DETAILED ACTION
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
2. This Office Action is responsive to the amendment filed on 02/20/2026.
3. Claims 1, 3-14 are pending. Claims 1, 3-14 are under examination on the merits. Claims 1, 3-14 are amended. Claim 2 is cancelled.
4. The objections and rejections not addressed below are deemed withdrawn.
5. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 3-14 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the references being used in the current rejection.
Information Disclosure Statement
6. The information disclosure statements submitted on 12/02/2025, and 01/29/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the examiner has considered the information disclosure statements.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
7. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(B) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
8. Claims 1, 3-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which applicant regards as the invention. The term "like" in claim 1 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term "like" is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. It is unclear what shell-"like" is intended to convey. Thus, the phrase "a shell-like ligand" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d). Claims 3-14 being depended on claim 1 are rejected as well.
9. Claims 7, 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which applicant regards as the invention. The term "like" in claims 7, 9-10 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term "like" is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. It is unclear what shell-"like" is intended to convey. Thus, the phrase "a shell-like ligand" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
10. 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.
11. Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. (Polymer Zwitterions for Stabilization of CsPbBr3 Perovskite Nanoparticles and Nanocomposite Films, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, 10802–10806, hereinafter “Kim”) in view of Tan et al.( US Pub. No. 2021/0024765 A1, hereinafter, “Tan”).
Regarding claims 1-4,7: Kim teaches a photoresponsive material (Page 10802, Abstract, lines 1-4) comprising: a nanoparticle with a perovskite crystal structure such as CsPbBr3, and a shell-like ligand that has a plurality of binding portions with an ionic structural unit and that has a polymer portion bound to the nanoparticle at a plurality of positions via the plurality of binding portions, wherein the ionic structural unit includes a zwitterionic structure, and wherein the zwitterionic structure includes a betaine structure such as poly(BMA-co-2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl -sulfobetaine) (PBMA-SB) copolymers, wherein the shell-like ligand has at least a portion coordinated to the nanoparticle (Page 10802, Fig. 1; Page 10803, Fig. 2c). Kim does not expressly teach a ratio of a content of the shell-like ligand with respect to a content of the nanoparticle is 5 parts by mass/100 parts by mass or more and 500 parts by mass/100 parts by mass or less.
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However, Tan teaches a perovskite-polymer resin composition (Page 2, [0061]): a perovskite-polymer composite material comprising: perovskite nanocrystals and/or aggregates of perovskite nanocrystals, the perovskite material of the nanocrystals and/or aggregates having formula I: APbX3 (Page 2, [0062]-[0063]), and a polymer shell material surrounding each perovskite nanocrystal and/or each aggregate of perovskite nanocrystals (Page 2, [0064]) a crosslinking agent (Page 2, [0065]) a photoinitiator (Page 2, [0066]), and optionally, a polymerization mixture comprising a monomer and optionally one or more of oligomers and polymers derived from the monomer (Page 2, [0067]) wherein: X is a halogen anion selected from one or more of Br, Cl, I (Page 2, [0068]), A is a monovalent cation selected from one or more of Cs, an alkylammonium ion, and a formamidinium ion (Page 2, [0069; ]Page 15, Claim 16). Tan teaches the composition is selected from one comprising: (a) from 0.05 to 50 wt % of the perovskite nanocrystals and/or aggregates of perovskite nanocrystals, from 2 to 99.95 wt % of the polymer shell material, from 2 to 99.95 wt % of the crosslinking agent, from 0 to 2.5 wt % of the photoinitiator (Page 3, [0074]-[0077]; Page 15, Claim 20), wherein the weight to weight ratio of the perovskite nanocrystals and/or aggregates of perovskite nanocrystals to the sum of the weights of the polymeric shell material and crosslinking agent is from 0.0002:1 to 1:1, such as from 0.0005:1 to 0.5:1, such as from 0.001:1 to 0.1:1, such as from 0.1:1 to 1:1 (Page 3, [0091]) with benefit of providing an improved process for fabricating a perovskite-polymer composite, since the control of perovskite-polymer phase separation dynamics is typically challenging, and the conventional approach could result in the formation of inhomogeneous films with large perovskite or polymer aggregates (Page 1, [0004]).
In an analogous art of the photoresponsive material, and in the light of such benefit before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the shell-like ligand with respect to a content of the nanoparticle in photoresponsive composition by Kim, so as to include a ratio of a content of the shell-like ligand with respect to a content of the nanoparticle is 5 parts by mass/100 parts by mass or more and 500 parts by mass/100 parts by mass or less as taught by Tan, and would have been motivated to do so with reasonable expectation that this would result in providing an improved process for fabricating a perovskite-polymer composite, since the control of perovskite-polymer phase separation dynamics is typically challenging, and the conventional approach could result in the formation of inhomogeneous films with large perovskite or polymer aggregates as suggested by Tan (Page 1, [0004]).
Regarding claims 5-6: Kim teaches the photoresponsive material (Page 10802, Abstract, lines 1-4), wherein the plurality of binding portions include a structural unit represented by at least one of the formulae (1) to (3) as a betaine portion, and the plurality of binding portions include a structural unit represented by at least one of the formulae (4) and (5) as a quaternary ammonium salt such as random copolymers of n-butyl methacrylate (BMA) and
with sulfobetaine or phosphorylcholine zwitterions groups (Page 10802, Fig. 1).
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Regarding claims 8-10: Kim teaches the photoresponsive material (Page 10802, Abstract, lines 1-4), wherein the polymer portion has a structural unit represented by formulae (6) as set forth, wherein the shell-like ligand coordinates so as to cover an outer periphery of the nanoparticle (Page 10802, Fig. 1), and wherein the shell-like ligand has a number-average molecular weight of 1,000 or more and 50,000 or less (Page 5, Fig. S1).
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12. Claims 11-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. (Polymer Zwitterions for Stabilization of CsPbBr3 Perovskite Nanoparticles and Nanocomposite Films, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, 10802–10806, hereinafter “Kim”) in view of Tan et al.( US Pub. No. 2021/0024765 A1, hereinafter, “Tan”) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Yamaguchi et al. (JP2018-197782 A, machine translation, hereinafter “Yamaguchi”).
Regarding claims 11-14: The disclosure of Kim in view of Tan is adequately set forth in paragraph 11 above and is incorporated herein by reference. Kim in view of Tan does not expressly teach a photoresponsive composition comprising: the photoresponsive material, and a polymerizable compound, a wavelength conversion member comprising the photoresponsive composition cured with the polymerizable compound, a wavelength conversion layer comprising the wavelength conversion member having an optical coupling surface that is optically coupled to a light source for emitting light with a first wavelength, and the photoresponsive material emits light with a second wavelength longer than the light with the first wavelength received through the optical coupling surface.
However, Yamaguchi teaches a wavelength conversion layer (Page 7/40, [0010]) comprising the wavelength conversion member (Page14/40, [0047]) comprising the photoresponsive composition comprises a quantum dot having a perovskite crystal structure (Page14/40, [0047]) cured with the polymerizable compound (Page 15/40, [0049]); Page 16/40, [0057]; Page 16/40, [0059]), wherein the wavelength conversion layer comprising the wavelength conversion member having an optical coupling surface that is optically coupled to a light source for emitting light with a first wavelength, and the photoresponsive material emits light with a second wavelength longer than the light with the first wavelength received through the optical coupling surface (Pages 17-18/40, [0062]-[0063]; Page 19/40, [0071]) with benefit of providing a light conversion film and a liquid crystal display element using the light conversion film (Page 5/40, [0001]), wherein the light conversion layer film has a wide color reproduction region and high luminance (Page 8/40, [0014]).
In an analogous art of the photoresponsive material, and in the light of such benefit before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to apply the photoresponsive composition by Kim, so as to include a wavelength conversion layer comprising the wavelength conversion member having the photoresponsive composition cured with the polymerizable compound as taught by Yamaguchi, and would have been motivated to do so with reasonable expectation that this would result in providing a light conversion film and a liquid crystal display element using the light conversion film (Page 5/40, [0001]), wherein the light conversion layer film has a wide color reproduction region and high luminance as suggested by Yamaguchi (Page 8/40, [0014]).
Response to Arguments
13. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 3-14 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the references being used in the current rejection.
14. 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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
Examiner Information
15. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Bijan Ahvazi, Ph.D. whose telephone number is (571) 270-3449. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 9.00 A.M. -7 P.M..
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joseph Del Sole can be reached on 571-272-1130. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Bijan Ahvazi/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1763
03/10/2026
bijan.ahvazi@uspto.gov
Prosecution Insights