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 07/23/2026.
Claims 1, 3, 7, 9-15 and 18 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 07/23/2026 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, 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 (fig. 3) comprising:
a substrate 100;
a plurality of unit cells (the four unit cells on the top row in fig. 3 as the claimed plurality of unit cells; alternatively, the four unit cells on the bottom row in fig. 3 as the claimed plurality of unit cells) that are formed on the substrate 100, 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) that connects the plurality of unit cells,
wherein each of the unit cells includes a first short side, the first short side of all of the plurality of unit cells being aligned on a same side with respect to the unit cells (all of the unit cells in the top row have their first short sides in alignment; alternatively, all of the unit cells in the bottom row have their first short sides in alignment), and the connection electrode is disposed on the first short side of all of the plurality of unit cells,
wherein an insulating structure (the separating parts 110a) is formed between adjacent unit cells of the plurality of unit cells, the insulating structure is formed by scribing the active layer and the first electrode (fig. 3B, [0110]) thereby exposing at least some portions of a surface of the substrate,
wherein the connection extends from a unit cell among the plurality of unit cells, and is connected directly to the first electrode of an adjacent unit cell among the plurality of unit cells (fig. 3A),
wherein a sidewall of each first electrode directly faces the insulating structure without the sidewall of the first electrode being covered by the active layer (fig. 3B).
Hong is silent regarding the width ranging from 0.1 mm to 2 mm and wherein the second electrode and the connection electrode are formed as an integrated structure.
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 (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).
With regard to the limitation “wherein the solar cell has a fill factor of equal to or greater than 64% of an illuminance of 300 lux to 800 lux”, the limitation is met when the limitation is read in light of the specification. Particularly, paragraph [0091] of the specification states “Referring to FIG. 4, in a case where the insulating structure is disposed between the unit cells according to the embodiment of the present invention, the solar cell may show excellent characteristics with an FF (fill factor) of 64% or higher at low illuminance (1,000 lux or less)”, which is met by the modified solar cell of Hong in view of Basol and Suzuki because the insulating structure of the modified solar cell is positioned in the claimed position and has the claimed dimension. Therefore, the modified solar cell of Hong in view of Basol and Suzuki has all of the associated properties as those of the claimed solar cell, including the fill factor of equal to or greater than 64% at an illuminance of 300 lux to 800 lux as claimed.
Addressing claim 3, paragraph [0072] of Hong discloses electrode 300 is made of transparent conductive oxide.
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 claims 14-15, Hong discloses a method of forming a solar cell (figs. 2A-2C, 3A-3C and 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 and the first electrode (fig. 5C) with a width ranging from 0.1 mm to 2 mm (as disclosed by Basol) such that the plurality of unit cells are spaced from one another (fig. 2B, 3B and 5C), thereby exposing at least some portions of a surface of the substrate on which the plurality of unit cells are formed; 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, and is connected directly to the first electrode of an adjacent unit cell among the plurality of unit cells (figs. 2A and 3A of Hong),
wherein the plurality of unit cells are formed by a single scribing process (fig. 2B,3B and 5C disclose a scribing process that form the plurality of unit cells that qualify as the claimed a single scribing process),
wherein the second electrode and the connection electrode are an integrated structure formed by a single patterning process (disclosed by 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 and 3A).
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, 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, 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) 18 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).
Addressing claim 18, Hong discloses a method of forming a solar cell (figs. 2A-2C, 3A-3C and 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 second electrode 600 on the substrate (fig. 5B);
forming a plurality of unit cells by scribing the second electrode, the active layer, and the first electrode (figs. 2B, 3B and 5C) such that the plurality of unit cells are spaced from one another (figs. 2B, 3B and 5C), thereby exposing at least some portions of a surface of the substrate on which the plurality of unit cells are formed (fig. 32B, B and 5C); and
forming 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 and 3A), and is connected directly to the first electrode of an adjacent unit cell among the plurality of unit cells (figs. 2A and 3A),
wherein the plurality of unit cells are formed by a single scribing process (fig. 2B,3B and 5C disclose a scribing process that form the plurality of unit cells that qualify as the claimed a single scribing process), and
wherein each of the unit cells includes a pair of short sides and a pair of long sides (figs. 2A and 3A), and the connection electrode is disposed on only one of the pair short sides (figs. 2A and 3A).
Hong is silent regarding the scribing with a width ranging from 0.1 mm to 2 mm.
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]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 3, 7, 9-15 and 18 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 08/06/2026
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