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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 8/27/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Regarding amended claim 4, applicant has argued that Li discloses Yb2O3 should be limited in order to reduce the risk of wanted absorption in the visible range. This is not considered persuasive as Li does not tie this to a concentration of 10 mol% nor does it single out this but applies to all the rare earth oxides listed. The fact that there is no specific example with Yb2O3 is not considered persuasive as Yi directly discloses it can be used. Example 2 does disclose 14% for Gd2O3 which is considered a known substitute for Yb2O3 as disclosed by Li [0041]. Therefore applicant’s arguments are not considered persuasive.
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 and 8-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nagaya US 20160170105 in view of Li US 2021/0130222.
Regarding claim 1, Nagaya teaches an optical filter comprising: an absorber (glass support [0089) ; an absorption layer (transparent resin layer [0089]) comprising a dye (compounds having absorption maximum in wavelength region 600 to 850nm) and a resin [0089], the dye having a maximum absorption wavelength between 350 nm and 1,200 nm ([0089]) ; and a dielectric multilayer film (dielectric multilayer [0095]). Nagaya does not teach the absorber comprising an inorganic material comprising ytterbium but does teach the absorber can be a glass support ([0089]) Nagaya also does not discloses a glass comprising ytterbium, and the glass comprises 10 mol % or more of Yb2O3 in terms of mol % based on an oxide (see claim 2)..
Li teaches a filter glass with high refractive index with low visible light absorption [0018] with good infrared absorption properties that does not contain toxic components containing Ytterbium (see claim 2) [0013][0014]. Li also teaches glass comprises can comprise 10 mol % or more of Yb2O3 in terms of mol % based on an oxide (see claim 2)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to an ordinarily skilled artisan before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute the glass of Nagaya with the glass of Li to improve infrared absorption to improve visible light transmission while improving infrared absorption without use of toxic material.
Regarding claim 2, Nagaya teaches the optical filter according to claim 1, wherein the absorber has a flat plate shape (see fig. 1 optical filter 1 has a flat plate shape therefore the absorber which is the main support will have a flat plate shape).
Regarding claim 3, Nagaya teaches the optical filter according to claim 1, wherein the absorber has a thickness of 3 mm or less [0342].
Regarding claim 8, Nagaya teaches the optical filter according to claim 1, wherein the following spectral characteristic (i-2) is satisfied: (i-2) in a spectral transmittance curve at a wavelength of 800 nm to 900 nm and an incident angle of 0 degrees, a maximum transmittance T.sub.800-900(0 deg)MAX is 60% or more (see fig. 8).
Regarding claim 9, Nagaya teaches the optical filter according to claim 1, wherein the following spectral characteristic (i-3) is satisfied: (i-3) in a spectral transmittance curve at a wavelength of 930 nm to 950 nm and an incident angle of 0 degrees, a maximum transmittance T.sub.930-950(0 dog)MAX is 20% or less (see fig. 8).
Regarding claim 10, Nagaya teaches the optical filter according to claim 1, wherein the following spectral characteristic (i-1) is satisfied: (i-1) in a spectral transmittance curve at a wavelength of 450 nm to 600 nm and an incident angle of 0 degrees, an average transmittance T.sub.450-600(0 deg)AVE is 60% or more (see fig. 8).
Regarding claim 11, Nagaya teaches an imaging device (claim 16) comprising the optical filter according to claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-7 are 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.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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.
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/PHU VU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871
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