DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 10-12 and 18 in the reply filed on Sept. 7, 2026 is acknowledged.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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) 1, 3-7, 9-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tanaka et al. (US 2021/0116606 A1) (“Tanaka”), in view of Hattori et al. (US 2018/0215124 A1) (“Hattori”).
With respect to claim 1, Tanaka discloses a laminated body in which a first member – element 12 - is laminated above a base material – element 11 - from a side close to the base material, wherein the first member includes fibers and a binder binding the fibers (0056, 0057, Fig. 3), wherein gaps are provided in the first member – gaps such as element 21 in Fig. 1C. Additionally since the fibers are modified cross-section fibers having protrusions arranged at irregular intervals or having protrusions having different sizes (Figs. 2C and 2D), it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention that they cause for gaps to be formed in the first member.
Tanaka is silent with respect to the laminated body comprising a second member laminated with the first member. Hattori discloses a second member – low refractive index layer - to be used in a laminated film or optical element (abstr., 0022). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the laminated body of Tanaka with a second member as disclosed in Hattori in order to obtain a laminated body with a low refractive index layer.
As to claim 3, Tanaka and Hattori teach the body of claim 1. Since in a region to a thickness T/2 there are gaps in the particles as well as the layer (0033), while in a region to the thickness T/2 on a side close to the base material there are gaps in fibers – element 21 in Fig. 1C, and gaps caused by fibers’ protrusions, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention that in the body of Tanaka and Hattori the amount of gaps in a region to a thickness T/2 on a side far from the base material is greater than an amount of gaps in a region to the thickness T/2 on a side close to the base material.
Regarding claim 4, Tanaka and Hattori teach the body of claim 1. Hattori discloses gaps provided in the second member (0033), .
As to claim 5, Tanaka and Hattori teach the body of claim 4. Hattori discloses the porosity of the second member of 50% to 95% (0073). The range of porosity overlaps the range recited in claim 5; overlapping ranges have been held to establish prima facie obviousness (MPEP 2144.05). Regarding the porosity of the first member, Tanaka discloses gaps such as element 21 in Fig. 1C, and further since the fibers are modified cross-section fibers having protrusions arranged at irregular intervals or having protrusions having different sizes (Figs. 2C and 2D), thus, forming gaps, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention that the porosity of the first member is satisfied in Tanaka.
Regarding claim 6, Tanaka and Hattori teach the body of claim 1. Tanaka discloses ends of fibers protruding from the binder binding the fibers (0057, Fig. 3), the gaps in the first member being formed by spaces between the fibers - the fibers in Tanaka are modified cross-section fibers having protrusions arranged at irregular intervals or having protrusions having different sizes (Figs. 2C and 2D), thus, forming gaps.
As to claim 7, Tanaka and Hattori teach the body of claim 1. The gaps in the second member are in a nanometer range (Hattori, 0033), while the gaps in Tanaka are in a micrometer range (0025-0026), thus, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention that a maximum circle equivalent diameter of the gaps in the second member is smaller than a maximum circle equivalent diameter of the gaps in the first member.
With respect to claim 9, Tanaka and Hattori teach the body of claim 1. Hattori discloses the second member being transparent (0081), Tanaka discloses the fibers and the binder binding the fibers being black (0079-0082).
Regarding claim 10, Tanaka and Hattori teach the body of claim 1. Hattori discloses the second member comprising inorganic particles and a binder binding the inorganic particles (0033-0036, 0043).
As to claim 11, Tanaka and Hattori teach the body of claim 10. Hattori discloses the inorganic particles being silicon oxide particles (0036), and the binder binding the inorganic particles being a silica binder (0043, 0126-0129).
With respect to claim 12, Tanaka and Hattori teach the body of claim 11. Hattori discloses the silicon oxide particles being hollow particles (0035-0037).
Regarding claim 13, Tanaka and Hattori teach the body of claim 1. Tanaka discloses fibers which are deformed fibers, each having a core portion and a plurality of protruding portions extending from the core portion (0024, 0033, 0034, Figs. 1B, 2D, 2E).
As to claim 14, Tanaka and Hattori teach the body of claim 13. Tanaka discloses the content of the deformed fibers in the first member is in a range of from 33 to 67 parts by mass (0038).
With respect to claim 15, Tanaka and Hattori teach the body of claim 1. Tanaka discloses the binder binding the fibers being selected from an acrylic resin, a urethane resin, and an epoxy resin (0040).
Regarding claim 16, Tanaka and Hattori teach the body of claim 1. Tanaka discloses the base material comprising aluminum, titanium, stainless steel, a magnesium alloy, a polycarbonate resin, an acrylic resin, an ABS resin, and a fluorocarbon resin (0058).
As to claim 17, Tanaka and Hattori teach the body of claim 1. Tanaka discloses a primer layer between the base material and the first member (0061).
With respect to claim 18, Tanaka and Hattori teach the body of claim 1. Tanaka discloses a housing – element 620 - and an optical system provided in the housing and including a lens – elements 603 and 605 (0067-0069), wherein the base material is a supporting body supporting the lens (0071), wherein the first member disclosed by Tanaka and the second member disclosed by Hattori are laminated – element 630 – as discussed above with respect to claim 1, in order on a surface of the supporting body supporting the lens (0070, Fig. 4).
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tanaka, in view of Hattori, and further in view of JP2019117906 A (“'906”).
With respect to claim 2, Tanaka and Hattori teach the body of claim 1. Hattori discloses the refractive index of the second member of 1.25 (abstr.), but the references are silent regarding the refractive index of the first member. '906 discloses a protective sheet including a composite material including a material including fibers and a resin, wherein the composite has a refractive index of 1.50 to 1.62 (abstr.). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form the first member of Hattori having a refractive index as disclosed in '906 as such refractive index is known in protective sheets. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention that in the body of Tanaka, Hattori and '906, a refractive index of the second member is lower than a refractive index of the first member.
Information Disclosure Statement
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant’s disclosure.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOANNA PLESZCZYNSKA whose telephone number is (571)270-1617. The examiner can normally be reached M-F ~ 11:30-8.
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/Joanna Pleszczynska/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1783
Prosecution Insights