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 .
This office action is responsive to the Request for Continued Examination, Amendment and Remarks filed 20 March 2026. Claims 1-15 remain pending and presently under consideration in this application.
Response to Amendment
The rejection of claim 1 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112(pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as set forth in paragraph 9 of the previous FINAL office action on the merits, is hereby withdrawn in view of applicant’s amendments to the same.
Applicants have amended the base independent claim as follows and argue that said amendment sufficiently distinguishes the liquid crystal composition of the present claims from that of the prior art of record:
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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 20 March 2026 in response to the rejection of claim 1 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112(pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as set forth in the previous FINAL office action on the merits, are moot as the aforementioned rejection has been withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments filed 20 March 2026 in response to the rejection of claims under 35 U.S.C. 103 over Choi et al. (WIPO Patent No. WO 2023/052283), as set forth in paragraph 12 of the previous FINAL office action on the merits, have been fully considered but are moot because the current rejection does not rely upon Choi et al.
Applicant's arguments filed 20 March 2026 with respect to the alleged allowability of the claims, said arguments essentially to the effect that the liquid crystal medium as is now claimed, i.e., characterized by comprising a component d) of at least one compound of the present formula IID-10, have been fully considered but they are not persuasive, as the prior art cited in this office action expressly illustrates the liquid crystal medium by comprising the combination of at least one compound of the present formula IID-10 with at least one compound of the present formula ST, and at least one compound of the present formula Ib-2.
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.
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 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Chuang et al. (WIPO Patent No. WO 2023/036746).
While Example Mixture Ch-5 in Chuang et al.
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(p. 155, line 29+) expressly illustrates a liquid crystal medium characterized by comprising a combination of
a) at least one compound inclusive of the compound of the present general formula ST as represented therein by
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(p. 153), with
c) at least one compound inclusive of the compound of the present general formula 1b-2 as represented therein by
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(p. 153), and
d) at least one compound inclusive of the compound of the present general formula IID-10 as represented therein by CLOY-3-O2, in the mixture example H4
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(p. 149),
AND mixture examples which utilize
b) at least one compound inclusive of the compound of the present general formula 1a as represented therein by
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(p. 153), Chuang et al. does not teach one single example characterized by containing the combination of a), b), c), and d), as is now claimed.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the requisite art at the time the invention was filed to incorporate at least one compound of the present formula Ia in a liquid crystal medium of Choi et al., characterized by comprising a combination of at least one compound of the present formula IID-10 with at least one compound of the present formula ST, and at least one compound of the present formula Ib-2., with reasonable expectations of achieving, absent object evidence to the contrary, the advantages taught therein, as well as those associated with their use thereof.
The applied reference has a common assignee with the instant application. Based upon the earlier effectively filed date of the reference, it constitutes prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2).
This rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 might be overcome by: (1) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(a) that the subject matter disclosed in the reference was obtained directly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint inventor of this application and is thus not prior art in accordance with 35 U.S.C.102(b)(2)(A); (2) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(b) of a prior public disclosure under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(B); or (3) a statement pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) establishing that, not later than the effective filing date of the claimed invention, the subject matter disclosed and the claimed invention were either owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person or subject to a joint research agreement. See generally MPEP § 717.02.
Prior Art
The following prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure: example M91 therein (column 213) of U.S. Patent No. 12,595,416 teaches a liquid crystal medium characterized by comprising a combination of a compound inclusive of the compound of the present general formula ST as represented therein by
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, and a compound inclusive of the compound of the present general formula 1b-2 as represented therein
by
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Geraldina Visconti whose telephone number is (571)272-1334. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mark F Huff can be reached at 571-272-1385. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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GERALDINA VISCONTI
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1737
/GERALDINA VISCONTI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1737
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