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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claims 1-20, the phrase "ceramic-like" renders the claim(s) indefinite because the claim(s) include(s) elements not actually disclosed (those encompassed by "like"), thereby rendering the scope of the claim(s) unascertainable. See MPEP § 2173.05(d). Clarification/correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 1, 3-11, 13-16, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN 111936891 (hereinafter CN ‘891). CN ‘891 disclose articles comprising an anti-reflective coating. In one or more embodiments, the substrate comprises a first main surface and a second main surface, and the second main surface is opposite to the first main surface, and the thickness of the substrate is separated from the first main surface. The anti-reflection coating is set on the first main surface of the base plate. Regarding claims 1, 3-7, 10-11, 13-16, and 18-20, the anti-reflection coating comprises a stack of alternating high refractive index and low refractive index material. The low refractive index material may be silicon dioxide (SiO2) and the high refractive index material may be niobium oxide (Nb2O5) or titanium oxide (TiOx). In some embodiments, the stack is a four-layer stack, and may include a first niobium oxide (Nb2O5) layer set on the buffer layer, a first silicon dioxide (SiO2) layer set on the first niobium oxide layer, a second niobium oxide (Nb2O5) layer set on the first silicon dioxide layer, and a fourth layer of silicon dioxide (SiO2) layer disposed on the second niobium oxide layer. Regarding claim 13, the method comprises the following steps: providing a substrate with a first main surface, and depositing an anti-reflection coating on the first main surface. The anti-reflective coating comprises a stack of alternating layers disposed on the first major surface and having silicon dioxide (SiO2) and niobium oxide (Nb2O5) at the point of the first main surface with anti-reflection coating. Regarding claim 9, the antireflective coating may include any number of objects, substrates, or surfaces (including glass surfaces and glass for use in the interior of the vehicle). As seen in Figure 4 below, the anti-reflective coating 120 may include a buffer layer 140 disposed on the substrate 110, so that the buffer layer 140 is disposed between the substrate 110 and the two or more layers (120A, 120B). The thickness of the buffer layer 140 may be from about 0nm to about 50nm, from about 20nm to about 30nm, or greater than or equal to about 25nm. Exemplary suitable materials for buffer layer 140 include silicon dioxide (SiO2). Regarding claims 10 and 11, the examiner is equating the buffer layer of CN111936891 to the drop-resistant layer of the claimed invention.
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To simplify the figure above, 120 A can be high refractive index material (Nb205 or TiO2) and 120B can be low refractive index material (SiO2 or MgF2) as required by the present invention. 140 is the buffer layer and 110 is the glass substrate. Regarding claim 9, the substrate may include glass, glass can be reinforced or not reinforced. Examples of suitable glasses include soda-lime glass, alkali metal aluminosilicate glass, alkali metal-containing borosilicate glass, and alkali metal aluminum borosilicate glass. The substrate 110 may be substantially optically clear, transparent, and without light scattering. Regarding claim 8, the low refractive index material having a refractive index of about 1.4 to about 1.5 and a high refractive index material having a refractive index of about 1.7 to about 2.5; the embodiment of the present disclosure comprises four layers of anti-reflective coating, wherein the first high refractive index layer having an optical thickness range from about 15nm to about 40nm is from the bottom to the top; a first low refractive index layer having an optical thickness range of about 50nm to about 70nm; a second high refractive index layer having an optical thickness range of about 75nm to about 310nm; and a second low refractive index layer having an optical thickness range of about 105nm to about 135nm. In a further embodiment of the present disclosure, the four layers of anti-reflection coating from the bottom to the top can have a first high refractive index layer of optical thickness range of about 20nm to about 35nm; a first low refractive index layer having an optical thickness range of about 55nm to about 65nm; a second high refractive index layer having an optical thickness range of about 80nm to about 305nm; and a second low refractive index layer having an optical thickness range of about 110nm to about 130nm. Regarding claim 15, in one embodiment, the method comprises the following steps: providing a substrate having a main surface in the coating chamber; forming a vacuum in the coating chamber; forming an optical coating as described herein on the main surface; optionally forming an additional coating layer comprising at least one of easy cleaning coating and scratch-resistant coating on the optical coating; and removing the substrate from the coating chamber. In one or more embodiments, the optical coating and the additional coating are formed in the same coating chamber, or formed in a separate coating chamber, without breaking the vacuum. Regarding claim 16, the substrate is coated by various depositions methods, including vacuum deposition technology. The invention further comprises a decorative layer on at least one of the first main surface and the second main surface of the substrate. The decorative layer comprises a coating wherein the coating comprises an ink or pigment.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN 111936891 (hereinafter CN 891), as set forth above. Regarding claim 12, while CN ‘891 discloses that the buffer layer (equated to the drop-resistant layer of the present invention) is approximately about 0nm to about 50nm thick, it fails to specifically a layer that is greater than 100 nm thick. However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to have optimized the thickness of the buffer layer, motivated by the desire to create a barrier layer between the anti-reflective coating and glass substrate that has oleophobic and reflective properties.
Claims 2 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN 111936891 (hereinafter CN 891), as set forth above, in view of AU 2018101238 (hereinafter AU ‘238).
CN ‘891 discloses the claimed invention except for the teaching that the reflectivity of the structure ranges from about 25-30%. AU ‘238 discloses an electronic device may have a housing surrounding an interior in which electrical components are mounted. A display may be mounted to housing structures in the device. The housing may have a rear wall. The display cover layer and rear wall of the housing may be formed from transparent glass layers. Coatings may be formed on inwardly facing surfaces of the transparent glass layers. A device such as electronic device 10 of FIG. 1 may have transparent glass layers or other substrates coated with coatings that include thin-film interference filters and ink layers. In these coatings, thin-film interference filter layers may be arranged to produce non-neutral colors or to produce neutral colors. The thin-film interference filter layers may be coated with ink such as neutrally colored ink or ink with a non-neutral color. Optional buffer layer material may be included in the coatings. In some configurations, thin-film interference layers may be supported by a polymer film and attached to a transparent glass layer using a layer of adhesive (0020). n the example of FIG. 3, the thin-film stack formed from layers 56 forms thin-film interference filter 54. Filter 54 may be formed from dielectric materials such as inorganic dielectric layers deposited with physical vapor deposition techniques and may therefore sometimes be referred to as a physical vapor deposition layer, physical vapor deposition coating, or physical vapor deposition stack (0035).
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With one illustrative configuration, filter 54 operates as a partially reflective mirror (e.g., a mirror of 10-20% reflectivity, or a reflectivity of at least 5%, at least 15%, at least 20%, less than 85%, less than 60%, less than 50%, less than 35%, or other suitable value) (0040). Niobium oxide can be deposited consistently using sputtering and may allow filter 54 to exhibit good color control. Other oxides may be used (e.g., one or more tantalum oxide layers 56 may be interspersed with one or more silicon oxide layers in filter 54, one or more titanium oxide layers 56 may be interspersed with one or more silicon oxide layers, etc.). In some arrangements, higher and lower refractive index materials alternate in the stack of layers forming filter 54. For example, filter 54 may include alternating niobium oxide layers and silicon oxide layers, may include alternating titanium oxide and silicon oxide layers, or may include alternating tantalum oxide layers and silicon oxide layers (0041). Filter 54 may form part of a coating on a transparent glass substrate in device 10. In this type of configuration, the most inwardly facing layer 56 of filter 54 (e.g., the last layer 56 that is deposited on filter 54 in an illustrative configuration in which filter 54 is formed on a transparent glass substrate) may be formed from a layer of silicon oxide to enhance adhesion with subsequent layers such as a subsequent ink layer. The ink layer may be a polymer containing colorant such as dye and/or pigment (0042). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to have made the material of CN ‘891 have the reflectivity as disclosed by AU ‘238 of at least 20% and less than 35%, motivated by the desire to create a glass substrate with enhanced reflectivity.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ULA CORINNA RUDDOCK whose telephone number is (571)272-1481. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8-4:30 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Srilakshmi K Kumar can be reached at 571-272-7769. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ULA C RUDDOCK/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1729
/ULA C RUDDOCK/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1729
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