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 .
Status of the Claims
Claims 1-13 are currently pending.
Claim 10 is withdrawn from consideration.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-9 and 11-13, in the reply filed on 06/26/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim 10 is withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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 06/26/2026.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5-9, and 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fujita et al. (US 2020/0301521 A1).
Regarding claim 1,
Fujita teaches a glass substrate having water repellency properties (Fujita: abstract; par. 0060). The limitations requiring a “cutoff value of a high-pass filter λc in a 5 µm x 5 µm area of the surface with unevenness is 2.5 µm, a mean width RSm1 of roughness profile elements is not less than 70 nm and not more than 800 nm” and a “cutoff value of a low-pass filter λs in a 140 µm x 105 µm area of the surface with unevenness is 0.80 µm, a mean width RSm2 of roughness profile elements is not less than 3.0 µm and not more than 100.0 µm” are methods measuring surface roughness of the glass substrate, particularly the cutoff values of high and low pass filters. The claim will be met by glass substrate having the claimed unevenness surface parameters such as RSm1 and Rsm2 roughness values.
Fujita further teaches a pitch Rsm of from 50 to 1000 µm (corresponds and overlaps with the to the claimed RSm2 of 3.0 to 100.0 µm) and a pitch Rsm of 0.01 to 10 µm (corresponds and overlaps with the claimed Rsm1 of 70 nm to 800 nm) (Fujita: abstract). As Fujita teaches the claimed Rsm1 and Rsm2 spacings and the type of glass such as aluminosilicate or borosilicate that are chemically strengthened (Fujita: abstract and par. 0030), it would be expected to yield the same results when tested in the manner required in claim 1 regarding the high and low pass filters under the claimed conditions. A prima facie case of obviousness exists where the claimed ranges and prior art ranges overlap or are close enough that one skilled in the art would have expected them to have the same properties. See MPEP 2144.05 I.
Regarding claim 2,
Fujita teaches the water-repellent glass member required by claim 1. Fujita further teaches the three-dimensional arithmetic mean height Sa (corresponds to the claimed Sa1) is between 1 and 50 nm which is the same range as claimed (Fujita: abstract).
The limitation requiring “when the cutoff value of the high-pass filter λc in the 5 µm x 5 µm area of the surface with unevenness is 2.5 µm” is a method of measuring as explained above. The claims are met satisfied by a glass member having the claimed surface roughness properties as it would be expected to result in the same results when measured in the claimed way.
Regarding claim 3,
Fujita teaches the water-repellent glass member required by claim 1. Fujita further teaches the three-dimensional arithmetic mean height Sa (corresponds to the claimed Sa2) is between 1 and 50 nm which is within the claimed range of from 1 nm to 1500 nm (Fujita: abstract).
The limitation requiring “when the cutoff value of the low-pass filter λc in the 140 µm x 105 µm area of the surface with unevenness is 0.80 µm” is a method of measuring as explained above. The claims are met satisfied by a glass member having the claimed surface roughness properties as it would be expected to result in the same results when measured in the claimed way.
Regarding claim 5,
Fujita teaches the water-repellent glass member required by claim 1. Fujita teaches a mean height (Sa, corresponds to a mean height Rc1) of 1 to 50 nm and a roughness pitch (Rsm1, corresponds to a width) of 0.1 to 10 µm (100 nm to 10,000 nm) resulting in a ratio (Rc1/Rsm1) 1/100 (0.01) or 50/100 (0.5) which overlaps with the claimed ratio of 0.01 to 1.00 (Fujita: abstract; claim 1).
The limitation requiring “when the cutoff value of the high-pass filter λc in the 5 µm x 5 µm area of the surface with unevenness is 2.5 µm” is a method of measuring as explained above. The claims are met satisfied by a glass member having the claimed surface roughness properties as it would be expected to result in the same results when measured in the claimed way.
Regarding claim 7,
Fujita teaches the water-repellent glass member required by claim 1. Fujita further teaches the water-repellant glass member comprise a glass substrate (20, a glass member body) having a principle surface (20a) in which an anti-fouling film may be placed on said principle surface (Fujita: par. 0056-0060).
Regarding claims 8 and 9,
Fujita teaches the water-repellent glass member required by claim 1. Fujita further teaches the water-repellant glass member comprise a glass substrate (20, a glass member body) having a principle surface (20a) in which an antireflection film (an optically functional film) may be placed on said principle surface (Fujita: par. 0056-0060).
Regarding claim 11,
Fujita teaches the water-repellent glass member required by claim 1. Fujita further teaches the claimed rough surface that is shown to disperse light through measurements with a lens and may be utilized in a display device (Fujita: abstract; par. 0089-0090). As such, the glass member may be considered to be part of a “lens member” or a part of a lens structurally.
Regarding claim 12,
Fujita teaches the water-repellent glass member required by claim 1. Fujita further teaches the water-repellant glass member may be utilized in a cover member (Fujita: par. 0061).
Regarding claim 13,
Fujita teaches the water-repellent glass member required by claim 1. Fujita further teaches the water-repellent glass member may be utilized in a display device (a window panel member) (Fujita: abstract).
Claim(s) 4 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fujita in view of Fukushi et al. (US 2018/0088399 A1).
Regarding claim 4,
Fujita teaches the water-repellent glass member required by claim 1. Fujita is silent towards the water-repellent glass member to comprise a skewness (Ssk) of -0.1 or less.
Fukushi teaches a glass member including a glass substrate having antiglare properties (Fukushi: abstract; par. 0104 and 0106). The glass member preferably has a surface skewness SsK of less than 0 and -1.2 or more, which overlaps with the claimed -0.1 or less, to provide improved wear resistance and improved optical properties (Fukushi: par. 0106). A prima facie case of obviousness exists where the claimed ranges and prior art ranges overlap or are close enough that one skilled in the art would have expected them to have the same properties. See MPEP 2144.05 I.
Fujita and Fukushi are in the corresponding field of glass members with antiglare properties. Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to adjust the skewness of the glass member of Fujita to be within the claimed range to provide improved wear resistance and optical properties as taught by Fukushi.
The limitation requiring “when the cutoff value of the high-pass filter λc in the 5 µm x 5 µm area of the surface with unevenness is 2.5 µm” is a method of measuring as explained above. The claims are met satisfied by a glass member having the claimed surface roughness properties as it would be expected to result in the same results when measured in the claimed way.
Regarding claim 6,
Fujita teaches the water-repellent glass member required by claim 1. Fujita is silent towards the contact angle of water with the surface with unevenness of the water-repellent glass member is 90° or greater.
However, Fujita and Fukushi teaches the claimed roughness parameters as explained in the claims above, including skewness, height, width, etc. Therefore, it would be expected to exhibit the same contact angle when exposed to water on the surface. When the claimed and prior art products are identical or substantially identical in structure or composition, or are produced by identical or substantially identical processes, the prior art products necessarily possess the characteristics of the claimed product. See MPEP 2112.01.
Conclusion
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/TRAVIS M FIGG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1783
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