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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the ‘second metal layer having a porosity higher than the porosity of the first metal layer and disposed between the first metal layer and the wavelength converting layer’ (see claims 13 and 14) must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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) 1-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (US 2023/0369544 A1), in view of Shimizu (US 2018/0275496 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Li teaches a wavelength converting layer (101, figure 1) having a first surface (upper surface) on which light is incident and a second surface opposite from the first surface and configured to convert the incident light;
A substrate (104, figure 1) disposed at a side facing the second surface of the wavelength converting layer; and
A bonding layer (102, 102a and 103, figure 1) configured to bond the substrate and the wavelength converting layer to each other,
Wherein the bonding layer includes a first metal layer (103, figure 1) facing the substrate and a second metal layer (102, 102a, figure 1) disposed between the first metal layer and the wavelength converting layer.
Li further teaches that the second metal layer is a compact and highly reflective layer (paragraph 0048), and the first metal layer is sintered silver (paragraph 0051).
Li does not explicitly state that the porosity of the first metal layer is higher than the porosity of the second metal layer.
Shimizu teaches a high porosity layer for bonding the wavelength conversion element to the substrate (paragraph 0080-0081). One of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made would have no difficulty in making the porosity of the first metal layer higher than the porosity of the second metal layer, especially inasmuch as the teaching of Li state that the structure of the second metal layer is supposed to be relatively compact, and Shimizu teaches that the increased porosity decreases thermal stress preventing damage to the fluorescent element.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the fluorescent member of Li to use the porous sintered metal of Shimizu in order to prevent damage to the fluorescent element (paragraph 0081).
Regarding claim 2, Li teaches the second metal layer is disposed in correspondence with a light incident region in the wavelength converting layer on which the light is incident (see 102, 102a, figure 1).
Regarding claim 3, Li teaches the first metal layer is disposed so as to surround a circumference of the second metal layer (see 103, wherein the first metal layer extends out past the second metal layer’s circumference in the radial direction).
Regarding claim 4, Li teaches the first metal layer and the second metal layer are in contact with the wavelength converting layer (through 101b, figure 1).
Li does not specify that the second metal layer is disposed in a recess provided in the first metal layer.
Shimizu teaches a recess provided in the first metal layer (see 36a, figure 4). Upon modification with Li to use the recessed stress reduction member of Shimizu the second metal layer of Li would be disposed in a recess provided in the first metal layer inasmuch as the second metal layer is between the fluorescent layer of Li and the corresponding bonding layer of Li.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the fluorescent member of Li to use the porous sintered metal of Shimizu in order to prevent damage to the fluorescent element (paragraph 0081).
Regarding claim 5, Li in view of Shimizu teaches the claimed invention except for specifying that the porosity of the first metal layer is between 30% and 40% and the porosity of the second metal layer is between 10 and 30%. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to make the porosity of the first metal layer is between 30% and 40% and the porosity of the second metal layer is between 10 and 30%, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller 105 USPQ 233.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the fluorescent member of Li in view of Shimizu to adjust the ranges of the porosity of the first and second layers in order to optimize reflectance and thermal stability.
Regarding claim 6, Li teaches the first and second metal layer contains silver (paragraph 0048 and 0051).
Regarding claim 7, Li teaches the bonding layer is bonded to a circumferential edge of the second surface of the wavelength converting layer (see 102, paragraph 0048).
Regarding claim 8, Li in teaches the bonding layer has a first region in which the first metal layer and the second metal layer overlap with each other in a light incident direction, in which the light is incident on the wavelength converting layer (see 102, 103, figure 1),and
A thickness of the first metal layer along the light incident direction in the first region is greater than a thickness of the second metal layer along the light incident direction in the first region (paragraph 0053 and 0048).
Regarding claim 9, Li does not teach the first metal layer includes a facing second facing a third surface of the wavelength converting layer that intersects with the first and second surfaces, and a part of the facing section of the first metal layer is in contact with the third surface of the wavelength converting layer.
Shimizu teaches the first metal layer includes a facing second facing a third surface of the wavelength converting layer that intersects with the first and second surfaces, and a part of the facing section of the first metal layer is in contact with the third surface of the wavelength converting layer (34, 36a, figure 4).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the fluorescent member of Li to use the porous sintered metal of Shimizu in order to prevent damage to the fluorescent element (paragraph 0081).
Regarding claim 10, Li teaches the wavelength converting layer includes a planarizing film (101b, figure 1) configured to planarize the second surface.
Regarding claim 11, Li does not specify the light source configured to output light to the wavelength converter.
Shimizu teaches the light source configured to output light to the wavelength converter (see 21a, figure 2).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the wavelength conversion system of Li to use the light source of Shimizu in order to produce a high quality visible light beam.
Regarding claim 12, Li does not specify a light modulator configured to modulate light output from the light source apparatus based on image information and a projection system configured to project light output from the light modulator.
Shimizu teaches a light modulator configured to modulate light output from the light source apparatus based on image information (4R-B, figure 1) and a projection system (6, figure 1) configured to project light output from the light modulator.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the wavelength conversion system of Li to use the projection elements of Shimizu in order to produce a high quality visible light image.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-16 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claims 13 and 14, prior art (Li and Shimizu) teaches the sintered bonding layer being the most substrate side of the stack, which effectively makes the high porosity layer the substrate side layer not the intermediate layer as required by claims 13 and 14.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RYAN D HOWARD whose telephone number is (571)270-5358. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Minh-Toan Ton can be reached at 5712722303. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RYAN D HOWARD/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2882
9/23/2026
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