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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 05/26/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The amendments to the claims, in the submission dated 05/26/2026, are acknowledged and accepted. Claim 1 is amended. Claims 2-4 and 6 have previously been cancelled by the applicant. No new claims are added. Claims 1, 5, and 7-55 are currently pending (with claims 24-54 previously withdrawn).
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.
Claims 1, 7-13, 15-16, 18, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong et al. US PGPub 2012/0259411 A1 (of record, see Office action dated 03/10/2023, hereinafter, “Hong”) in view of Bellido-Gonzalez et al. US PGPub 2016/0050916 A1 (hereinafter, “Bellido-Gonzalez”).
Regarding amended independent claim 1, Hong discloses an ophthalmic lens (see at least Fig. 1 showing an ophthalmic lens body 12, and refer to at least par. [0027]), comprising:
a curved lens body (Fig. 1 shows lens body 12 has curved surface 14, par. [0027]); and
a metasurface array disposed on a surface of the curved lens body (Fig. 1, nanostructure formation or assembly 16 is formed on the curved surface 14 of the lens body 12, par. [0027]), the metasurface array defining an environment-facing surface of the ophthalmic lens (Figs. 1 and 2, nanostructure formation 16 is depicted as arranged on substrate 18 that is an environment-facing surface of lens body 12, par. [0027]), the metasurface array comprising an arrangement of metasurface building elements dimensioned from an optical wavelength and configured across the lens body and tuned to define an optical characteristic of the ophthalmic lens (Figs. 1 and 2, protrusions 22 have an approximate height H between 100 and 200 nm and an approximate width W between 25 and 50 nm, where protrusions are part of the metasurface building elements of nanostructure formation 16, par. [0028]), the metasurface building elements having heights of 400 nm or smaller in a direction extending away from the surface of the curved lens body (Figs. 1 and 2, protrusions 22 have an approximate height H between 100 and 200 nm, par. [0028]), wherein the optical characteristic comprises:
a reduction of glare of the lens by reducing a halo effect (porous assembly created by the nanostructures may further serve to reduce surface reflection, reduce surface scattering, where glare and halo effects are both the result of scattering of light, par. [0027]),
a reduction of a lens aberration, or
an expansion of an angle of a vertical or horizontal field of view;
wherein the metasurface building elements on a first portion of the surface of the lens body have different physical characteristics from the metasurface building elements on a second portion of the surface of the lens body (Hong teaches protrusions 22 may be applied to discrete regions of curved surface 14, par. [0030], and further teaches that nanostructures may be formed of a variety of materials, par. [0032], [0035-37], [0039], thereby teaching the equivalent of a metasurface building elements with different physical characteristics across the surface of lens body 12); and
wherein the metasurface array further comprises a matrix material for holding the metasurface building elements in a desired orientation (Figs. 1 and 2, substrate 18 holds protrusions 22 in an orientation, par. [0027], and Fig. 3, discrete rods 32 of nanostructure assembly 16 are supported by substrate 30, par. [0031]), the matrix material extending along a bottom surface (Figs. 1 and 2 show substrate 18 extending along a bottom surface of protrusions 22 of nanostructures 20, par. [0027]), the matrix material comprising polydimethylsiloxane (Hong discloses the use of polydimethylsiloxane for mass production of moth-eye film 90, see Figs. 9 and 10, where film 90 is a nanostructured assembly with periodically repeating protrusions 92, pars. [0039-40], which is another embodiment of nanostructure formation 16 shown in at least Figs. 1 and 2).
Hong does not disclose the matrix material extending along at least a portion of side surfaces of the metasurface building elements (as shown in Figs. 1-3, the nanostructures have bottom sides that are in contact with substrate, but Hong does not explicitly teach or suggest the extension of substrate material along the sides of the nanostructures).
In a related field of invention, Bellido-Gonzalez discloses bio control surface 100, shown in at least Fig. 1, comprising a plurality of nanofeatures 1a-c arranged on surface 4 to anchor nanofeatures 1a-c to substrate 5 (par. [0056]). In Fig. 4a, nanocluster 41 is depicted as partially embedded in matrix/underlayer 44 adhered to substrate 5 (par. [0072]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have applied the teachings of Bellido-Gonzalez to the disclosure of Hong and applied the nanostructures of Hong according to the method taught by Bellido-Gonzalez to at least partially embed the nanostructures in the matrix to improve adhesion of the nanostructures to the matrix or substrate (Bellido-Gonzalez, par. [0023]).
Regarding dependent claim 7, Hong in view of Bellido-Gonzalez (hereinafter, “modified Hong”) discloses the ophthalmic lens of claim 1, and Hong further discloses wherein metasurface building elements of the arrangement include dimensions less than a wavelength of light traversing the lens body (see at least Hong Fig. 2, protrusions 22 have height H 100-200 nm and width W 25-50 nm, par. [0028]).
Regarding dependent claim 8, modified Hong discloses the ophthalmic lens of claim 7, and Hong further discloses wherein the dimensions of the metasurface building elements include a height dimension of the metasurface building elements (see at least Hong Fig. 2, and par. [0028] where the protrusions 22 have height H given as 100-200 nm).
Regarding dependent claim 9, modified Hong discloses the ophthalmic lens of claim 1, and Hong further discloses wherein arrangement of the metasurface building elements include a collection of nano-posts (see at least Hong Fig. 3, rods 32, par. [0031], are analogous to nano-posts).
Regarding dependent claim 10, modified Hong discloses the ophthalmic lens of claim 9, and Hong further discloses wherein the collection of nano-posts include nano-posts of dissimilar shapes (Hong, par. [0043], Fig. 12, assembly 16 may be similar the nanoporous film 29, but rather than linear rods, a plurality of helical rods 110 extend from the substrate, and Hong par. [0044], Fig. 13, an alternative embodiment includes layers of nanostructure assemblies 120 which may be arranged to effect a highly reflective multi-layer film 119).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the different embodiments of Hong to include protrusions (i.e., nano-posts) of dissimilar shapes, such as helical, linear, semispherical, conical, pyramidal (as listed in Hong par. [0039]) and other shapes to adjust the optical properties of the lens across its dimensions, to better correct aberrations for the wearer (Hong, par. [0039]).
Regarding dependent claim 11, modified Hong discloses the ophthalmic lens of claim 9, wherein the collection of nano-posts include nano-posts of dissimilar orientations (Hong, Fig. 14, layer 130 with nanostructure gratings 134 oriented in the YZ plane, and layer 140 with nanorods 144 oriented in the YZ plane, par. [0044], and Hong teaches by varying the deposition angle, the porosity of the film and therefore the refractive index of the film can be selected and adjusted almost continuously, where the film is the nanoporous film applied to the surface of the lenses).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the different embodiments of Hong to include protrusions (i.e., nano-posts) of dissimilar orientations to adjust the optical properties of the lens across its dimensions, to better correct aberrations for the wearer (Hong, par. [0039]).
Regarding dependent claim 12, modified Hong discloses the ophthalmic lens of claim 9, and Hong further discloses wherein the collection of nano-posts define a first density of metasurface building elements on the first portion of the lens body and a second density of metasurface building elements on the second portion of the lens body that is different than the first density (Hong teaches through a combination of the shape, size, angle, density, and material properties of protrusions 22 and the shape, size, and density of the interstices 24, the assembly 16 may be formed to have a lower index of refraction than the lens body 12, thus reducing the amount of reflection caused by the lens 10 compared to the lens body 12 without the assembly 16, par. [0028], and the porosity can be adjusted by adjusting the incident angle A of the vapor flux, par. [0033]).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of Hong’s various embodiments to apply metasurface building elements in different densities across the dimensions of the lens by varying the incident angle of the vapor flux, to vary the optical properties of the lens to better correct aberrations in vision for the user (Hong, par. [0035]).
Regarding dependent claim 13, modified Hong discloses the ophthalmic lens of claim 1, and Hong further discloses wherein the lens body comprises a focal point, the arrangement of metasurface building elements being configured to modify the focal point (the shape, size, angle, density, and material properties of the nanostructures may be designed to modify the effective refractive index of the lens 10, par. [0027], where refractive indices and focal lengths are inversely related and thus the focal point of the lens is modified by the metasurface).
Regarding dependent claim 15, modified Hong discloses the ophthalmic lens of claim 1, and Hong further discloses wherein the ophthalmic lens is an intraocular device (Hong, Figs. 16 and 17, intraocular lens 150 is one type of ophthalmic lens that may be improved using any of the above described nanostructure assemblies 16, par. [0046]).
Regarding dependent claim 16, modified Hong discloses the ophthalmic lens of claim 15, and Hong further discloses wherein the lens body is substantially flat (Hong par. [0030], an alternative embodiment has the surface of the lens body that receives the anti-reflective assembly may be flat).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use the teachings of Hong to select a shape of the lens body to better fit the desired optical properties of the lens for the appropriate user (Hong, par. [0041]).
Regarding dependent claim 18, modified Hong discloses the ophthalmic lens of claim 1, and Hong further discloses wherein the ophthalmic lens is a contact lens (Hong claim 10, “The ophthalmic lens system of claim 1 wherein the lens body is a contact lens”).
Regarding dependent claim 22, modified Hong discloses the ophthalmic lens of claim 18, wherein the contact lens is a molded lens (Hong, claims 18 and 29, a method of forming an ophthalmic lens comprising: providing a lens body with a curved outer surface; modifying at least a portion of the curved outer surface to include a first assembly including a plurality of spaced apart nanostructures, said first assembly covering at least a portion of the curved outer surface casting the assembly from a mold ).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use the teachings of Hong to use a mold for mass production of a lens with a metasurface array of specific optical properties (Hong, par. [0040]).
Claim 5 and 20-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong in view of Bellido-Gonzalez as applied to claims 1 and 18 above, and further in view of Pugh et al. US PGPub 2014/0277433 A1 (of record, see Office action dated 03/10/2023, hereinafter, “Pugh”).
Regarding dependent claim 5, modified Hong discloses the ophthalmic lens of claim 1, but the prior art combination does not explicitly disclose wherein the aberration characteristic comprises one or both of a chromatic aberration or a monochromatic aberration (Hong teaches the utility of ophthalmic lenses for correcting vision, par. [0003], but does not explicitly teach chromatic or monochromatic aberrations as examples of such vision aberrations, and Bellido-Gonzalez is silent as to aberration characteristics and correction thereof).
In the same field of invention, Pugh teaches the lens-forming surface can have a geometry that is necessary to impart to the lens surface the desired optical characteristics, including without limitation, spherical, aspherical and cylinder power, wave front aberration correction, corneal topography correction and the like as well as any combinations thereof (par. [0033]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to apply the teachings of Pugh to the disclosure of Hong and recognize that the nanostructures of the ophthalmic lens disclosed by Hong can correct aberrations, either monochromatic or chromatic, those being the two broad categories of aberrations.
Regarding dependent claim 20, modified Hong discloses the ophthalmic lens of claim 18, but the prior art combination does not disclose wherein the contact lens is a hybrid lens, including a soft periphery (both Hong and Bellido-Gonzalez are silent as to the inclusion of a soft periphery, and the prior art references do not teach or suggest hybrid lenses).
In the same field of ophthalmic lenses, Pugh teaches periphery 155 of the ophthalmic Lens 150 may be a soft skirt material, including, for example, a hydrogel material (par. [0056]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to apply the teachings of Pugh to the teachings of Hong to design a hybrid lens with a soft periphery to keep the lens centered on the eye of the user, and increase comfort of the lens for the user, while the hard center provides vision correction (Pugh, par. [0054]).
Regarding dependent claim 21, modified Hong discloses the ophthalmic lens of claim 18, but the prior art combination does not disclose wherein the contact lens includes a hydrogel component (both Hong and Bellido-Gonzalez are silent as to the inclusion of a hydrogel component).
In the same field of ophthalmic lenses, Pugh teaches the preferred lenses of the invention are soft contact lenses are made from silicone elastomers or hydrogels, which include, for example, silicone hydrogels, and fluorohydrogels (par. [0031]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to apply the teachings of Pugh to modify the disclosure of Hong to design an ophthalmic lens with a hydrogel component for its increased oxygen permeability and for the comfort for the user (Pugh, par. [0056]).
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong in view of Bellido-Gonzalez as applied to claim 13 above, and further in view Zhou et al. US PGPub 2019/0302481 A1 (hereinafter, “Zhou”).
Regarding dependent claim 14, modified Hong discloses the ophthalmic lens of claim 13, but the prior art combination does not disclose wherein the modified focal point is configured to control myopia progression (both Hong and Bellido-Gonzalez are silent with respect to controlling myopia progression).
In the same field of invention, Zhou discloses methods for myopia progression control (refer to at least title and abstract, as well as at least par. [0008]). Fig. 21 of Zhou shows one embodiment in which one relatively thick optical medium is shaped such that its front surface is strongly concavely curved to function as a negative refracting element and its back surface is strongly convexly curved to function as a positive refracting element (pars. [0065], [0202]). Zhou further teaches negative and positive refractive powers of the first and second refractive element can be achieved with nano-structured metamaterial so the surfaces are relatively flat (par. [0202]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have applied the teachings of Zhou to the disclosure of Hong and noted that with such a design, the concept of myopia progression control can be applied to contact lens designs as well (Zhou, par. [0202]).
Claims 17 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong in view of Bellido-Gonzalez as applied to claims 1 and 15 above, and further in view of Linhardt et al. US PGPub 2017/0176774 A1 (of record, see Office action dated 03/10/2023, hereinafter, “Linhardt”).
Regarding dependent claim 17, modified Hong discloses the ophthalmic lens of claim 15, but the prior art combination does not explicitly disclose wherein the lens includes a portion having a thickness of 0.25 mm or less (Hong and Bellido-Gonzalez are silent as to thickness of the lens portions, or equivalents, disclosed therein).
In the same field of invention, Linhardt teaches an eye-mounted device (EMD) 200 that can have dimensions similar to a vision correction and/or cosmetic contact lens, such as a diameter of approximately 1 centimeter and a thickness of about 0.1 to about 0.5 millimeters. (par. [0034]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of Linhardt with the teachings of Hong to design an ophthalmic lens with a thickness of about 0.25 mm to optimize the mechanical characteristics of the lens, such as the balance between flexibility and rigidity of the lens, and to optimize oxygen permeability for the user (Linhardt, par. [0034]).
Regarding dependent claim 23, modified Hong discloses the ophthalmic lens of claim 1, but the prior art combination does not explicitly disclose wherein the ophthalmic lens is at least partially formed from a titanium dioxide material (Hong teaches silicon dioxide as an example of a suitable material, in par. [0032], and Bellido-Gonzalez teaches the particles may be formed of titanium compounds, such titanium diboride and titanium silicide, par. [0011], but neither reference teaches or suggests titanium dioxide for the ophthalmic lens).
In the same field of invention, Linhardt teaches examples of materials that can be used for ion storage layer 408 (see at least Fig. 4) include cesium oxide (nominally CeO2), titanium oxide (nominally TiO2), or a cesium oxide/zirconium oxide (e.g., CeO2/ZrO2) mixture (par. [0046]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to apply the teachings of Linhardt to the teachings of Hong to include TiO2 in the composition of the ophthalmic lens, recognizing the transparency of titanium dioxide to the visible light spectrum making it a good compound for use in lenses, as well as the compound’s biocompatibility for safe use by the wearer (Linhardt, par. [0024]).
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong in view of Bellido-Gonzalez as applied to claims 1 and 15 above, and further in view of Collins et al. US Patent 6,045,578 (of record, see Office action dated 03/10/2023, hereinafter, “Collins”).
Regarding dependent claim 19, modified Hong discloses the ophthalmic lens of claim 18, but the prior art combination does not disclose wherein the contact lens includes one of a rigid gas permeable ocular lens or a scleral lens (Hong does not specifically disclose lend body 12 is rigid gas permeable nor a scleral lens, and Bellido-Gonzalez does not disclose contact lenses).
In the related field of invention, Collins teaches corrective lenses, e.g., lens 52 shown in Fig. 4, where such corrective lenses can be formed as rigid or soft contact lens (col. 3, lines 43-44).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to apply the teachings of Collins to the teachings of Hong to recognize ophthalmic lenses only come in two general categories – soft or rigid – and would recognize the selection of rigid gas permeable or scleral lenses (which are larger hard contact lenses that rest on the user’s sclera rather than the cornea) would be one of the choices that could be made for the lens, and be motivated to choose rigid lenses for their durability compared to soft lenses (Collins, col. 3, lines 39-44).
Claim 55 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong in view of Bellido-Gonzalez as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Callahan et al. US PGPub 2003/0065387 A1 (hereinafter, “Callahan”).
Regarding dependent claim 55, modified Hong discloses the ophthalmic lens of claim 1, but the prior art combination does not disclose wherein the lens body is rollable or foldable, wherein the lens body when folded or rolled is configured to be passed through an incision of between 1 to 2 mm into the eye (Hong does not teach or suggest rollable or foldable lenses, and Bellido-Gonzalez does not teach or suggest contact lenses).
In the same field of invention, Callahan discloses a deformable artificial intraocular lens (refer to at least abstract and pars. [0010], [0024]), where Fig. 16A shows intraocular lens 10 being rolled (par. [0042]), and Callahan teaches intraocular lens 10 has a maximum thickness to allow the lens 10 to be rolled, squeezed, or otherwise compressed for insertion into an incision of less than 1.5 millimeters (par. [0056]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have applied the teachings of Callahan to the disclosure of Hong and made the lens body 12 of biocompatible, optically suitable, flexible, and moldable material (Callahan, par. [0132]) because Callahan teaches that small corneal incisions usually do not even require sutures to close the wound (Callahan, par. [0140]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 5, 7-23 and 55 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
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/JUSTIN W. HUSTOFT/Examiner, Art Unit 2872
/RICKY L MACK/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2872
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