DETAILED ACTION
Claim Objections
Claim 1 objected to because of the following informalities: In the figure after line 2, delete “[Chem. 1]”.
Claim 1 objected to because of the following informalities: In line 3, please replace “(in the general” with “in general”.
Claim 1 objected to because of the following informalities: In line 9, please replace “and a cyano” with “or a cyano”.
Claim 1 objected to because of the following informalities: In line 16, please replace “and a cyano” with “or a cyano”.
Claim 1 objected to because of the following informalities: In line 16, please replace “and a phenoxymethyl” with “or a phenoxymethyl”.
Claim 1 objected to because of the following informalities: In line 16, delete the close parentheses mark “ ) ” at the end of the sentence.
Claim 2 is objected to because of the following informalities: In line 3, please replace “and a cyanophenyl” with “or a cyanophenyl”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
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.
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Aizawa et al. (EP 0 556 781).
Preparation Example 7 in Table 2 of Aizawa et al. discloses a film prepared from a copolymer comprising 70 wt % (59 mole %) of units derived from N-vinyl acetamide and 30 wt % (41 mole %) of units derived from acrylonitrile. The film is substantially the same in constitution as the copolymer of instant claims and therefore, it is expected to exhibit piezoelectric properties.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aizawa et al. (EP 0 556 781) in view of Kikuchi (WO 2020/261904; equivalent US 12,477,949 relied upon for translation).
The discussion of the disclosure of the prior art from the preceding paragraph is incorporated here by reference. One of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to make a piezoelectric body from the film of the prior art, and from the disclosure of Kikuchi, one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to dispose the film onto an electrode (paragraph [0154]; Figure 1).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Rip A. Lee whose telephone number is (571)272-1104. The examiner can be reached on Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Robert Jones, can be reached at (571)270-7733. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571)273-8300.
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/RIP A LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1762 September 22, 2026
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