DETAILED ACTION
Status
The filing on 09/14/2025 amended claims 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18, cancelled claims 2 and 12. Claims 1, 3-11, and 13-20 are pending. The rejections of claims 1-3, 5, 10-13, 15, and 20 are maintained. Claims 1, 7-9, 11, and 17-19 are rejected on new grounds of rejections necessitated by the amendments of claims 1 and 11. Claims 4, 6, 14, and 16 are objected to and contain allowable subject matter/s.
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 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3, 5, 10-13, 15, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Umehara (US 20130249959 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Umehara teaches a projection device (Fig. 1-12), comprising: a casing structure (10), comprising a main casing (11) and at least one shielding structure (23), wherein the main casing (11) comprises a first wall and a second wall, the first wall extends along a first direction, the second wall extends along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, the first wall and the second wall of the main casing (11) partially enclose an inner space and has at least one heat dissipation opening (22), the at least one heat dissipation opening (22) comprises a gap formed between the first wall and the second wall, and the at least one shielding structure (23) is connected to an inner surface of the main casing (11) to be located in the inner space; a light source (12), disposed in an arrangement region of the inner space (Fig. 2) and adapted to provide an illumination beam; a light valve element (14), disposed in the arrangement region and adapted to convert the illumination beam into an image beam; and a projection lens (15), disposed in the arrangement region and adapted to project the image beam, wherein the at least one shielding structure (23) shades the at least one heat dissipation opening (22), such that the arrangement region is invisible from outside of the main casing (11).
Regarding claim 11, Umehara teaches a casing structure (10), comprising: a main casing (11), comprising a first wall and a second wall, the first wall extends along a first direction, the second wall extends along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, the first wall and the second wall of the main casing (11) partially enclose an inner space and has at least one heat dissipation opening (22), the at least one heat dissipation opening (22) comprises a gap formed between the first wall and the second wall, and at least one shielding structure (23), connected to an inner surface of the main casing (11) to be located in the inner space (Fig. 2), wherein the at least one shielding structure (23) shades the at least one heat dissipation opening (22), such that the arrangement region is invisible from outside of the main casing (11).
PNG
media_image1.png
465
556
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Regarding claims 3 and 13, Umehara further teaches the at least one shielding structure (23) is connected to the first wall and extends along the second direction (Fig. 4B).
Regarding claims 5 and 15, Umehara further teaches the at least one shielding structure comprises a first shielding structure (Fig. 4B) and a second shielding structure Fig. 4B), the first shielding structure is connected to the first wall (vertical/horizontal wall) and extends along the second direction, and the second shielding structure is connected to the second wall (horizontal/vertical wall) and extends along a direction opposite to the first direction (Fig. 4B).
Regarding claims 10 and 20, Umehara further teaches the at least one heat dissipation opening is an air outlet or an air inlet ([0033]).
Claims 1, 7-9, 11, and 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Chiu (US 20180314139 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Chiu teaches a projection device (Fig. 1-8), comprising: a casing structure (Fig. 1-8), comprising a main casing (122, 124) and at least one shielding structure (12442), wherein the main casing (122, 124) comprises a first wall (12242/12444) and a second wall (12444/12242), the first wall (12242/12444) extends along a first direction, the second wall (12444/12242) extends along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, the first wall (12242/12444) and the second wall (12444/12242) of the main casing (122, 124) partially enclose an inner space and has at least one heat dissipation opening (126b), the at least one heat dissipation opening (126b) comprises a gap formed between the first wall (12242/12444) and the second wall (12444/12242), and the at least one shielding structure (12442) is connected to an inner surface of the main casing (122, 124) to be located in the inner space; a light source (146), disposed in an arrangement region of the inner space and adapted to provide an illumination beam; a light valve element (144), disposed in the arrangement region and adapted to convert the illumination beam into an image beam; and a projection lens (142), disposed in the arrangement region and adapted to project the image beam, wherein the at least one shielding structure (12442) shades the at least one heat dissipation opening (126b), such that the arrangement region is invisible from outside of the main casing (122, 124).
Regarding claim 11, Chiu teaches a casing structure (Fig. 1-8), comprising: a main casing (122, 124), comprising a first wall (12242/12444) and a second wall (12444/12242), the first wall (12242/12444) extends along a first direction, the second wall (12444/12242) extends along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, the first wall (12242/12444) and the second wall (12444/12242) of the main casing (122, 124) partially enclose an inner space and has at least one heat dissipation opening (126b), the at least one heat dissipation opening (126b) comprises a gap formed between the first wall (12242/12444) and the second wall (12444/12242), and at least one shielding structure (12442; Fig. 5 and 6), connected to an inner surface of the main casing (122, 124) to be located in the inner space, wherein the at least one shielding structure (12442) shades the at least one heat dissipation opening (126b), such that the arrangement region is invisible from outside of the main casing (122, 124).
Regarding claims 7 and 17, Chiu further teaches the main casing (122, 124) comprises a first casing (122/124) and a second casing (124/122) assembled to each other, the at least one heat dissipation opening (126b) is a gap between the first casing (122/124) and the second casing (124/122), and the at least one shielding structure (12442) is formed on the first casing (122/124) or the second casing (124/122).
Regarding claims 8 and 18, Chiu further teaches the main casing (122, 124) comprises a first casing (122/124) and a second casing (124/122) assembled to each other, and the at least one heat dissipation opening (126b) and the at least one shielding structure (12442) are formed on the first casing (122/124).
Regarding claims 9 and 19, Chiu further teaches the at least one shielding structure (12442) is at least one rib integrally formed on the main casing (122, 124; Fig. 3-8).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 6, 14, and 16 are objected to as being dependent upon rejected base claims, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claims and any intervening claims.
Regarding claims 4, 6, 14, and 16, Umehara and Zhang do not teach “a width of an orthogonal projection of the second wall on the first wall along the first direction is a, a width of the at least one heat dissipation opening along the second direction is b, a shortest distance, along the first direction, between an end of the first wall adjacent to the at least one heat dissipation opening and a surface of the at least one shielding structure facing the at least one heat dissipation opening is h, a length of the at least one shielding structure along the second direction is w, and w is equal to or greater than h*(b/a)” (claims 4 and 14) or “a width of an orthogonal projection of the second wall on the first wall along the first direction is a, a width of the at least one heat dissipation opening along the second direction is b, a distance between the first shielding structure and an end of the first wall adjacent to the at least one heat dissipation opening along the first direction is h, a distance between the second shielding structure and the at least one heat dissipation opening along the second direction is h′, a length of the first shielding structure along the second direction is w, a length of the second shielding structure along the first direction is w′, w′ is equal to or greater than h′*(a/b), and w is equal to or greater than h*((b+h′)/(a+w′))” (claims 6 and 16). Furthermore, there is no teaching, suggestion or motivation in the prior art references to modify the references in such manner that results in the above claimed limitation/s; hence the invention as claimed by claim 4, 6, 14, and 16 is not obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention.
Response to Arguments
Claims 1, 7-9, 11, and 17-19 are rejected based on new ground of rejection/s necessitated by the amendment/s of claims 1 and 11; hence the arguments with respect to claims 1, 7-9, 11, and 17-19 are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 1 and 11, with respect to Umehara, have been fully considered but are found not persuasive; hence the rejection/s of claims 1-3, 5, 10-13, 15, and 20 in view of Umehara are maintained. The amendment/s of claims 1 and 11 prompt a new interpretation of the Umehara reference, see above.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BAO-LUAN Q LE whose telephone number is (571)270-5362. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday; 9:00AM-5:00PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Minh-Toan Ton can be reached on (571) 272 230303. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
Any response to this action should be mailed to:
Commissioner for Patents
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450
Or faxed to:
(571) 273-8300, (for formal communications intended for entry)
Or:
(571) 273-7490, (for informal or draft communications, please label “PROPOSED” or “DRAFT”)
Hand-delivered responses should be brought to:
Customer Service Window
Randolph Building
401 Dulany Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
/BAO-LUAN Q LE/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2882