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 .
This office action is responsive to the application filed 07/29/2025 which claims 1-11 have been presented for examination.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDSs) submitted on 07/29/2025 and 08/28/2025 have been considered by the examiner.
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 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 claim 10, the term "projection-type" renders the claim indefinite because the addition of the word “type” to an otherwise definite expression extends the scope of the expression so as to render it indefinite. See MPEP § 2173.05(b)(III)(E).
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.
Claim(s) 1-8 and 10-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Konica Minolta Inc. (WO 2016/121855) (hereinafter referred to as Konica), cited by the applicant. (Note: The English translation of the WO reference submitted by the applicant is relied upon below)
Regarding claims 1 and 11, Konica discloses a phosphor wheel comprising:
a substrate (paras. [0021]-[0023]);
an intermediate layer provided on the substrate, the intermediate layer being made of a first binder (paras. [0040]-[0044]); and
a phosphor layer (light adjustment layer) provided on the intermediate layer (paras. [0023]-[0024], [0036]), the phosphor layer comprising a second binder and a phosphor included in the second binder, wherein at least one of the first binder and the second binder contains polysilsesquioxane (paras. [0041]-[0044], [0048]-[0051]).
Regarding claim 2, Konica discloses the phosphor wheel according to claim 1, wherein the first binder contains silicone resin, and the second binder contains polysilsesquioxane (paras. [0041]-[0044], [0048]-[0051], [0102]-[0105]).
Regarding claim 3, Konica discloses the phosphor wheel according to claim 1, wherein the first binder or the second binder containing the polysilsesquioxane contains an organosilicon compound having a reactive bifunctional group in an amount of 50 wt% or less with respect to 100 wt% of the polysilsesquioxane contained in the first binder or the second binder (paras. [0029]-[0032], [0041]-[0045]).
Regarding claim 4, Konica discloses the phosphor wheel according to claim 3, wherein the first binder or the second binder containing the polysilsesquioxane contains the organosilicon compound having a reactive bifunctional group in an amount of 30 wt% or less with respect to 100 wt% of the polysilsesquioxane contained in the first binder or the second binder (paras. [0029]-[0032], [0041]-[0045]).
Regarding claim 5, Konica discloses the phosphor wheel according to claim 1, wherein the second binder contains polysilsesquioxane, and the first binder contains polysilsesquioxane and an organosilicon compound having a reactive bifunctional group in an amount of 50 wt% or less with respect to 100 wt% of the polysilsesquioxane contained in the first binder and the second binder (paras. [0029]-[0032], [0041]-[0045]).
Regarding claim 6, Konica discloses the phosphor wheel according to claim 1, wherein 6. the second binder contains polysilsesquioxane, and the first binder contains polysilsesquioxane and an organosilicon compound having a reactive bifunctional group in an amount of 30 wt% or less with respect to 100 wt% of the polysilsesquioxane contained in the first binder and the second binder (paras. [0029]-[0032], [0041]-[0045]).
Regarding claim 7, Konica discloses the phosphor wheel according to claim 1, wherein the first binder and the second binder contain polysilsesquioxane (paras. [0029]-[0032], [0041]-[0045]).
Regarding claim 8, Konica discloses a light source device including the phosphor wheel according to claim 1 (paras. [0021]-[0023]. [0098]-[0099]).
Regarding claim 10, Konica discloses a projection image display device including the light source device according to claim 8 (paras. [0021]-[0023], [0098]).
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.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Konica. The teachings of Konica have been discussed above.
Konica further teaches a light source device comprising a laser light source having an excitation light (para. [0125], [0140]-[0141]), but fails to wherein the excitation light density of 30 W/mm² or more.
However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use a laser light source having an excitation light density of 30 W/mm² or more, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please refer to the attached PTO-892 form.
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/APRIL A TAYLOR/Examiner, Art Unit 2876
/THIEN M LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876