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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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) 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kailasam et al. (US 2021/0103195).
Regarding claim 1, Kailasam discloses a method (see figure 1A, for instance) comprising: coating a substrate (102) with one or more layers for an electrochromic (EC) stack (106); patterning ([0076]) at least one layer of the one or more layers on the substrate, wherein, prior to shipping the substrate to another facility or prior to cutting the substrate into one or more EC devices ([0009]), the patterning identifies one or more areas for forming respective EC devices (via “pre-patterning” or “post-patterning”, which delegates areas for each separate EC device, see [0104]-[0105]) of the one or more EC devices or for locating respective busbars (“BUS BAR 1” / “BUS BAR2”) for the one or more EC devices.
Regarding claim 2, Kailasam discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising: prior to shipping the substrate to the other facility or prior to cutting the substrate into the one or more EC devices, mounting the respective busbars for the one or more EC devices to the substrate ([0043]; [0075]).
Regarding claim 3, Kailasam discloses the method of claim 2, further comprising: after mounting the respective busbars (BUS BAR 1 / BUS BAR 2) to the substrate (102), individually electrically testing respective areas of the one or more areas ([0197]).
Regarding claim 4, Kailasam discloses the method of claim 3, wherein the respective areas of the one or more areas are individually electrically tested prior to shipping the substrate to the other facility or prior to cutting the substrate into the one or more EC devices ([0197]).
Regarding claim 5, Kailasam discloses the method of claim 4, wherein individually electrically testing comprises at least one of: power cycling the respective areas of the one or more areas ([0099]); testing the respective areas of the one or more areas for shorts ([0100]); or repairing one or more shorts at the respective areas of the one or more areas ([0100]).
Regarding claim 6, Kailasam discloses the method of claim 3, further comprising: after electrically testing the respective areas of the one or more areas and after shipping the substrate to the other facility ([0102]): identifying a perimeter edge of at least one area for forming a respective EC device; and cutting the substrate along the perimeter edge ([0104]).
Regarding claim 7, Kailasam discloses the method of claim 6, wherein cutting the substrate along the perimeter edge comprises performing an edge delete through the substrate; and wherein the edge delete is performed using one or more laser cuts through the substrate ([0141], “laser edge deletion”).
Regarding claim 8, Kailasam discloses the method of claim 7, further comprising: after cutting the substrate along the perimeter edge, grinding the perimeter edge, wherein grinding the perimeter edge comprises a polishing, two-pass grinding technique ([0119]).
Regarding claim 9, Kailasam discloses the method of claim 7, wherein grinding the perimeter edge comprises a “c” shape, two-pass course plus fine grinding technique ([0119]).
Regarding claim 10, Kailasam discloses the method of claim 1, wherein patterning includes performing one or more laser cuts through the at least one layer of the one or more layers on the substrate (at area corresponding to BUS BAR 2, see figure 1A, for instance).
Regarding claim 11, Kailasam discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the respective busbars (BUS BAR 1 / BUS BAR 2) comprise at least one of a temporary busbar or a permanent busbar ([0099]).
Regarding claim 12, Kailasam discloses an apparatus (see figure 1A, for instance) comprising: a substrate (102) coated with one or more layers for an electrochromic (EC) stack (103, 104, 106, 112), wherein at least one layer (at least “BUS BAR 1” or “BUS BAR 2”, for instance, see [0142], “the methods may be performed in a coat-then-cut procedure, so some or all of the fabrication is performed before taking steps required to designate the bus bars locations.”) of the one or more layers coated on the substrate is patterned to identify one or more areas for forming one or more respective EC devices; and wherein, as a result of electrically testing the one or more areas for forming the one or more respective EC devices ([0197]), the one or more areas comprise a different hue when the one or more areas are in a clear state compared to one or more remaining areas of the coated substrate ([0094], “A halo is a region in the device where an electrical short across the electrochromic stack causes an area around the short to drain current into the short and therefore the area surrounding the short is not darkened”).
Regarding claim 13, Kailasam discloses the apparatus of claim 12, wherein the at least one layer of the one or more layers coated on the substrate is patterned (112, 106) to locate respective busbars (BUS BAR 2) for individually electrically testing the one or more areas, the respective busbars mounted to the substrate at respective locations according to the pattern (see figure 1A, BUS BAR 2).
Regarding claim 14, Kailasam discloses the apparatus of claim 12, wherein the at least one layer of the one or more layers (103, 104, 106, 112) coated on the substrate (102) is patterned such that the at least one layer of the one or more layers comprises one or more laser cuts extending at least partially therethrough ([0141], “laser edge deletion”).
Regarding claim 15, Kailasam discloses the apparatus of claim 12, wherein the respective busbars (BUS BAR 1 / BUS BAR 2) comprise at least one of a temporary busbar or a permanent busbar ([0099]).
Regarding claim 16, Kailasam discloses the apparatus of claim 12, wherein the EC stack comprises: a first transparent conductive (TC) layer (104); a counter electrode (CE) layer ([0071], “an opposing counter electrode layer”); an EC electrode layer (106a); and a second TC layer (112).
Regarding claim 17, Kailasam discloses the apparatus of claim 12, wherein at least some of the one or more remaining areas of the coated substrate (102) are discarded when forming the one or more respective EC device from the one or more areas (since they are separated via cutting [0100]).
Regarding claim 18, Kailasam discloses the apparatus of claim 12, wherein the substrate (102) is coated with a plurality of layers for the EC stack, and wherein electrically testing the one or more areas for forming the one or more respective EC devices cause lithium ions to move to from one layer of the plurality of layers ([0079]), to another layer of the plurality of layers, and remain in the other layer of the plurality of layers so that the one or more areas have the different hue when the one or more areas are in the clear state ([0079]; [0126]; [0174]).
Regarding claim 19, Kailasam discloses the apparatus of claim 12, wherein: at least one layer of the one or more layers coated on the substrate is patterned to identify a plurality of areas for forming respective EC devices ([0042]-[0043]); and as a result of electrically testing the plurality of areas for forming the respective EC devices, the plurality of areas comprises the different hue when the plurality of areas is in the clear state compared to the one or more remaining areas of the coated substrate ([0094]).
Regarding claim 20, Kailasam discloses the apparatus of claim 12, wherein, as a result of one or more short repairs to the patterned substrate ([0159]), at least one layer of the one or more layers may include at least one hole therethrough ([0088]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHANAEL R BRIGGS whose telephone number is (571)272-8992. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm.
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/NATHANAEL R BRIGGS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871 1/22/2026