid crystal composition as recited in the present claims 1 and 11, comprises a boronic acid compound represented by Formula BX-1 or Formula BX-2.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RUIYUN ZHANG whose telephone number is (571)270-7934. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:00-5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Arron Austin can be reached on 571-272-8935. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RUIYUN ZHANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1782