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
The Amendment filed 12/11/2025 has been entered. Claims 1-4 remain pending in the application.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Jung (KR20210078642A - see machine translation attached).
Regarding claim 1, Jung, drawn also to the art of a photocurable adhesive and method of temporarily fixing a member using the adhesive [0001-0002], discloses an adhesive comprising a polymerization initiator [0014], a hydrophilic urethane acrylate and a hydrophilic acrylate in a state in which at least one of the urethane acrylate or acrylate are in a state of an aqueous solution [0011-0013; 0004] (the adhesive is a liquid composition and can include a solvent i.e. water given that the acrylates are hydrophilic [0004 & 0067 & 0032). Further, Jung has discloses the adhesive swelling when being exposed to water after polymerization and being able to be peeled off [0077].
Regarding claim 2, Jung has disclosed the initiator to be a photo initiator [0014 & 0082].
Regarding claim 3, Jung has disclosed the steps of preparing an adhesive, applying the adhesive to a laminate (between a first and second adherence target), and then detaching by supplying water to the adhesive [0070-0077].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4 is 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 following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the prior art of record does not reasonably show or suggest the claimed weight percentages of the adhesive composition components.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Amendment, filed 12/11/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 under 35 U.S.C 102(a)(1) 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 Jung.
Applicant argues that Jung does not disclose the adhesive to be entirely in liquid form because of the presence of beads.
The examiner disagrees. Jung has disclosed the photocurable adhesive to be a liquid and applied as a liquid and then cured to form a film, the presence of beads does not take away from the liquid nature of the adhesive (see Jung [0004 & 0050 & 0056 – viscosity can be increased to improve workability, i.e. made less liquid and more solid).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ABHISHEK A PATWARDHAN whose telephone number is (571)272-8431. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday 7:30am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Orlando can be reached at (571)270-5038. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ABHISHEK A PATWARDHAN/Examiner, Art Unit 1746
/MICHAEL N ORLANDO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1746