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 .
Summary
This is the response to the RCE filed on 12/30/2025.
Claims 1, 3-4, 7 and 9-15 remain pending in the application.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 12/30/2025 has been entered.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3-4, 7, 9-11 and 14-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong et al. (US 2010/0258159) in view of Basol (US 2008/0196756) and Suzuki et al. (JP2011124494 with provided machine English translation).
Addressing claims 1 and 7, Hong discloses a solar cell (figs. 2-4) comprising:
a substrate 100;
a plurality of unit cells (five unit cells shown in figs. 2-4) that are formed on the substrate, each of which includes a first electrode 300, an active layer 400, and a second electrode 600 [0062]; and
a connection electrode (700+200a or 700+200b as the structural equivalence to the claimed connection electrode) that connects the plurality of unit cells,
wherein each of the unit cells includes a pair of short sides (the sides parallel to line A-A in fig. 2) and a pair of long sides (the sides parallel to line B-B in fig. 2), and the connection electrode 700 is disposed on only one of the pair of short sides (figs. 2-4 show the connection electrode extends over only on one of the pair of short sides that meet the claimed limitation),
wherein an insulating structure is formed between adjacent unit cells of the plurality of unit cells (separating parts 110 correspond to the claimed insulating structure), the insulating structure being formed by scribing the active layer [0110] thereby exposing at least some portions of a surface of the substrate 100 (fig. 2B),
wherein the connection electrode (700+200a or 700+200b) extends from the second electrode of a unit cell among the plurality of unit cells, and is connected directly to the first electrode 300 of an adjacent unit cell among the plurality of unit cells (fig. 2A and paragraph [0063]).
Hong is silent regarding the insulating structure being formed with a width ranging from 0.1 mm to 2 mm and wherein the second electrode and the connection electrode are integrated structure formed by a single patterning process.
Basol discloses a plurality of unit cells formed on a substrate and are spaced from one another via gaps 41 that are formed at intervals (fig. 4II); wherein, the gaps 41 range from 10 to 500 microns [0020], which overlaps the claimed range.
At the time of the effective filing date of the invention, one with ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the solar cell of Hong by perform routine experimentation with the width of the space between the unit cells in the range disclosed by Basol in order to optimize the spacing and insulation between adjacent unit cells (Basol, [0020]).
Suzuki discloses a thin film solar cell comprising a plurality of unit cells deposited on a substrate (figs. 1-5) with each unit cell includes a first electrode 3, an active layer 4 and a second electrode 5 similarly to that of Hong. The solar cell further includes a connection electrode 6 that connects the plurality of unit cells (figs. 2-3). The second electrode 5 and the connection electrode 6 are an integrated structure formed by a single patterning process (paragraph [0082] of the translation document describes the second electrode and the connection electrode are formed simultaneously using the same patterning process).
At the time of the effective filing date of the invention, one with ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the solar cell of Hong by substituting the known second electrode 600 and connection electrode (700+200a or 700+200b) with the known integrated structure comprising the second electrode and the connection electrode as disclosed by Suzuki in order to obtain the predictable result interconnecting unit cells by connecting the second electrode of one cell to the first electrode of an adjacent cell to establish series connection (Rationale B, KSR decision, MPEP 2143).
Addressing claim 3, paragraph [0072] discloses electrode 300 is made of transparent conductive oxide.
Addressing claim 4, the range of illuminance that the solar cell is exposed to does not structurally differentiate the claimed solar cell from that of the prior art. Additionally, the device of Hong is configured for exposure to natural sunlight, which has illuminance that includes values that fall within the claimed range. It is reminded that the illuminance of sunlight also depends on other factors such as cloud condition, which further illustrates that the claimed illuminance does not structurally differentiate the claimed solar cell from that of the prior art.
Addressing claim 9, paragraph [0072] of Hong discloses the first electrode 300 is made of the claimed materials.
Addressing claim 10, paragraph [0078] of Hong discloses the second electrode 600 is made of silver and Suzuki discloses the second electrode and the connection electrode are made of the same material; therefore, the limitation of current claim would have been obvious based on the teaching of Hong and Suzuki.
Addressing claim 11, paragraph [0075] of Hong discloses the active layer includes N-type layer and P-type layer that correspond to the claimed electron transport layer and the hole transport layer.
Addressing claim 14, Hong discloses a method of forming a solar cell (figs. 5A-5D), comprising:
providing a substrate 100 (fig. 5A);
forming a first electrode 300 on the substrate (fig. 5B);
forming an active layer 400 on the first electrode (fig. 5B);
forming a plurality of unit cells by scribing the active layer with a width ranging from 0.1 mm to 2 mm (the limitation would have been obvious based on the teaching of Basol as discussed above in the rejection of claim 1) such that the plurality of unit cells are spaced from one another (fig. 5C, [0110]), thereby exposing at least some portions of a surface of the substrate 100 on which the plurality of unit cells are formed (fig. 5C); and
forming a second electrode 600 and a connection electrode 700+200a or 700+200b, wherein the connection electrode extends from the second electrode of a unit cell among the plurality of unit cells (figs. 2A or 3A), and is connected directly to the first electrode of an adjacent unit cell among the plurality of unit cells (figs. 2A or 3A),
wherein the second electrode and the connection electrode are an integrated structure formed by a single patterning process (the limitation would have been obvious based on the teaching of Suzuki as discussed above in the rejection of claim 1), and
wherein each of the unit cells includes a pair of short sides and a pair of long sides, and the connection electrode is disposed on only one of the pair of short sides (figs. 2A or 3A of Hong).
Addressing claim 15, figs. 5B-5C of Hong show a single scribing process is performed during the method.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong et al. (US 2010/0258159) in view of Basol (US 2008/0196756) and Suzuki et al. (JP2011124494 with provided machine English translation) as applied to claims 1, 3-4, 7, 9-11 and 14-15 above, and further in view of KR20210144104 or ‘104 with provided machine English translation.
Addressing claim 12, Hong is silent regarding the active layer includes a perovskite light absorption layer.
KR ‘104 discloses a thin film solar cell similarly to that of Hong; wherein, the thin film solar cell includes subcells having an active layer includes a perovskite activating layer 130, an electron transport layer 120 and a hole transport layer 140 [0024-0026].
At the time of the effective filing date of the invention, one with ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify solar cell of Hong by substituting the known silicon semiconductor material of the active layer with the known active layer having a perovskite activating layer 130, an electron transport layer 120 and a hole transport layer 140 disclosed by KR ‘104 in order to increase light absorption, generation electron-hole pairs at low energies due to low exciton binding energy and photoelectric conversion efficiency (KR ‘104, [0026]).
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong et al. (US 2010/0258159) in view of Basol (US 2008/0196756) and Suzuki et al. (JP2011124494 with provided machine English translation) as applied to claims 1, 3-4, 7, 9-11 and 14-15 above, and further in view of Little (US 4,740,431).
Addressing claim 13, Hong is silent regarding a battery disposed in a spaced portion between adjacent unit cells.
Little discloses in fig. 6 a battery 148 (associated with the cell 136) disposed in a spaced portion between adjacent unit cells (134 and 138).
At the time of the effective filing date of the invention, one with ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious the solar cell of Hong with the integrated thin film battery in the configuration disclosed by Little in order to store the electricity generated by the solar cell as portable electronic device (Little, col. 2 ln 36-53).
Claim(s) 1, 3-4, 7, 9-11 and 14-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong et al. (US 2010/0258159) in view of Basol (US 2008/0196756) and Umemoto et al (US 4,570,030).
Addressing claims 1 and 7, Hong discloses a solar cell (figs. 2-4) comprising:
a substrate 100;
a plurality of unit cells (five unit cells shown in figs. 2-4) that are formed on the substrate, each of which includes a first electrode 300, an active layer 400, and a second electrode 600 [0062]; and
a connection electrode (700+200a or 700+200b as the structural equivalence to the claimed connection electrode) that connects the plurality of unit cells,
wherein each of the unit cells includes a pair of short sides (the sides parallel to line A-A in fig. 2) and a pair of long sides (the sides parallel to line B-B in fig. 2), and the connection electrode 700 is disposed on only one of the pair of short sides (figs. 2-4 show the connection electrode extends over only on one of the pair of short sides that meet the claimed limitation),
wherein an insulating structure is formed between adjacent unit cells of the plurality of unit cells (separating parts 110 correspond to the claimed insulating structure), the insulating structure being formed by scribing the active layer [0110] thereby exposing at least some portions of a surface of the substrate 100 (fig. 2B),
wherein the connection electrode (700+200a or 700+200b) extends from the second electrode of a unit cell among the plurality of unit cells, and is connected directly to the first electrode 300 of an adjacent unit cell among the plurality of unit cells (fig. 2A and paragraph [0063]).
Hong is silent regarding the insulating structure being formed with a width ranging from 0.1 mm to 2 mm and wherein the second electrode and the connection electrode are integrated structure formed by a single patterning process.
Basol discloses a plurality of unit cells formed on a substrate and are spaced from one another via gaps 41 that are formed at intervals (fig. 4II); wherein, the gaps 41 range from 10 to 500 microns [0020], which overlaps the claimed range.
At the time of the effective filing date of the invention, one with ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the solar cell of Hong by perform routine experimentation with the width of the space between the unit cells in the range disclosed by Basol in order to optimize the spacing and insulation between adjacent unit cells (Basol, [0020]).
Umemoto discloses a solar cell (figs. 1-2) comprising a plurality of unit cells, each comprises a transparent electrode 2, the active layer 3 and a second electrode 4, separated by an insulating structure in the form of gaps that expose at least some portions of a surface of the substrate 1 similarly to that of Hong. Umemoto further discloses the second electrode is part of an integrated structure including the connection electrode 41 that interconnects the second electrode 4 of one unit cell directly to the first electrode 2 of an adjacent unit cell (fig. 2). The second electrode 4 and the connection electrode 41 of the integrated structure is qualified as being formed by a single patterning process because they are of the same structure with the disclosed pattern, which implies that the pattern is formed by a patterning process.
At the time of the effective filing date of the invention, one with ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the solar cell of Hong by substituting the known second electrode 600 and connection electrode (700+200a or 700+200b) with the known integrated structure comprising the second electrode and the connection electrode as disclosed by Umemoto in order to obtain the predictable result interconnecting unit cells by connecting the second electrode of one cell to the first electrode of an adjacent cell to establish series connection (Rationale B, KSR decision, MPEP 2143).
Addressing claim 3, paragraph [0072] of Hong discloses electrode 300 is made of transparent conductive oxide.
Addressing claim 4, the range of illuminance that the solar cell is exposed to does not structurally differentiate the claimed solar cell from that of the prior art. Additionally, the device of Hong is configured for exposure to natural sunlight, which has illuminance that includes values that fall within the claimed range. It is reminded that the illuminance of sunlight also depends on other factors such as cloud condition, which further illustrates that the claimed illuminance does not structurally differentiate the claimed solar cell from that of the prior art.
Addressing claim 9, paragraph [0072] of Hong discloses the first electrode 300 is made of the claimed materials.
Addressing claim 10, paragraph [0078] of Hong discloses the second electrode 600 is made of silver and Umemoto discloses the second electrode and the connection electrode are made of the metallic material; therefore, the limitation of current claim would have been obvious based on the teaching of Hong and Suzuki.
Addressing claim 11, paragraph [0075] of Hong discloses the active layer includes N-type layer and P-type layer that correspond to the claimed electron transport layer and the hole transport layer.
Addressing claim 14, Hong discloses a method of forming a solar cell (figs. 5A-5D), comprising:
providing a substrate 100 (fig. 5A);
forming a first electrode 300 on the substrate (fig. 5B);
forming an active layer 400 on the first electrode (fig. 5B);
forming a plurality of unit cells by scribing the active layer with a width ranging from 0.1 mm to 2 mm (the limitation would have been obvious based on the teaching of Basol as discussed above in the rejection of claim 1) such that the plurality of unit cells are spaced from one another (fig. 5C, [0110]), thereby exposing at least some portions of a surface of the substrate 100 on which the plurality of unit cells are formed (fig. 5C); and
forming a second electrode 600 and a connection electrode 700+200a or 700+200b, wherein the connection electrode extends from the second electrode of a unit cell among the plurality of unit cells (figs. 2A or 3A), and is connected directly to the first electrode of an adjacent unit cell among the plurality of unit cells (figs. 2A or 3A),
wherein the second electrode and the connection electrode are an integrated structure formed by a single patterning process (the limitation would have been obvious based on the teaching of Umemoto as discussed above in the rejection of claim 1), and
wherein each of the unit cells includes a pair of short sides and a pair of long sides, and the connection electrode is disposed on only one of the pair of short sides (figs. 2A or 3A of Hong).
Addressing claim 15, figs. 5B-5C of Hong show a single scribing process is performed during the method.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong et al. (US 2010/0258159) in view of Basol (US 2008/0196756) and Umemoto et al (US 4,570,030) as applied to claims 1, 3-4, 7, 9-11 and 14-15 above, and further in view of KR20210144104 or ‘104 with provided machine English translation.
Addressing claim 12, Hong is silent regarding the active layer includes a perovskite light absorption layer.
KR ‘104 discloses a thin film solar cell similarly to that of Hong; wherein, the thin film solar cell includes subcells having an active layer includes a perovskite activating layer 130, an electron transport layer 120 and a hole transport layer 140 [0024-0026].
At the time of the effective filing date of the invention, one with ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify solar cell of Hong by substituting the known silicon semiconductor material of the active layer with the known active layer having a perovskite activating layer 130, an electron transport layer 120 and a hole transport layer 140 disclosed by KR ‘104 in order to increase light absorption, generation electron-hole pairs at low energies due to low exciton binding energy and photoelectric conversion efficiency (KR ‘104, [0026]).
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong et al. (US 2010/0258159) in view of Basol (US 2008/0196756) and Umemoto et al (US 4,570,030) as applied to claims 1, 3-4, 7, 9-11 and 14-15 above, and further in view of Little (US 4,740,431).
Addressing claim 13, Hong is silent regarding a battery disposed in a spaced portion between adjacent unit cells.
Little discloses in fig. 6 a battery 148 (associated with the cell 136) disposed in a spaced portion between adjacent unit cells (134 and 138).
At the time of the effective filing date of the invention, one with ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious the solar cell of Hong with the integrated thin film battery in the configuration disclosed by Little in order to store the electricity generated by the solar cell as portable electronic device (Little, col. 2 ln 36-53).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 3-4, 7 and 9-15 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any combination of references applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
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/BACH T DINH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1726 01/07/2026