DETAILED ACTION
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Any rejections made in a previous Office action and not repeated below are hereby withdrawn.
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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shiragami (WO 2020/153067) in view of Kawanami (US 2015/0037594). Note that Shiragami (US 2022/0098089) will be used as the English translation of Shiragami (WO 2020/153061), and all citations hereinafter will refer to Shiragami (US ‘089).
Regarding claim 1, Shiragami discloses a glass powder that enables air tight sealing at a low temperature and is free of harmful lead [0001]. The reference further discloses that the glass powder contains as glass composition of: TeO2 of 15 mol % to 65 mol %, MoO3 of 10 mol % to 60 mol %, Ag2O of o to 25% and P2O5 of 1 mol % to 35 mol %, and is substantially free of PbO, see abstract [0025]. Note that the disclosed ranges overlap the claimed ranges and that a prima facie case of obviousness exists where the claimed ranges “overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art”; see MPEP 2144.05 I. The reference further discloses CuO as from 0 to 30% [0023].
The reference fails to disclose the claimed amount of V2O5.
Kawanami discloses a tellurium dioxide sealing glass that contains 0 to 30 mol% V2O5, see abstract and [0004]. The reference further discloses that V2O5 is a glass forming oxide and forms a network of a glass, and is also effective as a low-softening component [0045]. However, a large content of V2O5 reduces material strength of a glass [0045]. Further, V2O5 is also effective as a laser absorbing component, but is easy to be oxidation-reduced by an atmosphere at a dissolving time, making control of a valence number of a V ion difficult and absorbance of a laser light unstable, and there is a possibility that sealing becomes unstable thereby [0045]. Thus, it is possible that the content of V2O5 is 0%, but if contained, the content thereof is preferable to be 5% or more and 30% or less in a glass composition [0045].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention for the glass Shiragami to contain V2O5 in the amount of Kawanami in order to provide a glass forming oxide effective as a low-softening component without affecting the stability of the sealant; see MPEP 2144.05 I.
Regarding claim 2, Shiragami discloses the glass composition as including, in terms of mol%, CuO as from 0 to 30%, Na2O as from 0 to 20%, K2O as from 0 to 15%, a total content of MgO, CaO, SrO, and BaO as from 0 to 20% and ZnO as from 0 to 10% [0023 and 0026-0029]; see MPEP 2144.05 I. Additionally, the reference does not disclose SeO2 in the composition, see entire document.
Regarding claim 3, the reference discloses the glass composition includes ZnO from 0 to 10% [0029]; see MPEP 2144.05 I.
Regarding claim 4, the reference discloses the glass composition includes Nb2O5 from 0 to 10% [0029]; see MPEP 2144.05 I.
Regarding claim 5, the reference discloses Al2O3, Fe2O3 and B2O3 each can be added up to less than 2% [0033]; see MPEP 2144.05 I. Additionally, the reference discloses the content of WO3 as 0 to 25% [0022]; see MPEP 2144.05 I.
Regarding claims 6-8, the reference discloses sealing material according to the present invention contains 40 vol % to 100 vol % of the above glass powder, and 0 vol % to 60 vol % of a refractory filler powder [0011]. Note that since the filler is not present, the limitations of claims 7 and 8 are not required.
Regarding claims 9 and 10, note that the limitations “for use in a crystal oscillator package” and “for use in a vacuum insulation glass” are deemed to be statements with regard to intended use and is not further limiting in so far as the structure of the product is concerned. In article claims, a claimed intended use must result in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art in order to patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art. MPEP § 2111.02.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shiragami (WO 2020/153067) in view of Kawanami (US 2015/0037594) as applied to claim 6 above, and further in view of Yamazaki et al. (US 2013/0213852).
Shiragami in view of Kawanami discloses the sealing material with the glass composition of claim 1, see above discussion. The references, however, fail to disclose a sealing paste with the sealing material and a vehicle.
Yamazaki discloses a glass frit for hermetically sealing a gap between substrates so as to surround an electrical element, see abstract. The reference further discloses that the glass frit and a vehicle are kneaded and processed into a paste material to be used in order to enhance application workability and the like [0120].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention for the glass composition of Shiragami in view of Kawanami to be kneaded with a vehicle to form a paste in order to enhance application workability and the like.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-11 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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 mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LAURA A AUER whose telephone number is (571)270-5669. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9 am - 4 pm EST.
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/LAURA A AUER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1783
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