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 application is a 371 of App. No. PCT/KR2022/013298, filed on 09/06/2022, which is entitled to and claims the benefit of priority of KR Patent App. No. 10-2021-0129535, filed 09/30/2021. The preliminary amendment filed on 03/28/2024 is entered and acknowledged by the Examiner.
3. Claims 1-18 are pending. Claims 1-18 are under examination on the merits.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. The information disclosure statements submitted on 03/28/2024, 07/01/2025, and 11/06/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the examiner has considered the information disclosure statements.
Priority
5. Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted on 03/28/2024 under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
6. 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.
7. Claims 1-4, 9-13, 15-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kang et al. (KR 10-2021-0012828. Equivalent to US Pub. No. 2021/0024819 A1, hereinafter “’819”).
Regarding claims 1-3: ‘819 discloses a curable composition (Page 1, [0002]), comprising: (A) a quantum dot surface-modified with a surface-modifying material represented by Chemical Formula 1-6 (Page 14, [0190]-[0191], Page 16, [0207]; Preparation Example 6; Page 18, Claim 1), wherein R1 is methyl group, L1, L2, and L3 are C2 alkylene group, n1=2, and (B) a polymerizable compound (Page 18, Claim 5).
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Regarding claim 4: ‘819 discloses the curable composition (Page 1, [0002]), wherein any one of L¹ to L³ is a C2 to C20 branched alkylene group (Page 1, [0017]; Page 18, Claim 1).
Regarding claim 9: ‘819 discloses the curable composition (Page 1, [0002]), wherein the curable composition is a solvent-free curable composition (Page 1, [0009]; Page 18, Claim 5).
Regarding claim 10: ‘819 discloses the curable composition (Page 1, [0002]), wherein the solvent-free curable composition includes: 5 wt% to 60 wt% of the quantum dot (Page 2, [0029]; Page 5, [0078]; Page 16, Example 10, 23 wt%; Page 19, Claim 8), and 40 wt% to 95 wt% of the polymerizable compound, based on the total amount of the solvent-free curable composition (Page 2, [0022]; Page 5, [0080]; Page 18, Claim 5).
Regarding claim 11: ‘819 discloses the curable composition (Page 1, [0002]), wherein the curable composition further includes a polymerization initiator (Page 6, [0096]; Page 19, Claim 10), a light diffusing agent (Page 6, [0090]; Page 18, Claim 5), a polymerization inhibitor (Page 7, [0111]; Page 19, Claim 11), or a combination thereof.
Regarding claim 12: ‘819 discloses the curable composition (Page 1, [0002]), wherein the light diffusing agent includes barium sulfate, calcium carbonate, titanium dioxide, zirconia, or a combination thereof (Page 6, [0092]; Page 16,[0216], Example 10; Page 19, Claim 9).
Regarding claim 13: ‘819 discloses the curable composition (Page 1, [0002]), wherein the curable composition further includes a solvent (Page 2, [0034]; Page 10, [0158]; Page 19, Claim 12).
Regarding claim 15: ‘819 discloses the curable composition (Page 1, [0002]), wherein the curable composition further includes malonic acid; 3-amino-1,2-propanedidl; a silane-based coupling agent; a leveling agent; a fluorine-based surfactant; or a combination thereof (Page 7, [0115]; Page 19, Claim 11).
Regarding claim 16: ‘819 discloses a cured layer manufactured using the curable composition (Page 11, [0167]; Page 19, Claim 16).
Regarding claim 17: ‘819 discloses a color filter comprising the cured layer (Page 11, [0167]; Page 19, Claim 17).
Regarding claim 18: ‘819 discloses a display device comprising the color filter (Page 11, [0167]; Page 19, Claim 18).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
8. 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.
9. Claims 5-8, 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a)(1) as being unpatentable Kang et al. (KR 10-2021-0012828. Equivalent to US Pub. No. 2021/0024819 A1, hereinafter “’819”) as applied to claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 5: The disclosure of ‘819 is adequately set forth in paragraph 7 above and is incorporated herein by reference. ‘819 teaches a curable composition (Page 1, [0002]), comprising: (A) a quantum dot surface-modified with a surface-modifying material represented by Chemical Formula 1-6 (Page 14, [0190]-[0191], Page 16, [0207]; Preparation Example 6; Page 18, Claim 3) or Chemical Formula 1-7 (Page 2, [0020]; Page 18, Claim 3), wherein R1 is methyl group, L1, L2, and L3 are C2 alkylene group (Page 2, [0020];Page 18, Claim 3).
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‘819 does not expressly teach the surface-modifying material represented by Chemical Formula 1 is represented by Chemical Formula 1-1 or Chemical Formula 1-2, wherein, in Chemical Formula 1-1 and Chemical Formula 1-2, n1 is an integer from 0 to 20.
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However, ‘819 teaches the quantum dot, wherein the compound represented by Chemical Formula 1-2, L1 to L3 are each independently a substituted or unsubstituted C1 to C10 alkylene group, an ester group, or an ether group (Page 18, Claim 1) such as Chemical Formula 1-2 (Page 18, Claim 3) with benefit of providing to produce high-concentration or highly-concentrated quantum dot dispersion (with improvement of dispersibility of quantum dots for monomers), thereby realizing a non-solvent curable composition and significantly (e.g., greatly) improving light efficiency (Page 3, [0050]).
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Therefore, the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made, since it is held to be a prima facie case of obviousness since a person of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized the interchangeability of the element (i.e. functional group) shown in the prior art for the corresponding element disclosed in the specification wherein the side chains syntheses merely done by routine experimentation. Caterpillar Inc. v. Deere & Co., 224 F.3d 1374, 56 USPQ2d 1305 (Fed. Cir. 2000).
Regarding claims 6-7: The disclosure of ‘819 is adequately set forth in paragraph 7 above and is incorporated herein by reference. ‘891 teaches a curable composition (Page 1, [0002]), comprising: (A) a quantum dot surface-modified with a surface-modifying material comprises at least one selected from compounds represented by Chemical Formula 1-6 (Page 14, [0190]-[0191], Page 16, [0207]; Preparation Example 6; Page 18, Claim 3) or the quantum dot, wherein the compound represented by Chemical Formula 1-2 (Page 18, Claim 3), and Chemical Formula 1-7 (Page 2, [0020]; Page 18, Claim 3), wherein R1 is methyl group, L1, L2, and L3 are C2 alkylene group (Page 2, [0020];Page 18, Claim 3).
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Therefore, the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made, since
it is held to be a prima facie obvious to combine two compositions each of which is taught by the prior art to be useful for the same purpose, in order to form a third composition to be used for the very same purpose.... [T]he idea of combining them flows logically from their having been individually taught in the prior art.” In re Kerkhoven, 626 F.2d 846, 850,205 USPQ 1069, 1072 (CCPA 1980).
Regarding claim 8: The disclosure of ‘819 is adequately set forth in paragraph 7 above and is incorporated herein by reference. ‘819 does not expressly teach the surface-modifying material represented by Chemical Formula 1 and the surface-modifying material represented by Chemical Formula 2 are included in a weight ratio of 9:1 to 1:9.
However, ‘819 teaches the surface-modifying material represented by Chemical Formula 1-6 (Page 14, [0190]-[0191], Preparation Example 6), and Chemical Formula 1-7 (Page 14, [0192]-[0193], Preparation Example 7) within a weight ratio of 9:1 to 1:9 with benefit of providing to produce high-concentration or highly-concentrated quantum dot dispersion (with improvement of dispersibility of quantum dots for monomers), thereby realizing a non-solvent curable composition and significantly (e.g., greatly) improving light efficiency (i.e., effective variable; Page 3, [0050]).
Thus, the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made, since discovery of an optimum value of a result effective variable in a known process is ordinarily within the skill of the art. In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456 (CCPA 1955).
Regarding claim 14: The disclosure of ‘819 is adequately set forth in paragraph 7 above and is incorporated herein by reference. ‘819 teaches the curable composition, wherein the curable composition includes 1 wt% to 40 wt% of the quantum dot; 1 wt% to 20 wt% of the polymerizable compound; and 40 wt% to 80 wt% of the solvent based on the total weight of the curable composition (Page 16, [0216], Example 10; Page 17, [0219-[0226], Example 11).
Examiner Information
10. 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
07/13/2026
bijan.ahvazi@uspto.gov
Prosecution Insights