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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. CN202410054942.1, filed on 01/12/2024.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group II (claims 10-17) in the reply filed on 11/03/2025 is acknowledged.
Claim Objections
Claims 11 and 12 are objected to because of the following informalities: the claims reference a process step that does not exist in the depending claim. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 10-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipate by Acosta et al. (APL Photon. 7, 026108 ‘2022’).
Considering claims 10-12, Acosta discloses an anodic aluminum oxide-based photonic crystal product, comprising: an aluminum-containing object (abstract); an N number of first porous aluminum oxide films (NAA-PCs-T3) that are sequentially stacked on a surface of the aluminum-containing object along a first direction, the first direction being defined as a direction from a topmost one of the first porous aluminum oxide films, which is distal from the aluminum-containing object, to a bottommost one of the first porous aluminum oxide films, which is proximal to the aluminum-containing object, each of the first porous aluminum oxide films including a plurality of first nanopore structures which extend along the first direction and which are spaced apart from one another along a second direction that is perpendicular to the first direction (Fig. 1a); and a second porous aluminum oxide film (NAA) formed on the surface of the aluminum-containing object and beneath an Nth first porous aluminum oxide film among the N number of first porous aluminum oxide films in the first direction, the second porous aluminum oxide film including a plurality of second nanopore structures which extend along the first direction and which are spaced apart from one another along the second direction (Fig. 1a), wherein each of the plurality of second nanopore structures has a cross-section of a tubular shape in the first direction, and includes an upper porous section and a lower porous section, the upper porous section being is distal from the aluminum-containing object, widens at a top part, and being in spatial communication with a corresponding one of the plurality of the first nanopore structures of the N* first porous aluminum oxide film, the lower porous section being proximal to the aluminum-containing object and being in spatial communication with the upper porous section and the surface of the aluminum-containing object (Fig. 1a), and wherein a thickness of the second porous aluminum oxide film, which is measured from a top end to a bottom end along the first direction, is greater than a total thickness of the plurality of the first porous aluminum oxide films (Fig. 1a and Fig. 3b).
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Considering claims 13, Acosta discloses the thickness of the second porous aluminum oxide film is 50 µm (abstract).
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) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Acosta et al. as applied to claim 11 above, and further in view of Shang et al. (Scientific Reports, ‘2014’ 4 : 3601).
Considering claims 14, Acosta is silent about the detailed structure of the plurality of first nanoporous structures.
However, Shang discloses each of the plurality of first nanopore structures includes a first porous section, a second porous section, a plurality of third porous sections, and a fourth porous section along the first direction ,the first porous section of each of the first nanopore structures is defined by upper side portions of two adjacent ones of the plurality of first aluminum oxide bodies and has a cross- section of a rectangular shape along the first direction, the second porous section of each of the first nanopore structures is defined by middle side portions of the two adjacent ones of the plurality of first aluminum oxide bodies, gradually tapers downwardly to form a pointed end such that the second porous section has a cross-section of an inverted triangular shape along the first direction, and is in spatial communication with the first porous section, the plurality of third porous section of each of the first nanopore structures are each defined by a lower portion of a corresponding one of the plurality of first aluminum oxide bodies, are spaced apart from one another along the second direction, each extends downwardly to have a cross-section of a tubular shape along the first direction, have a size smaller than a size of the first porous section, and are not in spatial communication with the second porous section, the fourth porous section of each of the first nanopore structures is defined by bottom side end portions of the two adjacent ones of the plurality of first aluminum oxide bodies, rapidly widens at a top part along the first direction, and is in spatial communication with corresponding ones of the plurality of third porous section, for the each of the first nanopore structures of a respective one of the first porous aluminum oxide films, the first porous section is in spatial communication with the fourth porous section of an adjacent one of the first nanopore structures of a corresponding adjacent one of the first porous aluminum oxide films that is distal to the aluminum-containing object along the first direction, and the fourth porous section is in spatial communication with the first porous section of another adjacent one of the first nanopore structures of a corresponding adjacent one of the first porous aluminum oxide films that is proximal to the aluminum-containing object along the first direction, in each of the first nanopore structures of the Nth first porous aluminum oxide film, the fourth porous section is absent, and the third porous section is in spatial communication with the an upper pore section of a corresponding one of the second nanopore structure of the second porous aluminum oxide film (page 2, left column, Fig. 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the structure in the NAA-PCs-T3 layer of Acosta, because Acosta only generally discloses the layers, and Shang provides details of the periodic photonic crystal layers.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 15-17 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the prior art of record does not disclose nor suggest the different thickness in parallel direction to the surface of the product of the second porous aluminum oxide film. Claim 17 requires the different thickness of the second porous aluminum oxide film in the direction that is perpendicular to the direction of the first direction perpendicular to the surface, therefore it is also parallel surface of the product of the second porous aluminum oxide film.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Wei et al. (Optical Materials 122 ‘2021’ 111722), Abd-Elnaiem et al. (Recent Progress in the Fabrication of Photonic Crystals Based on Porous Anodic Materials. Energies 2023, 16, 4032), Law et al. (Nanomaterials 2018, 8, 788), Law et al. (ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2016, 8, 13542−13554) and Kushnir et al. (Materials and Design 144 ‘2018’ 140–150) disclose photonic crystals based on anodized alumina having plurality of layers/film.
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/WOJCIECH HASKE/Examiner, Art Unit 1794