Information Disclosure Statement
The listing of references in the specification is not a proper information disclosure statement. 37 CFR 1.98(b) requires a list of all patents, publications, or other information submitted for consideration by the Office, and MPEP § 609.04(a) states, "the list may not be incorporated into the specification but must be submitted in a separate paper." Therefore, unless the references have been cited by the examiner on form PTO-892, they have not been considered.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Not all of the pargraphs in the specification are numbered. The specification teaches, in paragraphs [0012] and [0029], the content of the quantum dot in a component obtained by removing the solvent and ligands from the dispersion liquid is 50 wt% or more. Since the dispersion liquid is only taught as comprising the ligands, solvent and quantum dot, it is unclear what is the remaining less than 50 wt% of the component. Appropriate correction is required.
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 5-9, 15 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 5-8 are indefinite as to whether the ligands of these claims are the “two or more kinds of ligands” of claim 1 or if there are in addition to the ligands of claim 1.
Claim 9 recites the limitation "the ligand". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim or claim 1, from which claim 9 depends. Claim 1 teaches “two or more kinds of ligands”, not a single ligand.
Claim 9 teaches the content of the quantum dot in a component obtained by removing the solvent and ligands from the dispersion liquid is 50 wt% or more. Since the dispersion liquid is only taught as comprising the ligands, solvent and quantum dot, it is unclear what is the remaining less than 50 wt% of the component. Claim 9 is also indefinite for this reason.
Claims 15 and 16 teaches a method for producing a photodetection element comprising or an image sensor comprising the manufacturing method for a quantum film according to claim 14. The process of claims 15 and 16 are indefinite since no other processing steps are disclosed and it is unclear as to when the manufacturing method for a quantum film according to claim 14 occurs in these processes.
Claim Interpretation
Claims 5-8 are being interpreted as referring to the two or more kinds of ligands” of claim 1, based on the teachings in the specification. This means the “ligand having a boiling point of 200oC” of claims 5 and 6 is being interpreted as the “ligand having a boiling point of 200oC” of claim 1.
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.
Claims 1, 3-5, 8-12 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. patent application publication 2018/0148638.
This reference teaches a composition for forming a quantum dot polymer composite and a method for making a layer or film from this composition. The composition comprises a solvent, quantum dots and two or more kinds of ligands (para. 100-106, 394-395 and 401-403). The layer, or film, is produced by the method comprising applying the composition onto a substate and pre-baking, or drying, the layer (para 413-418 and 464). This is the process of claim 14. The quantum dot can be a IV-VI binary or ternary semiconductor, such as PbS, PbSe, PbSeS, SnS, SnSe or SnTe; Ge, Si; InN; InAs; InP; InSb; HgTe; CdHgTe (same as HgCdTe); CuInS2 (can be written as CuInS); CuInSe2 (can be written as CuInSe); and CuInGaSe. These quantum dots have a band gap of 1.35 eV or less, contain at least one of the atoms of claims 10 and 11, and quantum dots in this list, such as PbS, have a maximal absorption, in terms of absorbance, in the range of 900-1700 nm.
The first of the two or more kinds of ligands is a polyvalent metal compound having the formula MAn, wherein M is a metal, n corresponds to the valent state of M and is 2 or greater and A is a halide, or a C1-10 organic compound. The preferred polyvalent metal compound ligands can be zinc chloride, indium chloride, calcium chloride and manganese chlorides (para 203). These inorganic ligands have a boiling point greater than 200oC and meet the requirements of claims 5 and 8. The second ligand is an organic ligand having at least one mercapto group of Chemical Formula 2. Paragraphs [0215] teaches the preferred second ligand can be 2- or 3-mercaptoproponic acid, thioglycolic acid, an 1-alkanethiol having C2-8 alkane group, and 2-mercaptopropionate, which are ligands having a boiling point of 200oC or lower. The difference between the boiling biont between the preferred first and second ligands is greater than 30oC.
The amount of the quantum dots based on the solids content (non-volatile contents, which are the solvent and second ligand) is 1-70 wt% or mass% (para 236). The amount of first ligand is 5-1500 molecules per one quantum dot. When this is converted to mass, using indium chloride (the one having the largest molecular weight); the maximum mass of the first ligand is about 4.6 x 10-19 grams. Thus the removal of the first ligand from the quantum dot amount, based on solid content, would not effectively change the percentage from 1-70 wt%. This range overlaps that of claim 9. Product claims with numerical ranges which overlap prior art ranges were held to have been obvious under 35 USC 103. In re Wertheim 191 USPQ 90 (CCPA 1976); In re Malagari 182 USPQ 549 (CCPA 1974); In re Fields 134 USPQ 242 (CCPA 1962); In re Nehrenberg 126 USPQ 383 (CCPA 1960). Also see MPEP 2144.05. The reference suggests the claimed dispersion liquid and method for making a quantum dot film.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 13 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
There is no teaching or suggestion in the cited art of record of a dispersion liquid for forming a photoelectric conversion layer comprising a solvent, a quantum dot having a band gap of 1.35eV or less and two or more kinds of ligands, wherein at least one of the ligands is a ligand having a boiling point of 200oC or lower. The dispersion liquid of U.S. patent application publication 2018/0148638 forms a wavelength conversion layer, which is different from a photoelectric conversion layer.
U.S. patent application publications 2020/0295287 and 2022/0102420 are the closest art of record. While these references teach a photoelectric conversion layer comprising a quantum dot having a band gap of 1.35eV or less and two or more kinds of ligands, neither teach a dispersion liquid for forming a photoelectric conversion layer comprising a solvent, a quantum dot having a band gap of 1.35eV or less and two or more kinds of ligands. The two or more kinds of ligands are added to the conversion layer by a ligand exchange process after the layer is formed. It is noted that U.S. patent application publication 2022/0102420 teaches one of the two or more kinds of ligands is a ligand having a boiling point of 200oC or lower.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to C. MELISSA KOSLOW whose telephone number is (571)272-1371. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Tues:7:45-3:45 EST;Thurs-Fri:6:30-2:00EST; and Wed:7:45-2:00EST.
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/C Melissa Koslow/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1734
cmk
8/28/26
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