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 .
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, 7 and 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Katsuno et al. (WO 2019/176827 A1) in view of Akiyama et al. (US 2016/0215217).
As to claim 1, Katsuno describes (claim 1) an optical (polarizing film for LCD, paragraph [0002]) film comprising a resin layer (polyvinyl alcohol, claim 1) containing a binder resin (polyvinyl alcohol) wherein a surface of the resin layer has a developed interfacial area ratio Sdr specified in ISO 25178-2:2012 of 1.0x10⁻⁵ or more and 1.5x10⁻¹ or less. (less than 0.085, claim 1; see Sdr values table 1, page 20).
Katsuno does not disclose that the optical film is antiviral and that the resin layer contains an antiviral agent. Akiyama discloses in paragraph [0330], use of photocatalysts and Ag particles is preferred with respect to antiviral and antimicrobial properties. Photocatalysts are preferably inorganic particles, such as titanium oxide. Ag particles are more preferably nanoparticles. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the optical film of Katsuno by providing the antiviral agents disclosed by Akiyama (titanium oxide and Ag particles) in order to antiviral and antimicrobial properties.
As to claim 3, Katsuno in view of Akiyama discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1. Akiyama further discloses in paragraph [0330], wherein the antiviral agent (titanium oxide and Ag particles) is an inorganic antiviral agent.
As to claim 7, Katsuno in view of Akiyama discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1, but does not explicitly disclose a total light transmittance specified in JIS K7361-1:1997 of 85.0% or more. However, Katsuno further discloses that the optical film is a polarizing film for an LCD (paragraph [0002]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Katsuno by providing a total light transmittance specified in JIS K7361-1:1997 of 85.0% or more in order to maximize the brightness of the LCD.
As to claims 9-10, Katsuno in view of Akiyama discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1. Katsuno further discloses that the optical film is a polarizing film for an LCD (paragraph [0002]). Therefore, the LCD panel (image display panel) comprises a liquid crystal cell (display element) and the optical film, wherein the optical film is disposed on the topmost surface of the LCD panel, such that a surface on a side of the resin layer faces a side opposite to the liquid crystal cell (display element).
Claims 2, 4-6 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Katsuno et al. (WO 2019/176827 A1) in view of Akiyama et al. (US 2016/0215217) as applied to claim 1 above and further in view of Moromizato et al. (US 2023/0120388).
As to claim 2, Katsuno in view of Akiyama discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1, but does not disclose wherein a content of the antiviral agent is 1.0 part by mass or more and 15.0 parts by mass or less relative to 100 parts by mass of the binder resin. However, this was conventional as evidenced by Moromizato (claim 3). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Katsuno wherein a content of the antiviral agent is 1.0 part by mass or more and 15.0 parts by mass or less relative to 100 parts by mass of the binder resin because conventional optical film compositions were known to be cost effective and reliable.
As to claim 4, Katsuno in view of Akiyama discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1, but does not disclose wherein the binder resin contains a cured product of an ionizing radiation-curable resin composition. However, this was conventional as evidenced by Moromizato (paragraphs [0199]-[0200]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Katsuno wherein the binder resin contains a cured product of an ionizing radiation-curable resin composition because conventional optical film compositions were known to be cost effective and reliable.
As to claim 5, Katsuno in view of Akiyama discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1, but does not disclose wherein the resin layer further contains a matting agent. However, this was conventional as evidenced by Moromizato (paragraph [0172]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Katsuno wherein the resin layer further contains a matting agent because conventional optical film compositions were known to be cost effective and reliable.
As to claim 6, Katsuno in view of Akiyama discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1, but does not disclose wherein the optical film comprises a substrate and the resin layer formed on one surface of the substrate. However, this was conventional as evidenced by Moromizato (figure 1, substrate 101 and resin layer 102). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Katsuno wherein the optical film comprises a substrate and the resin layer formed on one surface of the substrate because conventional optical film structures were known to be cost effective and reliable.
As to claim 8, Katsuno in view of Akiyama discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1, but does not disclose a haze specified in JIS K7136:2000 of 80.0% or less. However, this was conventional as evidenced by Moromizato (claim 4). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Katsuno by providing a haze specified in JIS K7136:2000 of 80.0% or less because conventional optical film properties were known to be cost effective and reliable.
Conclusion
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/DAVID Y CHUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871
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