Appeal 2006-3072
Application 10/419,763
different properties (see Br. 7). These claims also do not require the
anchoring energies of the surfaces of the cell walls to affect the alignment of
the liquid crystal material to any particular extent.
We find that Walton would have disclosed to one of ordinary skill in
this art a liquid crystal device in which the degree of tilted-off homeotropic
alignment of the liquid crystal material is controlled by at least one
polymerized mesogenic material alignment layer in contact with the liquid
crystal material (Walton, e.g., col. 2, ll. 49-67; col. 3, l. 66, to col. 4, l. 3; col.
4, ll. 14-17 and 29-65; col. 5, ll. 25-34; col. 11, ll. 36-67; and col. 11, l. 21,
to col. 12, l. 12). By way of background, Walton acknowledges “[i]t is very
well known to provide a rubbed alignment layer to control the alignment and
pretilt angle of adjacent liquid crystal molecules,” which “requires the use of
specific combinations of the liquid crystal layer and alignment layer,” as
well as methods “which do not require rubbing of the alignment layer” (id.
col. 1, l. 19, to col. 2, l. 46). The “titled-off” homeotropic alignment
generally has “a slight tilt (typically 1-10°) away from the homeotropic (90°)
alignment” (id. col. 2, ll. 29-31; see also col. 11, ll. 21-35).
Walton teaches the use of at least one tilted-off homeotropic
alignment layer formed from a mixture of first and second mesogenic
materials that have at least one polymerizable function group, wherein (1)
the number of polymerizable functional groups of the second mesogenic
material is less that that of the first mesogenic material, and (2) the ratio of
the first and second materials in the mixture is selected to provide a pre-
determined pretilt angle to liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer
(Walton, e.g., col. 2, ll. 55-67; col. 3, ll. 1-9; col. 3, l. 56, to col. 4, l. 3; and
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