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 .
Reopening Prosecution
In view of the appeal brief filed on 5/11/2026 PROSECUTION IS HEREBY REOPENED. A new ground of rejection is set forth below.
To avoid abandonment of the application, appellant must exercise one of the following two options:
(1) file a reply under 37 CFR 1.111 (if this Office action is non-final) or a reply under 37 CFR 1.113 (if this Office action is final); or,
(2) initiate a new appeal by filing a notice of appeal under 37 CFR 41.31 followed by an appeal brief under 37 CFR 41.37. The previously paid notice of appeal fee and appeal brief fee can be applied to the new appeal. If, however, the appeal fees set forth in 37 CFR 41.20 have been increased since they were previously paid, then appellant must pay the difference between the increased fees and the amount previously paid.
A Supervisory Patent Examiner (SPE) has approved of reopening prosecution by signing below:
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Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Page 11, filed 3/09/2026 with respect to the rejection(s) of claims 1,4 and 18 under of Liu (Cn Patent Publication No. 102116942 A) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Tran (US Patent Publication Number 2012/0096716 A1).
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.
Claims 1, 4 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Beckler (US Patent Publication Number 2016/0076242 A1) in view of Tran (US Patent Publication Number 2012/0096716 A1).
Beckler teaches, as in independent claim 1, a component (Fig. 3), comprising a substrate (100), a base coating (30) disposed on the substrate (100), and a temperature-active coating (10) disposed on the base coating (30), wherein the temperature-active coating (10) is configured to undergo a phase change (¶0038 “thermochromic layer”) when the component is subject to an ambient temperature (¶0037 “transition temperature of the thermochromic material is 27 °C”) that is greater than or equal to a first temperature threshold1 (¶0037 “thermochromic materials that have a transition temperature of from about 5 °C”) and less than or equal to a second temperature threshold (¶0037 “to about 90 °C”) , which is greater than the first temperature threshold (¶0037 “5 °C”), and the substrate (100) and the base coating (10) are configured to not undergo respective phase changes when the component is subject to an ambient temperature that is greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold and less than or equal to the second temperature threshold2, Beckler fails to teach the phase change including a change from a solid state to a liquid state or gas state, a change from an amorphous solid state to a crystalline solid state, or a change from a crystalline solid state to an amorphous solid state. In a related art,Tran teaches a temperature-active coating (202) configured to undergo a phase change (¶0086 “an exemplary ceiling tile 200 is shown with phase change materials on one or more air ventilation structures 202. The phase change material (PCM) contributes to the energy efficiency of buildings by reducing the peaks in the daily temperature cycles” ¶0087 “these materials undergo a reversible solid to liquid phase change at various transition temperatures”), the phase change including a change from a solid state to a liquid state or gas state (¶0086 “these materials undergo a reversible solid to liquid phase change at various transition temperatures”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill of the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the optical device, as taught by Beckler, with the phase change, as taught by Tran, for the purpose of providing a way so the roof can turn white during summer days to reflect sunlight and minimize heat inside the house and can turn black during winter months to absorb heat to warm the house (¶0038).
Beckler teaches, as in claim 4, wherein the temperature-active coating (10) is configured to, after undergoing a phase change (¶0038 “thermochromic layer”) remain disposed on the base coating3.
Beckler teaches, as in independent claim 18, a component (Fig. 3), comprising a base coating (30), a temperature-active coating (10) disposed on the base coating (30), and an overcoating (20), wherein: the temperature-active coating (10) is configured to undergo a phase change (¶0038 “thermochromic layer”) when the component is subject to an ambient temperature (¶0037 “transition temperature of the thermochromic material is 27 °C”) that is greater than or equal to a first temperature threshold (0037 “thermochromic materials that have a transition temperature of from about 5 °C “) and less than or equal to a second temperature threshold (¶0037 “to about 90 °C”), which is greater than the first temperature threshold, and the base coating (30) and the overcoating (20) are configured to not undergo respective phase changes when the component is subject to an ambient temperature that is greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold and less than or equal to a second temperature threshold4, Beckler fails to teach the phase change including a change from a solid state to a liquid state or gas state, a change from an amorphous solid state to a crystalline solid state, or a change from a crystalline solid state to an amorphous solid state. In a related art, Tran teaches a temperature-active coating (202) configured to undergo a phase change (¶0086 “an exemplary ceiling tile 200 is shown with phase change materials on one or more air ventilation structures 202. The phase change material (PCM) contributes to the energy efficiency of buildings by reducing the peaks in the daily temperature cycles” ¶0087 “these materials undergo a reversible solid to liquid phase change at various transition temperatures”), the phase change including a change from a solid state to a liquid state or gas state (¶0086 “these materials undergo a reversible solid to liquid phase change at various transition temperatures”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill of the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the optical device, as taught by Beckler, with the phase change, as taught by Tran, for the purpose of providing a way so the roof can turn white during summer days to reflect sunlight and minimize heat inside the house and can turn black during winter months to absorb heat to warm the house (¶0038).
Claims 9 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jankovic (US Patent Publication Number 2020/0269999 A1) in view Beckler (US Patent Number 9,222,015 B2) and in further view of Tran (US Patent Publication Number 2012/0096716 A1).
Jankovic teaches, as in independent claim 9, a component (100), comprising a substrate (422), and a base coating (410) disposed on the substrate (422), wherein the base coating (410) includes one or more reflective structures (412), wherein each reflective structure (microcones 412)5 includes a core structure (¶0027 “array of silicon micrones 412”) and a temperature-active coating (¶0027 “silicon microcones 412 is covered by a conformal layer of vanadium dioxide 420”) disposed on the core structure (“silicon”), wherein the temperature-active coating is configured to undergo a phase change (¶0030 “vanadium dioxide is in its insulating state” and “the vanadium dioxide is in its metallic state”) when the component is subject to an ambient temperature that is greater than or equal to a first temperature threshold and less than or equal to a second temperature threshold, which is greater than the first temperature threshold, and the core structure (“silicon”), is configured to not undergo a phase change when the component is subject to an ambient temperature that is greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold and less than or equal to the second temperature threshold6. Jankovic fails to teach when the component is subject to an ambient temperature that is greater than or equal to a first temperature threshold and less than or equal to a second temperature threshold, which is greater than the first temperature threshold. However, Jankovic teaches in ¶0026 the thermal control material 310 would have with near-zero thermal emissivity below a particular temperature, and close-to-unity thermal emissivity above that temperature. In a related art, Beckler teaches the temperature-active coating (10) is configured to undergo a phase change (¶0038 “thermochromic layer”) when the component is subject to an ambient temperature (¶0037 “transition temperature of the thermochromic material is 27 °C”) that is greater than or equal to a first temperature threshold (¶0037 “ thermochromic materials that have a transition temperature of from about 5 °C “) and less than or equal to a second temperature threshold (¶0037 “90 °C”) , which is greater than the first temperature threshold (¶0037 “5 °C”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill of art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the temperature phase change device, as taught by Jankovic with the temperature thresholds for the temperature active coating, as taught by Beckler, for the purpose of providing a way to predictably vary their ability to absorb or reflect electromagnetic radiation (¶0011).
Jankovic and Beckler fail to teach the phase change including a change from a solid state to a liquid state or gas state, a change from an amorphous solid state to a crystalline solid state, or a change from a crystalline solid state to an amorphous solid state. In a related art,Tran teaches a temperature-active coating (202) configured to undergo a phase change (¶0086 “an exemplary ceiling tile 200 is shown with phase change materials on one or more air ventilation structures 202. The phase change material (PCM) contributes to the energy efficiency of buildings by reducing the peaks in the daily temperature cycles”; ¶0087 “these materials undergo a reversible solid to liquid phase change at various transition temperatures”), the phase change including a change from a solid state to a liquid state or gas state (¶0086 “these materials undergo a reversible solid to liquid phase change at various transition temperatures”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill of the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the optical device, as taught by Beckler, with the phase change, as taught by Tran, for the purpose of providing a way so the roof can turn white during summer days to reflect sunlight and minimize heat inside the house and can turn black during winter months to absorb heat to warm the house (¶0038).
Jankovic teaches, as in claim 12, wherein the temperature-active coating (10) is configured to, after undergoing a phase change (¶0038 “thermochromic layer”), remain disposed on the core structure of the reflective structure7.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 3, 5-8, 10, 11, 13-17, 19 and 20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The prior art fails to simultaneously teach all the limitations of claims 2 and 10 which include wherein the first temperature threshold is greater than or equal to 150° Celsius, and the second temperature threshold is less than or equal to 200° Celsius.
The prior art fails to simultaneously teach all the limitations of claims 3 and 11 which includes wherein the threshold percentage of light is greater than or equal to 85%.
The prior art fails to simultaneously teach all the limitations of claims 5 and 13 which includes wherein the threshold percentage of light is greater than or equal to 35%.
The prior art fails to simultaneously teach all the limitations of claims 6 which includes wherein the temperature-active coating is configured to, after undergoing a phase, no longer be disposed on the base coating.
The prior art fails to simultaneously teach all the limitations of claims 7 which includes the overcoating is configured to no longer be disposed on the temperature-active coating after the temperature-active coating undergoes a phase change
Regarding claim 8, has dependency upon claim 7.
The prior art fails to simultaneously teach all the limitations of claim 14 which includes wherein the temperature-active coating of each reflective structure is configured to, after undergoing a phase change, no longer be disposed on the core structure of the reflective structure.
The prior art fails to simultaneously teach all the limitations of claim 15, which includes further comprising: another temperature-active coating disposed on the base coating, wherein: the other temperature-active coating is configured to undergo a phase change when the component is subject to an ambient temperature that is greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold.
Regarding claims 16 and 17, have dependency upon claim 15.
The prior art fails to simultaneously teach all the limitations of claim 19, which includes wherein the base coating includes one or more reflective structures, wherein each reflective structure includes a core structure and another temperature-active coating disposed on the core structure, wherein the other temperature-active coating is configured to undergo a phase change.
The prior art fails to simultaneously teach all the limitations of claim 20, which includes at least one of: the temperature-active coating is configured to, after undergoing a phase change, no longer be disposed on the base coating, or the overcoating is configured to no longer be disposed on the temperature-active coating after the temperature-active coating undergoes a phase change when the component is subject to an ambient temperature that is greater than or equal to the first temperature threshold and less than or equal to the second temperature threshold.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOURNEY F SUMLAR whose telephone number is (571)270-0656. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-4pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ricky Mack can be reached at 571-272-2333. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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JOURNEY F. SUMLAR
Examiner
Art Unit 2872
21 August 2026
/RICKY L MACK/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2872
1 Thermochromic inherently undergoes phase change by basic definition of thermochromic.
2 No mention of thermochromic or phase changes to elements 100 and 30.
3 Beckler does not teach removing the layer 10
4 No mention of thermochromic or phase changes to element 20.
5 Anti-reflection properties would mean that some light would still reflect to some degree and therefore would be reflective.
6 ¶0030 teaches “the thermal control material when the vanadium dioxide is in its insulating state…the vanadium dioxide is in its metallic state”. Therefore, the examiner interprets that the phase change is only implemented on the vanadium dioxide and not the core (silicon).
7 Beckler does not teach removing any layer.
Prosecution Insights