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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, Claims 1-3 and 6-8 in the reply filed on 04/23/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 4-5 and 9-15 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected claims.
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 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.
Claims 1-3 and 6-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishii US 2019/0367674 A1.
Regarding claims 1-3, Ishii discloses (reference claims 1 and 4) a triazine ring containing polymer, comprising a structural unit represented by the formula (1) as shown below.
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135
273
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66
121
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Where R’ is a divalent group and can be a phenyl group of the following formula (5).
And where A represents a divalent group consisting of -NH- , and where R represents an aromatic hydrocarbon group comprising a group which is a combination
of an aliphatic hydrocarbon group and one group selected to be -O-(C=O)-O-. Ishii notes that the aliphatic hydrocarbon can be a t-butyl group (para [0073]) and the aromatic hydrocarbon can be phenyl group (para [0076]), which would result in the repeat unit as depicted below.
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575
838
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the
effective filing date of the invention to choose R’, A and R groups corresponding to the claimed repeat unit from the expressly disclosed suitable substituents for the generation of a polymer containing triazine ring useful for the same application of creating a lens material (Ishii para [0183], Instant spec para [0001]).
Regarding claim 6, Ishii teaches (Example 21, para [0182]) creation of a triazine ring containing polymer by the condensing a dichlorotriazine compound A-3 (shown below)
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149
167
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and p-phenylenediamine (corresponding to A5-1). Ishii adds that those skilled in the art would readily make modifications to the exemplary embodiments (para [0184]). As discussed when addressing claim 1, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have substituted the phenyl group with -O-(C=O)-O-t-Bu (Ishii para 73 and 76), resulting in the triazine compound of claim 4, to generate the final polymer useful for lens applications.
Regarding claims 7-8, Ishii teaches (reference claim 6) a liquid composition of the triazine ring containing polymer in a solvent such as N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (para [0112]), corresponding to the nitrogen-containing polar organic solvent. In the absence of a photosensitive compound, the liquid composition would be non-photosensitive.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Surbhi M Du whose telephone number is (571)272-9960. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00 am to 5:00pm.
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/S.M.D./
Examiner
Art Unit 1765
/JOHN M COONEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1765