Appeal 2006-3072
Application 10/419,763
applied field that is overcome “by an alignment layer of the present
invention which produces a small surface pre-tilt away from 90°” resulting
in “a single favoured [sic] direction for tilting . . . when a voltage is applied”
(id. col. 9, l. 51, to col. 10, l. 11, and Figs. 7A-B).
We find Nakamura would have acknowledged chiral smectic liquid
crystal devices have problems arising from the liquid crystal molecules
forming two types of chevron-shaped layer structures between the liquid
crystal cell walls which have been addressed by providing a pretilt angle to
uniformly direct the chevron layer structure in one direction, and by
converting “a bent chevron structure into a bookshelf layer structure wherein
smectic layers are aligned with little inclination from those perpendicular to
the” cell walls (Nakamura col. 1, l. 53, to col. 2, l. 49). Nakamura further
acknowledges with respect to liquid crystal materials providing a bookshelf
structure or a structure close thereto, that “[g]enerally, . . . these liquid
crystal materials including a mesomorphic compound having a
perfluoroether terminal chain do not assume cholesteric phase and it is
difficult to finally produce a sufficiently good alignment state” (id. col. 2, ll.
59-63).
Nakamura would have disclosed to one of ordinary skill in this art that
this problem can be addressed in a liquid crystal device in which the liquid
crystal layer is a mesomorphic compound with perfluoroether terminal
chains that lacks a cholesteric phase and stably assumes “a bookshelf
structure or structure close thereto,” when the liquid crystal layer is
contacted on opposite sides by substrates having different surface energies
(Nakamura, e.g., col. 2, l. 66, to col. 3, l. 30, col. 3, ll. 36-65, col. 4, l. 33, to
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