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 – 8, 10, 12 – 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakata et al. (EP 3 525 016) in view of Yun et al. (USPGPub 2023/0374344 A1).
Nakata et al. disclose an optical laminate (Abstract; Figures) comprising: transparent film substrate with a thickness of 10 to 100 µm (Paragraphs 0014 – 0016); a first hard coating layer formed on the transparent film substrate with a thickness of 10 to 30 µm (Figures, #3; Paragraph 0018); and a second hard coating layer formed on the first hard coating layer with thickness of 3 to 20 µm (Paragraph 0063; Figures, #7), wherein the second hard coating layer is formed of a second hard coating composition comprising a light-transmitting resin (Paragraphs 0063 – 0078, wherein it has to be light transmitting in order for the user to see the display) as in claims 1 - 4. With respect to claim 5, one or more of the first hard coating composition and the second hard coating composition further comprise an additive (Paragraphs 0054 and 0070). Regarding claim 12, the transparent substrate, the first hard coating layer, and the second hard coating layer are characterized in that they are formed by directly contacting each other without including a separate layer (Figures; Abstract). For claim 13, the optical laminate is for being applied to a flexible display (Paragraph 0002, a recitation of the intended use of the claimed invention must result in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art in order to patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art. If the prior art structure is capable of performing the intended use, then it meets the claim.). In claim 14, an image display device comprising the optical laminate according claim 1 (Paragraph 0002). However, Nakata et al. fail to disclose a glass layer, the first hard coating layer is formed of a first hard coating composition comprising an epoxy acrylic resin and an epoxy silane coupling agent, the additive includes one or more selected from the group consisting of a silicone-based leveling agent, an ultraviolet stabilizer, and a heat stabilizer, one or more hard coating compositions of the first hard coating composition and the second hard coating composition further comprise an initiator and a solvent, the first hard coating composition comprises, based on the total weight of the composition, 20 to 80 parts by weight of an epoxy acrylic resin; 1 to 30 parts by weight of an epoxy silane coupling agent; 0.1 to 10 parts by weight of an initiator; and 50 to 98 parts by weight of a solvent, the epoxy silane coupling agent includes one or more selected from 3-glycidoxypropyldimethoxysilane, 3- glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane, 8-glycidoxyoctyltrimethoxysilane, and 2-(3,4- epoxycyclohexyl)ethyltrimethoxysilane.
Yun et al. teach an optical laminate (Figures; Abstract) having a glass layer (Paragraph 0100) with a hard coating layer is formed of a hard coating composition comprising an epoxy acrylic resin and an epoxy silane coupling agent (Paragraphs 0105 – 0116), the additive includes one or more selected from the group consisting of an ultraviolet stabilizer, and a heat stabilizer (Paragraph 0141), one or more hard coating compositions of the hard coating composition comprise an initiator and a solvent (Paragraphs 0125 – 0127 and 0135), the hard coating composition comprises, based on the total weight of the composition, 20 to 80 parts by weight of an epoxy acrylic resin; 1 to 30 parts by weight of an epoxy silane coupling agent; 0.1 to 10 parts by weight of an initiator; and 50 to 98 parts by weight of a solvent (Paragraphs 0148 - 0149), the epoxy silane coupling agent includes one or more selected from 3- glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane,, and 2-(3,4- epoxycyclohexyl)ethyltrimethoxysilane (Paragraphs 0113) for the purpose of forming a laminate with excellent mechanical properties (Abstract).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a hard coating composition comprising an epoxy acrylic resin and an epoxy silane coupling agent in Nakata et al. in order to form a laminate with excellent mechanical properties.
Claims 9 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakata et al. (EP 3 525 016) in view of Yun et al. (USPGPub 2023/0374344 A1) as applied to claims 1 and 7 above, and further in view of KR 20080101800.
A machine-generated translation of KR 20080101800 accompanies this action. In reciting this rejection, the examiner will cite this translation.
Nakata et al., as modified with Yun et al., discloses the claimed invention except for the second hard coating composition comprises, based on the total weight of the composition, 1 to 80 parts by weight of a light- transmitting resin; 0.1 to 10 parts by weight of an initiator; and 50 to 98 parts by weight of a solvent, and the light-transmitting resin includes one or more selected from 2-hydroxyethyl (meth)acrylate, 2-hydroxyisopropyl (meth)acrylate, 4-hydroxybutyl (meth)acrylate, caprolactone ring-opening hydroxyacrylate, pentaerythritol tri/tetra (meth)acrylate, and dipentaerythritol penta/hexa (meth)acrylate.
KR 20080101800 teach a hard coat composition comprises, based on the total weight of the composition, 1 to 80 parts by weight of a light- transmitting resin; 0.1 to 10 parts by weight of an initiator; and 50 to 98 parts by weight of a solvent (Page 7, line 25 to Page 8, line 12 and the light-transmitting resin includes one or more selected from pentaerythritol tri/tetra (meth)acrylate or dipentaerythritol penta/hexa (meth)acrylate (Page4, lines 30 – 32) for the purpose of forming a film with excellent clearness of image (Abstract).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a light-transmitting resin with the desired composition in Nakata et al. in order to form a film with excellent clearness of image as taught by KR 20080101800.
Conclusion
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/Patricia L. Nordmeyer/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1788
/pln/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1788 July 29, 2026
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