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(s) 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Haruna et al (JP 2020083939).
Regarding Claims 1-3 and 5, Haruna discloses (meth) acrylic copolymers (A) containing a structural unit derived from a n-butyl acrylate and a structural unit derived from a monomer having a hydroxyl group, and having a glass-transition temperature of-40 degrees Celsius or less and a weight-average molecular weight in the range of 200,000 or more and 2 million or less (A block), (meth) acrylic copolymers (B) containing a structural unit derived from n-butyl methacrylate and a structural unit derived from a monomer having a hydroxyl group, and having a glass-transition temperature in the range of 0 degrees Celsius or more and 45 degrees Celsius or less and a weight-average molecular weight in the range of 10,000 or more and 200,000 or less (B block), and an isocyanate-based crosslinking agent, wherein the content of the (meth) acrylic copolymers (B) is based on 100 parts by mass of the (meth) acrylic copolymers (A). A pressure-sensitive adhesive composition for an optical member protective film in a range of 1 part by mass or more and 70 parts by mass or less, wherein a "glass-transition temperature (Tg) represented by Celsius temperature (°C) when a monomer is made into a homopolymer is -57 °C for n-butyl acrylate (n-BA) and 21 °C for n-butyl methacrylate (n-BMA) (refer to paragraph [0053]), the content of the isocyanate-based cross-linking agent in the pressure-sensitive adhesive composition is not particularly limited, but is preferably in a range of 0.1 parts by mass or more and 10.0 parts by mass or less, and particularly preferably in a range of 1.0 parts by mass or more and 5.0 parts by mass or less (see paragraph [0099]) with respect to 100 parts by mass of a specific (meth) acrylic copolymer, and the pressure-sensitive adhesive composition comprises: It is described that a crosslinking catalyst may be included (see paragraph 0181). See paragraphs [0022] - [0103] and [0181] - [0241])
Haruna discloses the polymers for both block A and block B, but does not disclose a single block polymer comprising both block A and block B. However, it is the examiner’s position that it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to employ both block A and block B in a single block polymer in order to provide the predictable result of imparting desirable physical properties to the adhesive composition being created.
Regarding claims 4 and 9-10, Haruna discloses in Example 7, a pressure-sensitive adhesive composition comprising: 100 parts by mass of (meth) acrylic copolymers a- 7 (containing 60.0% by mass of n-butyl acrylate (n-BA), 37.0% by mass of 2-ethylhexyl ester acrylate (2 eha), and 3.0% by mass of 4-hydroxylbutyl acrylate (4 hba), and having a glass-transition temperature of - 63.8 degrees Celsius); 30 parts by mass of (meth) acrylic copolymers B-1 (containing 96.3% by mass of n-butyl methacrylate (n-BMA), 3.0% by mass of 4-hydroxylbutyl acrylate (4 hba), and 0.7% by mass of acrylic acid, and having a glass-transition temperature of 19.7°C); 3.00 parts by mass of an isocyanate-based cross-linking agent (N - 3300 [trade name: Sumidur (registered trademark) N - 3300, manufactured by Sumitetsu Cobestro Urethane Co., Ltd.]: a fourfold dilution of a trimer of hexamethylene diisocyanate (HMDI), solids: 25% by mass); and 0.02 parts by mass of a cross-linking catalyst (DOTDL: dioctyltin dilaurate); and as Example 18 100 parts by mass of (meth) acrylic copolymers a- 1 (containing 60.0% by mass of n-butyl acrylate (n-BA), 36.3% by mass of 2-ethylhexyl ester acrylate (2 eha), 3.0% by mass of 4-hydroxylbutyl acrylate (4 hba), and 0.7% by mass of acrylic acid (AA), and having a glass-transition temperature of - 63.0°C), 30 parts by mass of (meth) acrylic copolymers B-12 (containing 97.0% by mass of n-butyl methacrylate (n-BMA) and 3.0% by mass of 4-hydroxylbutyl acrylate (4 hba), and having a glass-transition temperature of 19.1 °C), 6.00 parts by mass of an isocyanate-based crosslinking agent (N - 3300 [trade name: SUMIJOULE (registered trademark) N - 3300, manufactured by Sumika-Cobestrourethane Co., Ltd.]: a fourfold dilution of a trimer of hexamethylene diisocyanate (HMDI), solids: 25% by mass), and 0.02 parts by mass of a crosslinking catalyst (DOTDL: dioctyltin dilaurate).
Regarding Claim 6, Haruna discloses that the specific (meth) acrylic copolymers (A) can include methyl methacrylate, ethyl methacrylate, i-butyl metha acrylate , t-butyl methacrylate, etc. as other (meth) acrylic acid alkyl ester monomers (a). See paragraphs [0036]-[0040].
Regarding Claim 7, Haruna discloses that the specific (meth) acrylic copolymers (B) can include methyl (meth) acrylate, ethyl (meth) acrylate, 2-ethylhexyl ester acrylate (2 eha), etc. as other (meth) acrylic acid alkyl ester monomers (b). See paragraphs [0036]-[0040].
Regarding Claim 8, Haruna discloses 2-hydroxylethyl(metha)acrylate , 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate, etc. as a monomer having a hydroxyl group. See paragraph [0033].
Regarding Claims 11, 12, and 15, Haruna discloses that the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer formed by the pressure-sensitive adhesive composition has a good balance between low-speed peeling force and high-speed peeling force, and the zipping phenomenon that may occur when peeling is performed at a high speed is sufficiently suppressed. Therefore, it is the examiner’s position that in the invention described in Haruna, it is a design matter that could have been appropriately set by a person skilled in the art and is merely an exercise of the ordinary creativity of a person skilled in the art to make the number average molecular weight and polymer dispersion index of the specific (meth) acrylic copolymer of the pressure-sensitive adhesive composition and the resistance at each peeling speed of the protective film in the protective film provided with the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer to satisfy the conditions specified in Claims 11, 12, and 15 so that the balance between the high-speed peeling force and the high-speed peeling force is good, and the zipping phenomenon that may occur when peeling is performed at a high speed is sufficiently suppressed. See paragraphs [0184] and [0241].
Regarding Claim 13, Haruna discloses a protective film comprising a base material, an adhesive layer formed of an adhesive composition, and a release film, wherein the adhesive layer is installed between the base material and the release film. See paragraphs [0184] - [0191] and [0226].
Regarding Claim 14, Haruna discloses that the thickness of the adhesive layer can be appropriately set according to the adhesive force required for the protective film, the type of the adherend (for example, material and shape), the surface roughness of the adherend, etc., and the thickness of the adhesive layer is generally in the range of 1 micrometer or more and 100 micrometers or less, preferably in the range of 5 micrometers or more and 50 micrometers or less, and more preferably in the range of 10 micrometers or more and 30 micrometers or less. It is the examiner’s position that this disclosure anticipates applicant’s claimed thickness range of 2 micrometers to 20 micrometers. See paragraph [0192].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES D SELLS whose telephone number is (571)272-1237. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 8:30-5.
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JAMES D. SELLS
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1745
/JAMES D SELLS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1745
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