DETAILED ACTION
This is the second Office Action regarding application number 18/846,292, filed on 09/12/2024, which is a 371 of PCT/IB2023/052371, filed on 03/13/2023, and which claims foreign priority to JP 2022-044140, filed on 03/18/2022.
This action is in response to the Applicant’s Response received 05/21/2026.
Status of Claims
Claims 1-12 are currently pending.
Claims 1 and 10-12 are amended.
Claims 1-12 are examined below.
No claim is allowed.
Response to Arguments
The Applicant’s arguments received 05/21/2026 have been carefully considered but they are moot in light of the Office’s new ground of rejection.
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 of this title, 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1 and 9-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HU (“Nacre-inspired crystallization and elastic ‘brick-and-mortar’ structure for a wearable perovskite solar module” with associated Supplementary information) in view of KUANG (US 2011/0203656 A1).
Regarding claim 1, HU teaches a photoelectric conversion element, comprising:
a support body having flexibility (PDMS is known to be flexible);
a perovskite layer (PVK, i.e., perovskite); and
a second electrode (PEI and highly conductive PEDOT:PSS electrodes, pg. 985, sect. “Fabrication of substrates and electrodes”),
wherein an average thickness T1 (µm) of the support body (110 micrometers, pg. 985, sect. “Fabrication of substrates and electrodes”, first line of para.) and an average thickness T2 (nm) of the perovskite layer (600 nanometers, see Fig. 2b and the Electronic Supplementary Material, Table S4, included below) satisfy a relationship T2/T1 ≤ 6 (T2/T1 = 600/110 = 5.45).
HU’s T2/T1 = 5.45 anticipates and is within the claimed range of less than or equal to 6.
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HU does not teach expressly that the second electrode includes a silver nanowire.
KUANG teaches an optically transparent electrode including a polymer and silver nanowires (thickness of silver metal rails approx. 70 nm, para. 50).
Skilled artisans would have found it obvious to modify HU and combine/add the silver nanowires to enhance the performance of the solar cell as taught by KUANG (para. 12).
Regarding claim 9, modified HU teaches the photoelectric conversion element according to claim 1, wherein: the average thickness T1 ( µm) of the support body is 30 µm or more and 1300 µm or less (110 micrometers, pg. 985, sect. “Fabrication of substrates and electrodes”, first line of para., within claimed range).
Regarding claim 10, modified teaches a photoelectric conversion module, comprising:
a support body having flexibility (PDMS is known to be flexible);
a perovskite layer (PVK, i.e., perovskite); and
a second electrode (PEI and highly conductive PEDOT:PSS electrodes, pg. 985, sect. “Fabrication of substrates and electrodes”),
wherein an average thickness T1 (µm) of the support body (110 micrometers, pg. 985, sect. “Fabrication of substrates and electrodes”, first line of para.) and an average thickness T2 (nm) of the perovskite layer (600 nanometers, see Fig. 2b and the Electronic Supplementary Material, Table S4, included below) satisfy a relationship T2/T1 ≤ 6 (T2/T1 = 600/110 = 5.45).
HU’s T2/T1 = 5.45 anticipates and is within the claimed range of less than or equal to 6.
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HU does not teach expressly that the second electrode includes a silver nanowire.
KUANG teaches an optically transparent electrode including a polymer and silver nanowires (thickness of silver metal rails approx. 70 nm, para. 50).
Skilled artisans would have found it obvious to modify HU and combine/add the silver nanowires to enhance the performance of the solar cell as taught by KUANG (para. 12).
Regarding claim 11, modified HU teaches an electronic device, comprising:
at least one of the photoelectric conversion element according to claim 1, and a photoelectric conversion module including:
a support body having flexibility (PDMS is known to be flexible);
a perovskite layer (PVK, i.e., perovskite), an average thickness T1 (µm) of the support body (110 micrometers, pg. 985, sect. “Fabrication of substrates and electrodes”, first line of para.) and an average thickness T2 (nm) of the perovskite layer (600 nanometers, see Fig. 2b and the Electronic Supplementary Material, Table S4, included below) satisfy a relationship T2/T1 ≤ 6 (T2/T1 = 600/110 = 5.45); and
a second electrode (PEI and highly conductive PEDOT:PSS electrodes, pg. 985, sect. “Fabrication of substrates and electrodes”), and
a device to operate on electric power generated by photoelectric conversion by the any one of the photoelectric conversion element and the photoelectric conversion module (generated electricity can power a smart watch, as illustrated in Fig. 1c).
HU’s T2/T1 = 5.45 anticipates and is within the claimed range of less than or equal to 6.
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a device to operate on electric power generated by photoelectric conversion by the any one of the photoelectric conversion element and the photoelectric conversion module.
Regarding claim 12, HU teaches a solar cell module, comprising:
photoelectric conversion elements connected in series or in parallel (pg. 985, “Fabrication of wearable module”: “Two units were fabricated in series to complete the wearable solar cell module”),
wherein the photoelectric conversion elements each include:
a support body having flexibility (PDMS is known to be flexible);
a perovskite layer (PVK, i.e., perovskite); and
a second electrode (PEI and highly conductive PEDOT:PSS electrodes, pg. 985, sect. “Fabrication of substrates and electrodes”),
wherein an average thickness T1 (µm) of the support body (110 micrometers, pg. 985, sect. “Fabrication of substrates and electrodes”, first line of para.) and an average thickness T2 (nm) of the perovskite layer (600 nanometers, see Fig. 2b and the Electronic Supplementary Material, Table S4, included below) satisfy a relationship T2/T1 ≤ 6 (T2/T1 = 600/110 = 5.45).
HU’s T2/T1 = 5.45 anticipates and is within the claimed range of less than or equal to 6.
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HU does not teach expressly that the second electrode includes a silver nanowire.
KUANG teaches an optically transparent electrode including a polymer and silver nanowires (thickness of silver metal rails approx. 70 nm, para. 50).
Skilled artisans would have found it obvious to modify HU and combine/add the silver nanowires to enhance the performance of the solar cell as taught by KUANG (para. 12).
Claims 2-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HU (“Nacre-inspired crystallization and elastic ‘brick-and-mortar’ structure for a wearable perovskite solar module” with associated Supplementary information) in view of KUANG (US 2011/0203656 A1), further in view of MIYAMOTO (US 2021/0327654 A1).
Regarding claims 2-4, modified HU teaches the photoelectric conversion element according to claim 1, but does not disclose expressly further comprising: an electron transport layer including at least one of tin oxide and titanium oxide (claim 2), the electron transport layer includes a dense layer (claim 3), or the electron transport layer further includes a porous layer (claim 4).
MIYAMOTO teaches a perovskite solar cell including an electron transport layer 3 that comprises a dense layer (3a) and a porous layer (3b) (Fig. 1), and that utilizing this type of dense-porous bilayer “facilitates the formation of the perovskite layer as a uniform film” (para. 64).
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Skilled artisans would have found it obvious to modify HU and employ a dense-porous bilayer because this facilitates the formation of the perovskite layer as a uniform film as taught by MIYAMOTO.
Regarding claims 5-8, modified HU teaches the photoelectric conversion element according to claim 1, but does not disclose that the perovskite layer includes at least one of an alkali metal and a transition metal (claim 5), the alkali metal includes at least one of lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, cesium, and francium, and the transition metal includes at least one of copper, silver, and gold (claim 6), the perovskite layer includes two or more types of monovalent cations selected from monovalent organic cations and monovalent inorganic cations (claim 7), or that the average thickness T2 (nm) of the perovskite layer is 50 nm or more and 400 nm or less (claim 8).
HU teaches the well-known concepts of using alkali metals (which are monovalent) such as cesium (para. 26) at the A site of the ABX3 perovskite crystal, and also formulations for the perovskite layer that include two or more types of monovalent cations (FA-PEA-SnI3, para. 134, as one example of the options suggested), and a perovskite thickness of (100-1000 nm, para. 37, thickness…dependent on the amount of light it absorbs).
Skilled artisans would have found it obvious to modify HU and generate a perovskite layer having the already-well-known compositions and thickness as these modifications are taught by HU and are only basic combinations according to known methods to yield predictable results.
In the case where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" a prima facie case of obviousness exists. MPEP 2144.05. Here, the claimed thickness range overlaps with the prior art and is prima facie obvious.
Conclusion
No claim is allowed.
The Applicant’s amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). The Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 C.F.R. § 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANGELO TRIVISONNO whose telephone number is (571) 272-5201 or by email at <angelo.trivisonno@uspto.gov>. The examiner can normally be reached on MONDAY-FRIDAY, 9:00a-5:00pm EST. The examiner's supervisor, NIKI BAKHTIARI, can be reached at (571) 272-3433.
/ANGELO TRIVISONNO/
Primary Examiner
Prosecution Insights