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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Response to Amendment
Claims 1-7 are currently pending in the present application. Claims 1-5 are original; and claims 6-7 are currently amended. The amendment dated March 21, 2024 has been entered into the record.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/21/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-7 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 1-7 include reference numbers and characters. Reference numbers and characters corresponding to elements recited in the claims may be removed so as to avoid confusion with other numbers or characters which may appear in the claims.
In claim 1 lines 1-2, “embossing layer” should be “an embossing layer”.
In claim 1 line 2, “optical reflective layer” should be “an optical reflective layer”.
In claim 1 line 2, “thickness” should be “a thickness”.
In claim 1 line 2, “adhesive layer” should be “an adhesive layer”.
In claim 1 line 10, “multi -bonded area” should be “multi-bonded area”.
In claim 4 line 2, “multi -bonded areas” should be “multi-bonded areas”.
In claim 5 line 3, “multi -bonded areas” should be “multi-bonded areas”.
In claim 6 line 2, “multi -bonded areas” should be “multi-bonded areas”.
In claim 7 line 2, “luminescent ink” should be “a luminescent ink”.
The examiner did not necessarily identify all the typos in the claims. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yashiki (US 20140077487) in view of Tompkin (US 20070273142, hereinafter “Tompkin”).
Regarding claim 1, Yashiki discloses color holographic foil (a forgery prevention structure in Figs. 3 and 5; see Paras. [0025], [0027], [0036] and [0038] identifying the embodiment shown in Figs. 3 and 5), including a base 1 (22 in Fig. 3; Para. [0115]), on which a release layer 2 (a separation protection layer between 22 and 2; Para. [0121] “a separation protection layer may be provided between the substrate and the relief forming layer … the separation protection layer is made of a material with a good mold-release characteristic”), embossing layer 3 (2 in Fig. 3; Para. [0115]), optical reflective layer 4 (45 in Fig. 5; Para. [0124]) with thickness d (see Fig. 3) and adhesive layer 5 (23 in Fig. 3; Para. [0115]) are successively arranged, containing protrusions 8 and depressions 9 with a depth h (2 contains protrusions and depressions formed with a depth in Figs. 3 or 5), and at least two micro-relief areas 7 are dyed areas 10, where said embossing layer 3 is colored with a dye (Paras. [0069] “as a material for the relief forming layer … thermoplastic resin … a micro uneven pattern”, [0075] “the resin composite may also include a dye”, [0131] “the colored reflection relief structure in the first area 49, the colorless reflection relief structure in the second area 50” teaching 2 includes dyed areas in 49 having micro relief pattern areas and containing a dye), and at least one dyed area 10 is a multi-bonded area 11 (Fig. 5; the dyed area being a multi-bonded area), characterized in that said multi-bonded area 11 has at least one micro-relief boundary 12 (boundaries formed between 49 and 50), fully or partially bordering with said dyed areas 10 (see Fig. 5), and wherein the micro-relief topography in said multi-bonded area 11 differs from the micro-relief topography in corresponding neighbouring dyed areas 10 (see Para. [0129] teaching areas 49 and 50 have different relief structures for exhibiting different color change effects), and said embossing layer 3 in said dyed areas 10 and in said multi-bonded areas 11 is colored in different saturations of a single color tone, and the saturation being directly proportional to the depth h of the depressions 9 (see Para. [0159] teaching the color holographic foil providing a desired color tone, and Fig. 5 teaching the embossing layer 42, containing a dye, has different thicknesses, i.e., the color saturation becomes directly proportional to the depth of the depressions).
Yashiki does not disclose said embossing layer 3 comprising smooth areas 6 without any micro-relief and micro-relief areas 7, and at least one smooth boundary 13, fully bordering with said smooth areas 6, and a distance m between said smooth boundary 13 and the nearest micro-relief boundary 12 is smaller than 0.2 mm, wherein the distance p between two neighbouring depressions 9 is between 0.1 pm and 50 μm, and the depth h of said depressions 9 is from 0.05 pm to 2 μm, and the thickness d of said reflective layer 4 in said smooth areas 6 is constant, ranging between 15 nm and 100 nm, and in said micro-relief areas 7 thickness d is variable and inversely proportional to the depth h of the depressions 9 and is at least 20% thinner than in said smooth areas 6.
However, Tompkin teaches a known color holographic layer (Figs. 1 and 4; Paras. [0008]-[0009]) includes an embossing layer (230 in Fig. 4) comprising smooth areas (320) without any micro-relief and micro-relief areas, and at least one smooth boundary (boundary between 310 and 320), fully bordering with said smooth areas, and a distance m between said smooth boundary and the nearest micro-relief boundary is smaller than 0.2 mm (see Fig. 4 teaching the distance m being essentially zero), wherein the distance p between two neighbouring depressions 9 is between 0.1 pm and 50 μm, and the depth h of said depressions 9 is from 0.05 pm to 2 μm (Para. [0101]), and the thickness d of said reflective layer 4 in said smooth areas 6 is constant, ranging between 15 nm and 100 nm (Para. [0070] teaching the thickness of 40 nm), in said micro-relief areas thickness d is variable and inversely proportional to the depth h of the depressions and is at least 20% thinner than in said smooth areas (see TABLE 1, Paras. [0074]-[0075] and Figs. 4-5 teaching thicknesses t and t0 and the depth-to-width ratio in the smooth area).
Because Yashiki suggests the color holographic foil be a sticker (Para. [0027]), i.e., the micro-relief patterns of the foil would be disposed on a substrate, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at a time before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the color holographic foil as disclosed by Yashiki with the teachings of Tompkin, to have said embossing layer 3 comprising smooth areas 6 without any micro-relief and micro-relief areas 7, and at least one smooth boundary 13, fully bordering with said smooth areas 6, , and the thickness d of said reflective layer 4 in said smooth areas 6 is constant, ranging between 15 nm and 100 nm, a distance m between said smooth boundary 13 and the nearest micro-relief boundary 12 is smaller than 0.2 mm, in said micro-relief areas 7 thickness d is variable and inversely proportional to the depth h of the depressions 9 and is at least 20% thinner than in said smooth areas 6, for the purpose of disposing the micro-relief patterns of the foil and further controlling a color shift effect (Tompkin: Para. [0033]).
Regarding claim 2, Yashiki as modified by Tompkin discloses the limitations of claim 1 above, and Yashiki further discloses, characterized in that said reflective layer 4 is of transparent dielectric with a refraction index greater than 1.8 (Para. [0099] “Examples of other materials … which can be used for the transparent second reflection layer, are cited below. Numerals in parentheses each indicate a refraction index n. … for example: Sb2O3 (3.0)”).
Regarding claim 3, Yashiki as modified by Tompkin discloses the limitations of claim 1 above, and Yashiki further discloses, characterized in that said reflective layer 4 is of one of the following metals: Al, Cu, Ag, Au, Cr (Para. [0098] “metal materials, such as Al, Sn, Cr, Ni, Cu, Au, and Ag, can be used”).
Regarding claim 4, Yashiki as modified by Tompkin discloses the limitations of claim 3 above, and Yashiki further discloses, characterized in that said reflective layer 4 only covers said dyed areas 10 and said multi-bonded areas 11 (see Fig. 5 wherein 45 covers only the area 49).
Regarding claim 5, Yashiki as modified by Tompkin discloses the limitations of claim 4 above.
In the Figure 5 embodiment, Yashiki does not explicitly disclose, characterized in that additional colored layer 14 of polymer ink in a chosen single color tone is provided over said reflective layer 4 in said dyed areas 10 and in said multi-bonded areas 11.
However, in the Figure 7B embodiment, Yashiki teaches providing additional colored layer 14 of polymer ink in a chosen single color tone (105; see Paras. [0150]-[0152] teaching a protection layer ink composite provided on 106) is provided over said reflective layer 4 in said dyed areas 10 and in said multi-bonded areas 11.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at a time before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the color holographic foil as disclosed by Yashiki, characterized in that additional colored layer 14 of polymer ink in a chosen single color tone is provided over said reflective layer 4 in said dyed areas 10 and in said multi-bonded areas 11, for the purpose of protecting the color holographic foil while displaying the pattern (Yashiki: Para/ [0151]).
Regarding claim 6, Yashiki as modified by Tompkin discloses the limitations of claim 1 above, and Yashiki further discloses, characterized in that said dyed areas 10 and said multi-bonded areas 11 are colored with a luminescent dye (Para. [0089]).
Regarding claim 7, Yashiki as modified by Tompkin discloses the limitations of claim 5 above, and Yashiki further discloses, characterized in that said additional colored layer 14 is of luminescent ink (Para. [0089]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN Y JUNG whose telephone number is (469)295-9076. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm.
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/JONATHAN Y JUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871