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 1-10, in the reply filed on 17 December 2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 11-13 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 17 December 2025.
The election of species is hereby withdrawn as it relates to elected claims 1-10.
Claim Interpretation
In claim 1, line 2, “160t [µm]” indicates the DOC is 160 times the thickness of the glass as measured in mm. The units of DOC are assumed to be microns in the operation and do not derive from the formula. For example, a 0.70 mm glass must have DOC = 160 x 0.70 = 110 µm or more (indicated to two significant figures because the “160” has two significant figures).
Similarly, in claim 2, “5 + 50t [MPa] or more” indicates the CS90 must be five plus 50 times the thickness of the glass in mm and the units of CS90 must be in MPa. Again, the units are assumed in the mathematical operation and do not derive from the formula. For example, a 0.70 mm glass must have CS90 = 5 + 50 x 0.7 = 40 MPa or more (indicated to one significant figure because the 5 and 50 have one significant figures).
In claim 9, “290t [µm] or more” indicates the Na diffusion depth must be 290 times the thickness of the glass as measured in mm. The units of Na diffusion depth are assumed to be microns in the operation and do not derive from the formula. For example, a 0.70 mm glass must have Na diffusion depth = 290 x 0.70 = 200 µm or more (indicated to two significant figures because the “290” has two significant figures).
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.
Claims 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sekiya et al. (WO 2022/181812 A1).
The rejection is based upon WO 2022/181812 A1 with a publication date of 01 September 2022. However, the English language equivalent, US 2023/0391666 A1, will be cited below.
Example 3 of Sekiya is a chemically strengthened glass having the following characteristics:
Profile Characteristic
Claimed Value
Value in Sekiya
Location in Sekiya
Relevant claim
Thickness (t)(mm)
0.7
Table 1
DOC (µm)
at a thickness of 0.7 mm, claim 1 requires a DOC of 160 x 0.7 = 110 µm or more
131
Table 3
1
CS90
at a thickness of 0.7 mm, claim 2 requires a CS90 of 5 + 50 x 0.7 = 40 MPa or more
57
Table 1
2
ICT (MPa µm)
27420
Table 1
CS90/ICT (µm-1)
≥ 0.0012
0.002
Calculated
1
CS50
132
Table 1
DOC/CS50 (µm/MPa)
≥ 0.8
1.0
Calculated
3
CS90/CS50
≥ 0.30
0.43
Calculated
4
CS0 (MPa)
≥ 750
843
Table 1
7
Set drop strength (cm)
≥ 40.5 cm
72
Table 1
8
An example falling within a claimed range anticipates the range. See MPEP 2131.03. In each instance in the table above, the article of Example 3 of Sekiya has stress profile characteristics that fall within the claimed ranges.
As to claim 5, the first order differential (i.e., derivative) of the stress profile is the instantaneous slope of a tangent line to the curve. The stress profile of Example 3 of Sekiya is shown in Figure 2B. All points on the line in Figure 2B, example 3 (where CSx is greater than 0) have a tangent with a negative slope (i.e., < 0). Therefore, the first derivative is less than 2.
The properties of claim 6 are presumed to be inherent to the article of Example 3 of Sekiya because the article has a stress profile that is otherwise identical to the presently claimed invention and the rate of change shown in the stress profile in Figure 2B for example 3 is very small.
Further as to claims 5 and 6, the stress profile of Sekiya is measured using a scattered light photo elastic stress meter. See paragraph [0205]. Further as to claim 7, Sekiya teaches using a film stress measurement to measure the surface stress. See paragraph [0032].
Claims 9 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hu et al. (US 2017/0291849 A1)(Dejneka) .
Example 3C of Dejneka shows an ion exchange strengthened glass article having a thickness of 0.8 mm (i.e., 800 µm) and a depth of Na2O diffusion of larger than 400 µm. See Figure 13 and paragraphs [0200]-[0201]. In other words, the Na2O diffuses throughout the thickness of the glass. The Na2O concentration is measured by EPMA (i.e., electron probe micro analysis). See paragraphs [0077] and [0201].
At a thickness of 0.8 mm, claim 9 requires a Na diffusion of (0.8 x 290) = 230 µm. As noted, Dejneka discloses a sodium diffusion of 400 µm for example 3C. Thus, Na ion diffusion limitation is met by example 3C of Dejneka.
Figure 13 shows the Na2O profile of the exchanged glass for example 3C. The base glass is formed from the glass in Table 2, which contains 0.4 mol% Na2O. See Table 2, paragraphs [0198] and [0201]. From Figure 13, the examiner estimates the Na2O content at 50 µm and 90 µm to be 5.5 and 4.8 mol%, respectively.
ΔNa90 = (4.8 – 0.4) = 0.9
ΔNa50 (5.5 – 0.4)
PNG
media_image1.png
820
1036
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Thus, the claimed ΔNa90/ ΔNa50 limitation is met by example 3C of Dejneka.
As to clam 10, example 3C of Dejneka has a ΔNa90/Na2O ratio of 4.4 mol%/0.4 mol% = 11.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 2020/0109080 A1 teaches a chemically strengthened glass having a sodium exchange depth of at least 30 µm.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to David Sample whose telephone number is (571)272-1376. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday 7AM to 3:30 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Humera Sheikh can be reached at (571)272-0604. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/David Sample/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1784
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