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 .
Summary
This is the response to the RCE filed on 08/14/2026.
Claims 1, 3-10 and 13 remain pending in the application.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 08/14/2026 has been entered.
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.
The factual inquiries 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.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 5, 7-8, 10 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamashita et al. (JP2011049485).
Addressing claim 1, Yamashita discloses an installation structure (figs. 4b-5), comprising:
an installation surface 1;
a photovoltaic power generation sheet (3+4+26) installed above the installation surface;
a sealing member 2 that closes a gap between an outer peripheral edge of the photovoltaic power generation sheet and the installation surface; and
a cover member (fig. 4b) comprising a frame 25 having a base portion, a peripheral portion, and a central opening defined at an inner periphery of the peripheral cover portion (annotated fig. 4b below), the frame 25 covers the sealing member 2 between the outer peripheral edge of the photovoltaic power generation sheet and the installation surface 1, and wherein the central opening exposes a front surface of the photovoltaic power generation sheet (the upper surface of the protective film 26 is described as being on the light receiving surface side as described in paragraph [0042]; therefore, the central opening of the frame 25 shown in fig. 4b is formed to expose the front surface of the photovoltaic power generation sheet),
wherein
the sealing member 2 is formed of a bonder between at least an outer peripheral portion of the photovoltaic power generation sheet and the installation surface 1 to bond the outer peripheral portion to the installation surface (fig. 5),
wherein the base portion is installed on the installation surface 1 and the peripheral cover portion (annotated fig. 4b below) rises from the base portion and is disposed along the outer peripheral edge of the photovoltaic power generation sheet (fig. 4b), and the peripheral cover portion has a shape bent with respect to the base portion so as to define a stepped surface at an outer periphery of the cover member (fig. 4b).
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Examiner acknowledges that the embodiment in fig. 5 of Yamashita that shows the front surface (the upper surface of the protective film 26 as described in paragraph [0042]) of the solar cell as the light receiving surface; whereas, the sealing member shown in fig. 4b is drawn to an embodiment where the substrate 1 is the light receiving surface. However, Yamashita discloses tape 25 is used to prevent pealing and provide reinforcement [0041]. Therefore, at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, one with ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the embodiment of fig. 5 of Yamashita with the tape 25 shown in fig. 4b in order to prevent peeling, provide reinforcement and suppress moisture absorption [0041].
Addressing claim 3, paragraph [0018] discloses the second resin layer 4 has a loss factor δ of 0.05. Paragraph [0027] discloses the loss factor of the bonder 2 is higher than the loss factor of the second resin layer, i.e. greater than 0.05 that overlaps with the claimed range. Therefore, at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, one of ordinary skill in the art would have arrived at a bonder 2 having a loss factor that falls within the claimed range by perform routine experimentation with the loss factor of the bonder 2 in the suggested range in order to optimize vibration absorption property of the module [0027].
Addressing claim 5, paragraph [0013] discloses the tensile modulus of elasticity of 25 kPa to 1.5 MPa that overlaps with the claimed modulus of transverse elasticity range.
Addressing claim 7, paragraph [0013] discloses the claimed material for the bonder 2.
Addressing claim 8, fig. 1b shows the claimed configuration.
Addressing claim 10, fig. 4b shows a portion that extends horizontally along the upper surface of the layer 5 as the structural equivalence to the claimed covered portion that protrudes inwardly from the peripheral cover portion to cover a portion having a predetermined width from an outer peripheral edge on the front surface of the photovoltaic power generation sheet.
Addressing claim 13, fig. 2 shows the photovoltaic power generation sheet has flexibility.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamashita et al. (JP2011049485 with provided machine English translation) in view of Furihata et al. (WO2019082927 English).
Addressing claim 4, Yamashita is silent regarding the thickness of the bonder that falls within the claimed range.
Furihata discloses an installation structure comprising a silicone gel layer 30 for encapsulating the solar cells; wherein, the silicone gel layer has a thickness between 1-5 mm [0057].
At the time of the effective filing date of the invention, one with ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the silicone gel bonder of Yamashita by perform routine experimentation with the thickness of the silicone gel bonder in the range disclosed by Furihata in order to optimize the suppression of linear expansion/contraction of the solar cells and cost of manufacturing (Furihata, [0057]).
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamashita et al. (JP2011049485 with provided machine English translation) in view of Ketola (US 2015/0000735).
Addressing claim 6, Yamashita discloses the bonder is 2 is made of acrylic gel or silicone gel [0013].
Ketola discloses a bonder 14 between an installation surface 12 and the photovoltaic power generation sheet 16; wherein, the bonder is made of silicone gel with viscosity that falls within the claimed range [0020].
At the time of the effective filing date of the invention, one with ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the silicone gel material of Yamashita with the silicone gel material of Ketola in order to obtain the predictable result of forming a layer bonding the installation surface and the photovoltaic power generation layer (Rationale B, KSR decision, MPEP 2143).
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamashita et al. (JP2011049485 with provided machine English translation) in view of Itoyama et al. (JPH11312819 with provided machine English translation). Further evidence is provided by Wehnert (DE102012011684 with provided machine English translation), Lim (KR102477869 with provided machine English translation) and Schwarze (US 2008/0066801).
Addressing claim 9, Yamashita discloses the cover member 25 is made of polyester base material, polyimide base material, or a metal foil base material [0041]. Yamashita is silent regarding the cover member has an ultraviolet ray blocking property.
Itoyama discloses in paragraph [0086] the cover member 105 is made of PVC (which has UV blocking property according to the evidence disclosed by Wehnert in paragraph [0023]), aluminum (which has UV blocking property according to the evidence disclosed by Lim in paragraph [0023]) or EPDM rubber (which has UV blocking property according to Schwarze in paragraph [0045]).
At the time of the effective filing date of the invention, one with ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the cover member of Yamashita with the known materials disclosed by Itoyama in order to press and hold the photovoltaic power generation sheet against the installation surface (Itoyama, [0041-0042]). The materials disclosed by Itoyama has uv blocking property as discussed above.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 3-10 and 13 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any interpretation of references applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
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/BACH T DINH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1726 08/21/2026
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