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 § 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.
Claims 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yutani et al. (USPN 20220035218).
With regard to claim 1,
Yutani et al. disclose an electrochromic sheet comprising: a support layer (1); an electrolyte layer (4) provided over the support layer; an electrochromic layer (3,5) provided over at least one surface of the electrolyte layer; and a sealing part (8) provided to cover at least a side surface of the electrolyte layer, wherein an amount of deformation measured according to the following procedure i is 0.01 mm to 0.09 mm, Procedure i: a test piece (having a maximum length of 20 mm or more) in which the electrolyte layer is located at a central part and the sealing part is located at an outer edge is produced by using the electrochromic sheet, the test piece is chucked at both ends by a chucking part, the central part of the test piece is pressed at 30 N for 30 seconds, and a difference in depth between the central part of the test piece before being pressed and the central part of the test piece after being pressed is defined as an amount of deformation (it has been held that, when the claimed structure is anticipated by the prior art, properties thereof are presumed to be inherent).
With regard to claim 2,
Yutani et al. disclose the electrochromic sheet according to claim 1, wherein an amount of deformation measured according to the following procedure ii is 0.10 mm or less, Procedure ii: a test piece (having a maximum length of 20 mm or more) in which the electrolyte layer is located at a central part and the sealing part is located at an outer edge is produced by using the electrochromic sheet, the test piece is chucked at both ends by a chucking part, the central part of the test piece is pressed at 50 N for 30 seconds, and a difference in depth between the central part of the test piece before being pressed and the central part of the test piece after being pressed is defined as an amount of deformation (it has been held that, when the claimed structure is anticipated by the prior art, properties thereof are presumed to be inherent).
With regard to claim 3,
Yutani et al. disclose the electrochromic sheet according to claim 1, wherein in the procedure i, the electrochromic sheet has no yield point (it has been held that, when the claimed structure is anticipated by the prior art, properties thereof are presumed to be inherent).
With regard to claim 4,
Yutani et al. disclose the electrochromic sheet according to claim 2, wherein in the procedure ii, the electrochromic sheet has no yield point (it has been held that, when the claimed structure is anticipated by the prior art, properties thereof are presumed to be inherent).
With regard to claim 5,
Yutani et al. disclose the electrochromic sheet according to claim 1, wherein the electrolyte layer is a solid or a gel (see paragraph 34).
With regard to claim 6,
Yutani et al. disclose the electrochromic sheet according to claim 1, wherein the electrolyte layer contains a binder resin (See paragraph 168).
With regard to claim 7,
Yutani et al. disclose the electrochromic sheet according to claim 6, wherein the binder resin includes one or two or more selected from urethane (meth)acrylate, polymethyl (meth)acrylate, polyethyl (meth)acrylate, and poly(ethylene oxide) acrylate (see paragraph 169).
With regard to claim 8,
Yutani et al. disclose the electrochromic sheet according to claim 1, wherein the electrochromic layer (3,5) is provided over each of upper and lower surfaces of the electrolyte (4) layer of the electrochromic sheet (see fig. 3).
With regard to claim 9,
Yutani et al. disclose the electrochromic sheet according to claim 1, wherein the sealing part (8) is formed of a sealing material including a curable resin (see paragraph 191).
With regard to claim 10,
Yutani et al. disclose the electrochromic sheet according to claim 9, wherein the curable resin has at least one selected from an ultraviolet reactive functional group or a thermal reactive functional group (see paragraph 191).
With regard to claim 11,
Yutani et al. disclose the electrochromic sheet according to claim 1, wherein the electrochromic sheet further includes an electrode layer (2,6) between the support layer and the electrochromic layer (see fig. 3).
With regard to claim 12,
Yutani et al. disclose an electrochromic device (150) that is obtained by using the electrochromic sheet according to claim 1.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. USPN 2011/0068816.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Christopher Raabe whose telephone number is (571)272-8434. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 0530-1430.
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/CHRISTOPHER M RAABE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875
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