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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 11/10/2025 has been entered.
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) 16-19, 20-23, 26-27, 32-35 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lunt (US 20160118077) in view of Little (US 20070170381)
Lunt discloses
16. A data carrier comprising
a plastic substrate 202 having first and second opposite surfaces and a thickness of at most 500 μm (par. 23: 30 μm),
wherein the first surface of the substrate is coated with a first coating, a material of the first coating being different from a material of the substrate (par. 24),
wherein the first coating (204) comprises a plurality of laser-ablated first recesses encoding information (Fig. 2, par. 24, 30).
Lunt is silent to wherein the material of the first coating comprises one or a combination of the following materials: a metal nitride, a metal carbide, or a metal boride
Little discloses a coating 25, 26 of metal nitride is deposited on a substrate 23 with markings 60. Little further discloses the materials for coatings 25, 26 may be polyimide, polysilicon, metal silicides, metal oxides, silicon nitrides, metal nitrides, resist coatings, or thin metal layers, or materials that have a similar appearance (e.g., color, translucence, etc.) to substrate material 23 (par. 27). Depending upon the type of material from which a layer or layers (e.g., layers 25, 26 shown in FIG. 1) overlying substrate material 23 is formed, some wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation will be reflected by the layer or layers, while all or portions of other wavelengths of incident radiation 34 may penetrate the layer or layers and be reflected by substrate material 23 (par. 45).
As seen in Little, the materials of layers 25, 26 can be chosen such that light can be reflected from, which implies that the layers 25, 26 are coated on the sides of holes 61 and upper surface 24 of layer 23 such that the marks 60 still possess their meaning. Thus, the layers 25, 26 can also include the encoded information. Moreover, as taught in Little, metal oxides and metal nitrides are known alternative design choices.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date the invention was made to incorporate the teachings of Little for a desirable coating of the substrate using metal nitride. Since metal oxides and metal nitrides are known alternative design choices, it would have also been obvious that the ablation on the metal nitride can be done similar to that of known metal oxide in Lunt.
17.16, wherein the thickness of the substrate is at most 200 μm (par. 23).
18.16, wherein a thickness of the first coating is at most 1 μm (par. 24: 50 nm).
19.16, wherein each first recess in the first coating has a depth of at most 100 nm (par. 24: 50 nm).
Re claims 20, 22, 23, although not expressly stated, features of these claims are considered an obvious extension of the prior art’s teachings since the changing of size is an obvious expedient and can be of design choice. MPEP 2144.04.
21.16, wherein each first recess in the first coating has a depth which is substantially equal to a thickness of the first coating (Fig. 2)
26.16, Lunt is silent to wherein the substrate comprises one or a combination of the following materials: polycarbonate, polyethylene naphthalate, polyester, fluoroethylenepropylene, ethylene-propylene-copolymer, ethylene-tetrafluoroetheylene, perfluoroalkoxy polymer, polyetherimide, polyether sulfone, polyethylene terephthalate, polyimide, polymethypentene, polytetraluoroethylene, polyvinylidene fluoride.
However, Lunt also disclose
[0023] The substrate 202 may comprise materials that are not subject in any substantial way to age degradation effects. The substrate 202 may be any material compatible with use in optical information storage. For example, the substrate 202 may be polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate or any other polyester films. Other plastics or polymers may also be used.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date the invention was made to extend the teachings of Lunt so that a polymer of choice can be used.
27.16, wherein the data carrier is wound up in a roll (Fig. 4).
32. A method of reading information out of a data carrier comprising a plastic substrate having first and second opposite surfaces and a thickness of at most 500 μm, wherein the first surface of the substrate is coated with a first coating, a material of the first coating being different from a material of the substrate, wherein the first coating comprises a plurality of laser-ablated first recesses encoding the information, the method comprising:
illuminating the data carrier with a light of a first wavelength (Fig. 5);
detecting the light as transmitted through the data carrier and/or as reflected by the data carrier; and analyzing the detected light in order to decode the information encoded in the first recesses of the data carrier (Fig. 3-5, par. 50).
Lunt is silent to wherein the material of the first coating comprises one or a combination of the following materials: a metal nitride, a metal carbide, or a metal boride
Little discloses a coating 25, 26 of metal nitride is deposited on a substrate 23 with markings 60. Little further discloses the materials for coatings 25, 26 may be polyimide, polysilicon, metal silicides, metal oxides, silicon nitrides, metal nitrides, resist coatings, or thin metal layers, or materials that have a similar appearance (e.g., color, translucence, etc.) to substrate material 23 (par. 27). Depending upon the type of material from which a layer or layers (e.g., layers 25, 26 shown in FIG. 1) overlying substrate material 23 is formed, some wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation will be reflected by the layer or layers, while all or portions of other wavelengths of incident radiation 34 may penetrate the layer or layers and be reflected by substrate material 23 (par. 45).
As seen in Little, the materials of layers 25, 26 can be chosen such that light can be reflected from, which implies that the layers 25, 26 are coated on the sides of holes 61 and upper surface 24 of layer 23 such that the marks 60 still possess their meaning. Thus, the layers 25, 26 can also include the encoded information. Moreover, as taught in Little, metal oxides and metal nitrides are known alternative design choices.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date the invention was made to incorporate the teachings of Little for a desirable coating of the substrate using metal nitride. Since metal oxides and metal nitrides are known alternative design choices, it would have also been obvious that the ablation on the metal nitride can be done similar to that of known metal oxide in Lunt.
33.32, wherein the substrate is transparent to the first wavelength and wherein the light as transmitted through the data carrier is detected (Little, Fig. 1-10, par. 34, 47)
34.33, wherein the data carrier is illuminated from the second surface (Little, Fig. 1-10, par. 34, 47).
35.32, wherein the light as reflected by the data carrier is detected on the second surface (Little, Fig. 1-10, par. 34, 47).
Claim(s) 25, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lunt (US 20160118077) /Little (US 20070170381) in view of Koops (US 7939164)
Re claim 25.16, Lunt is silent to wherein the metal nitride comprises CrN, CrAlN, TiN, TiCN, TiAlN, ZrN, AlN, VN, Si.sub.3N.sub.4, ThN, HfN, BN; the metal carbide comprises TiC, CrC, Al.sub.4C.sub.3, VC, ZrC, HfC, ThC, B.sub.4C, SiC; the metal boride comprises TiB.sub.2, ZrB.sub.2, CrB.sub.2, VB.sub.2, SiB.sub.6, ThB.sub.2, HfB.sub.2, WB.sub.2, WB.sub.4;
Koops discloses FIG. 2 shows the process of evaporation, with pulverization beforehand, of the polymer matrix of the pigment layer 3 at the point where the laser strikes. The striking of the laser light 2 on the pigment layer 3 converts the laser light 2 into heat, which acts on the surface of the pigment layer 3. The polymer matrix, as a result of absorption of the laser light 2, is converted locally into a plasma 33, also called a plasma cloud.
As a result of the formation of the plasma 33 a reaction takes place between the titanium dioxide 31 and the carbon black 32, to give titanium carbide 34, which, as shown in FIG. 3, is deposited on the surface of the glass article 1.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date the invention was made to incorporate the prior art teachings to use a desired metal as design choice.
Claim(s) 28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lunt (US 20160118077) /Little (US 20070170381) in view of Mailloux (US 5466324)
Re claim 28.16, Lunt is silent to wherein the second surface of the substrate is coated with a second coating, a material of the second coating being different from the material of the substrate, wherein the second coating comprises a plurality of laser-ablated second recesses encoding information.
Mailloux discloses Instead of being read through the front leaf of the pouch, the bar code (and/or the serial number, if desired) may be designed to be read through a transparent or translucent back leaf. This may require left-right reversed printing on the back leaf, but has the advantage that the position of the bar code is not restricted by the size of the insert in the identification document (c11: 51-58)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date the invention was made to incorporate the prior art teachings so that information can also be encoded and accessible on the back side of the substrate as desirable. The combined teachings would suggest that information could be desirable to be placed on the second surface. Thus, another recording layer could be placed on the second surface of the substrate to enable information to be encoded thereon. Moreover, rearrangement of parts, i.e. encoded information to the second side, is an obvious expedient. MPEP 2144.04.
Claim(s) 29-31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lunt (US 20160118077)/Little (US 20070170381) in view of CN851 (CN 219831851)
Re claim 29, see also discussion regarding claims above.
Lunt is silent to a picosecond or a femtosecond laser to encode information.
CN851 discloses
The system principle structure is shown in FIG. 1, the photovoltaic glass 1 tracking identification system is provided with a laser 3, the laser 3 is used for applying an ultra-short pulse laser beam 4 on the smooth corner of the photovoltaic glass 1, the laser beam is not limited by the nanosecond laser 3 or picosecond laser 3, The laser beam generally has a wavelength of 355 nm or 532 nm, which will not affect the nature of the glass because the ultra-short pulse laser technology is not thermally ablated or "cold" ablated; The laser 3 can be arranged in an edge grinding process or a laser drilling process, and an ultra-short pulse laser beam 4 is applied so that the laser beam is processed into a character string or a bar code on the smooth substrate for a general processing time of 3-5 seconds.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date the invention was made to incorporate the teachings of CN851 so that the ablation can be done using a picosecond laser.
30.29, wherein the substrate is transparent to a wavelength of a laser light used for the laser ablation, and wherein the laser ablation is performed with the laser light transmitted through the substrate (Little, Fig. 1-10, par. 34, 47).
31.29, further comprising: coating the second surface with a second coating, a material of the second coating being different from the material of the substrate; and generating a plurality of second recesses in the second coating by means of the laser ablation to encode information (Little, Figs. 1-3)
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that
Little's metal nitride materials 25, 26 are not layers that are shown to be writable using a laser. Indeed, Little does not even show these materials 25, 26 to have any holes or recesses at all. Instead, and as shown in cross section in Little's Figure 3, it is only substrate material 23 includes the holes 61. This substrate material 23 however is not a metal nitride, but instead comprises silicon. Little, 48.
In short, neither Lunt nor Little discloses a "first coating [that] comprises a plurality of laser-ablated first recesses encoding information, wherein the material of the first coating comprises ... a metal nitride." Therefore, even if the combinability of these references is assumed proper, this combination still doesn't disclose what is claimed. As such, claims 16 and 32 are not rendered obvious in light of Lunt and Little.
It is respectfully submitted that Little discloses a coating 25, 26 of metal nitride is deposited on a substrate 23 with markings 60. Little further discloses the materials for coatings 25, 26 may be polyimide, polysilicon, metal silicides, metal oxides, silicon nitrides, metal nitrides, resist coatings, or thin metal layers, or materials that have a similar appearance (e.g., color, translucence, etc.) to substrate material 23 (par. 27). Depending upon the type of material from which a layer or layers (e.g., layers 25, 26 shown in FIG. 1) overlying substrate material 23 is formed, some wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation will be reflected by the layer or layers, while all or portions of other wavelengths of incident radiation 34 may penetrate the layer or layers and be reflected by substrate material 23 (par. 45).
As seen in Little, the materials of layers 25, 26 can be chosen such that light can be reflected from, which implies that the layers 25, 26 are coated on the sides of holes 61 and upper surface 24 of layer 23 such that the marks 60 still possess their meaning. Thus, the layers 25, 26 can also include the encoded information. Moreover, as taught in Little, metal oxides and metal nitrides are known alternative design choices.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date the invention was made to incorporate the teachings of Little for a desirable coating of the substrate using metal nitride. Since metal oxides and metal nitrides are known alternative design choices, it would have also been obvious that the ablation on the metal nitride can be done similar to that of known metal oxide in Lunt.
Applicant further argues that claim 29 is not shown to be obvious in light of Lunt and Li.
However, Li (CN851) discloses “the laser beam is not limited by the nanosecond laser 3 or picosecond laser 3” to record a character string or a bar code, which is considered to satisfy current claim 29 which recites “picosecond or a femtosecond laser”. Moreover, laser drilling in Li is considered a laser ablation process since by general definition, ablation means a process to remove by erosion, melting, or evaporation.
For these reasons, the previous rejection(s) is/are respectfully maintained.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THIEN MAI whose telephone number is (571)272-8283. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Steven Paik can be reached at 571-272-2404. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/THIEN T MAI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
Prosecution Insights