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 .
1.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 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the admitted prior art as set forth at instant paragraphs 0005-0009 and shown in Fig. 1 in view of Sasaki et al 2011/0030881 (see paragraphs 0020-0022, 0031, 0045 and 0072-0074).
The admitted prior art as shown in instant Fig. 1 and described at instant paragraphs 0005-0009 discloses a laminated optical component comprising a transparent substrate (18), a transparent adhesive layer (20) and a transparent film (19) superposed on the adhesive layer, wherein the substrate, adhesive layer and fil form a flush-ended laminate having an end surface with what constitutes cut surfaces of each component flush with each other, the admitted prior art failing to teach the instant crosslinked (meth)acrylate adhesive with instant shear modulus. Sasaki et al teaches such a (meth)acrylate adhesive (paragraphs 0020-0022) that would be crosslinked (paragraph 0031) and has a shear modulus G’ that is within the instantly claimed range—see paragraphs 0072-0074. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have employed an adhesive as taught by Sasaki et al in the laminated optical component of the admitted prior art to facilitate adhesion. It is well within the skill level of the art to pick and choose suitable adhesives for a known product and Sasaki et al clearly shows that the instant adhesive is well known in the art. Concerning instant claim 5, the admitted prior art of instant Figure 1 shows the laminated optical component (18, 19 and 20) adjacent to a touch panel part (17) and it would be conventional in the art to provide an adhesive between the two to facilitate bonding—Official Notice is hereby taken of this.
2.Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the admitted prior art as set forth at instant paragraphs 0005-0009 and shown in Fig. 1 in view of Sasaki et al 2011/0030881 (see paragraphs 0020-0022, 0031, 0045 and 0072-0074) and further in view of Adib et al 2014/0220327 (see paragraph 0094).
The admitted prior art and Sasaki et al are applied for reasons as set forth in paragraph 1, supra, the references disclosing the basic claimed laminated optical component lacking essentially an ultraviolet absorbing agent in one of the transparent substrate or transparent film. Adib et al (see paragraph 0094) teaches a film (110) in a touch panel display that contains a UV absorber. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified the structure of the admitted prior art with a film having a UV absorbing agent to provide protection for the device as is conventional in the art.
3.Claim(s) 3 and 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the admitted prior art as set forth at instant paragraphs 0005-0009 and shown in Fig. 1 in view of Sasaki et al 2011/0030881 (see paragraphs 0020-0022, 0031, 0045 and 0072-0074) and further in view of Adib et al 2014/0220327 (see paragraph 0094) and Motohashi et al 2014/0320770 (see paragraphs 0242-0250; 2 in Fig. 2).
The admitted prior art and Sasaki et al are applied for reasons of record, the references failing to teach a light blocking design being formed on the surface of one of the film and the substrate. Motohashi et al discloses an optical laminate including a light blocking design (2) being formed between two plates between which is an adhesive that is cured. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have employed the light blocking design part on the surface of one of the film or substrate to facilitate the curing of the adhesive therebetween as desired. As already noted in paragraph 2, supra, Adib et al teaches the limitation of instant claim 2 and hence that of instant claim 4.
4.The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Matsumoto et al (paragraphs 0027-0030) discloses a methacrylate adhesive with suitable shear modulus values employed in a touch panel. Shimode et al (see paragraph 0045) and Shigetomi et al (paragraphs 0125-0126) also teach suitable adhesives and shear modulus as taught in the instant specification.
5.Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATHIEU D VARGOT whose telephone number is (571)272-1211. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri from 9 to 6.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christina A Johnson, can be reached at telephone number 571 272-1176. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MATHIEU D VARGOT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1742