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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 04/03/2026 has been entered. Presently, Claims 1-2, 4-5, 7-8 and 10-13 remain pending.
Response to Arguments
On Page 9, Paragraph 2 of Remarks, Applicant argues that, regarding Claim 1’s two-member rear cover, reference Trapero Martin does not show a rear cover, and reference Venkatraman lacks a first member and a second member as configured in Claim 1. On Page 9, Paragraph 3 of Remarks, Applicant argues that, regarding Claim 1’s blocking structure, Venkatraman’s disclosed gasket/adhesive is not disposed between a first member and a sensor housing at a first hole as claimed. On Page 9, Paragraph 4 of Remarks, Applicant argues that, regarding Claim 1’s sealing member between the first member and the second member, neither Trapero Martin nor Venkatraman discloses such disposed sealing member. On Page 10, Paragraph 1 of Remarks, Applicant argues that, regarding Claim 1, Venkatraman’s disclosed layer 330 is described as “a sealing/transparent layer”, so is “not a sensor housing with a portion disposed in a rear-cover hole as claimed” and “not defining a light-receiving opening with a lens disposed in that opening”. On Page 10, Paragraph 2 of Remarks, Applicant argues that, regarding Claim 1’s second biometric sensor, the claimed second biometric sensor “is disposed between the PCB and the second member (the member that closes the central opening) and faces the rear cover”, and Trapero Martin’s emitters/photodetectors is in the context of a patch/module housing, not disclosing a second member closing a central opening of a first member, nor the claimed positioning of an sensor relative to such a second member as claimed. The above listed arguments by Applicant are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection which relies on a new reference Venugopal et al (US 20210093237 A1) to disclose these limitations in the claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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, 4, 7-8 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Venugopal et al (US 20210093237 A1; hereafter Venugopal), in view of Venkatraman et al (US 20160166197 A1; hereafter Venkatraman).
With regard to Claim 1, Venugopal discloses a wearable electronic device (Venugopal, Para 0005; “Embodiments of the systems, devices, methods, and apparatus described in the present disclosure are directed to a wearable device used for pulse oximetry.”) comprising:
a device housing (Venugopal, Para 0008; “… the present disclosure describes a wearable device that may include a housing …”) including a frame and a rear cover (Venugopal, Para 0057; “a smart watch or a sport watch, or any type of biometric device, …, with a front side 105 and a back side 110”) connected to the frame (Venugopal, Fig. 1B shows the rear cover of the device to be connected to a frame or side wall (the side where the two buttons are disposed on)), the rear cover being configured to at least partially contact a body of a user while the wearable electronic device is worn by the user (Venugopal, Para 0058; “The back side 110 of the wearable device 100 may be the skin-facing side, which may be adjacent to the skin of the user wearing the wearable device 100.”), wherein the rear cover includes a first member (Venugopal, Para 0097; “the back side 510 of the wearable device may include the back cover 507.”) and a second member (Venugopal, Para 0099; “Window 563 (as illustrated in FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C) may be in a central portion (or center) of the wearable device …”), the first member including a first opening at a central portion thereof (The opening under window 563 in the cited Fig. 5B corresponds to the claimed first opening) and a first hole spaced apart from the first opening (Venugopal, Para 0099; “The back cover 507 or skin-facing cover may have openings which may extend through the back cover …”. The opening under window 550 in the cited Fig. 5B corresponds to the claimed first hole), and the second member (window 563) coupled to the first member to close the first opening (As shown in the cited Fig. 5B, window 563 is aligned with the central opening);
Fig. 5B of Venugopal
PNG
media_image1.png
165
555
media_image1.png
Greyscale
a printed circuit board (PCB) disposed in the housing (Venugopal, Para 0093; “the emitter 405, the near detector 430, and the far detector 435 may be mounted to a printed circuit board (PCB) …”);
a first biometric sensor (near detector 430) disposed between the PCB and the first member (Venugopal, Para 0093; “the back cover 507, in combination with the PCB and one or more components that form the set of optical barriers (or walls), may define different cavities in which … the near detector 430 … are separately housed.”) and aligned with the first hole (as shown in Fig. 4, near detector 430 is aligned with the opening covered by window 450, which corresponds to the claimed first hole), wherein the first biometric sensor includes a sensor housing having a portion disposed in the first hole (Venugopal, Para 0017; “… inserting a hollow cylinder into a back cover opening of a wearable device, wherein the hollow cylinder has a centrally located opening … the hollow cylinder may … may form an optical barrier between light emitted by an emitter … and a detector …”. . Fig. 4 shows an example where detector 430 is disposed in such a housing or optical barrier in shape of a cylinder), the portion defining a light-receiving hole (Venugopal, Para 0017; “… wherein the hollow cylinder has a centrally located opening …”. In Fig. 4, the space where window 450 occupies corresponds to the opening or the claimed light-receiving hole), and a first lens (windows 450) disposed in the light receiving hole (Venugopal, Para 0092; “… the windows 450 for the near detector 430 … may sit on or abut ledges 470 … windows … 450 … may be formed of sapphire, glass, plastic, or other materials”);
a second biometric sensor including at least one light emitter and at least one light receiver (Venugopal, Para 0099; “… window 563 may be employed to enable an optical sensor … an IR LED or other emitter may in some cases emit IR light through a central window, and an IR detector may detect a portion of the emitted IR light that is returned through the central window after reflecting or scattering off of a user.”) and being disposed between the PCB and the second member (Venugopal, Fig. 2 shows that the sensors in the central region are on a same layer as the surrounding sensors (corresponding to claimed first biometric sensor as discussed above), so are between PCB and back cover 507) and aligned with the first opening to face the rear cover (Venugopal, Para 0099; “Window 563 (as illustrated in FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C) may be in a central portion (or center) of the wearable device …”),
a blocking approach between the first member and the sensor housing and configured to prevent or reduce foreign substances from being introduced through the first hole (Venugopal, Para 0017; “… fusing the hollow cylinder to the back cover to form a mechanical bond between materials of the hollow cylinder and the back cover …”); and
a sealing member (Venugopal, Para 0100; “The windows may be bonded in place to the back cover 507 … The windows may be bonded using any appropriate method such as an adhesive …”) disposed between the first member and the second member and configured to prevent or reduce foreign substances from being introduced through the first opening (The disclosed adhesive secures the window 563 to the back cover 507 (see Fig. 5B), so at least reduce foreign substances from being introduced into the device),
wherein the first biometric sensor (near detector 430) is configured to detect first biometric information of the user (Venugopal, Para 0011; “… determine the subset of received red light and infrared light used to determined blood oxygenation …”) based on light of a designated wavelength band (red light), which passes through the first lens (Venugopal, Para 0095; “The red light may pass through the window 445 to the tissue 465. The red light may reflect off a first area of tissue and back through the window 450 to be received or detected by the near detector 430.”), and
wherein the second biometric sensor (optical sensor behind window 563) is configured to detect second biometric information that is different from the first biometric information (Venugopal, Para 0095; “… window 563 may be employed to enable an optical sensor to detect whether the wearable device is contacting a user's skin, or to monitor a user's heart rate”).
Venugopal does not explicitly and clearly disclose a blocking structure disposed between the first member and the sensor housing.
Venkatraman in the same field of endeavor discloses a blocking structure disposed between the first member and the sensor housing (Venkatraman, Para 0034; “The optically transparent layer 330 may be attached to the device body 210 via a pressure-sensitive adhesive 310 and a liquid gasket 305 may be provided to seal the wearable device 10.”, as shown in Fig. 4). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Venugopal, as suggested by Venkatraman, in order to use blocking structure to seal opening and sensor housing. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification of protecting interior of a device from being contaminated by dust and water so as to ensure the device’s normal function.
With regard to Claim 4, Venugopal and Venkatraman disclose the wearable electronic device of claim 1. Venugopal further discloses wherein the first biometric sensor (near detector 430) includes:
a first board (the board (pointed by a solid arrow) in the cited Fig. 4 below), and;
a sensor part disposed in the first board (As shown in the cited Fig. 4 of Venugopal, sensor 430 is mounted on the bottom side of the board), wherein the sensor part is disposed to face the first lens to receive the light of the designated wavelength band, which passes through the first lens (As shown in the cited Fig. 4 of Venugopal, sensor 430 faces window 450 to receive light from an infrared light emitter 405b),
wherein the sensor housing surrounds the sensor part (As shown in the cited Fig. 4 of Venugopal, the two vertical walls (pointed by two dotted arrows) on two sides of sensor 430 are cross-sectional view of optical barrier in a shape of hollow cylinder (Para 0017), so the hollow cylinder surrounds the sensor 430).
Fig. 4 of Venugopal
PNG
media_image2.png
413
832
media_image2.png
Greyscale
With regard to Claim 7, Venugopal and Venkatraman disclose the wearable electronic device of claim 4, but as discussed above do not explicitly and clearly disclose wherein the blocking structure includes a waterproof adhesion layer interposed between the sensor housing and the first member.
Venkatraman further discloses wherein the blocking structure includes a waterproof adhesion layer interposed between the sensor housing and the first member (Venkatraman, Para 0034; “The optically transparent layer 330 may be attached to the device body 210 via a pressure-sensitive adhesive 310 and a liquid gasket 305 may be provided to seal the wearable device 10.”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Venugopal and Venkatraman, as further suggested by Venkatraman, in order to include an adhesive to seal between a sensor window and device body. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of securing a sensor window to device so as to maintain stable function and also preventing dust and water from entering the device.
With regard to Claim 8, Venugopal and Venkatraman disclose the wearable electronic device of claim 7, but as discussed above do not explicitly and clearly disclose wherein the sensor housing includes a first part disposed on the first board to surround the sensor part, a second part extending from an inner periphery of the first part along the sensor part, and a third part extending from the second part toward the first lens, and defining the light-receiving hole,
wherein the second part and the third part are at least partially disposed in the first hole, and
wherein the waterproof adhesion layer includes:
a first layer interposed between the first part and the first member; and
a second layer interposed between a first inner peripheral surface of the first hole and the second part, and between the first inner peripheral surface and the third part.
Venkatraman further discloses wherein the sensor housing (Venkatraman, Para 0035; “An optically transparent layer 330 may be placed on the lower surface of the PPG sensor 300 to form a seal.”) includes a first part disposed on the first board to surround the sensor part, a second part extending from an inner periphery of the first part along the sensor part, and a third part extending from the second part toward the first lens, and defining the light-receiving hole (Venkatraman, Fig. 4: the optically transparent layer 330 in this figure shows the same structure as the combination of sensor housing 407 and lens 409 in Fig. 5B of the application. Specifically, the optically transparent layer of Venkatraman includes a first part disposed on PCB (325), a second part extending from the first part along the sensor parts (light sources 315 and photodetector 320), and a third part extending from the second part toward the center region of the layer (i.e. the lens)),
wherein the second part and the third part are at least partially disposed in the first hole (Venkatraman, Fig. 4: the second part and the third part, i.e. the lower portion of the optically transparent layer 330, are inserted into the shown hole of the device body 210.), and
wherein the waterproof adhesion layer includes:
a first layer (liquid gasket 305) interposed between the first part and the first member (Venkatraman, Fig. 4: liquid gasket 305 is interposed between the first part of the optically transparent layer 330 and an inner peripheral surface of the hole of device body 210.); and
a second layer (pressure-sensitive adhesive 310) interposed between a first inner peripheral surface of the first hole and the second part, and between the first inner peripheral surface and the third part (Venkatraman, Fig. 4: pressure-sensitive adhesive 310 is interposed between a first inner peripheral surface of the hole and the second part of the optically transparent layer 330, and also between a first inner peripheral surface of the hole and the third part of the optically transparent layer 330).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Venugopal and Venkatraman, as further suggested by Venkatraman, in order to include a multiple-layer sealing to seal between a device’s opening and sensor’s housing. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of securing a sensor window to device so as to maintain stable function and also preventing dust and water from entering the device.
With regard to Claim 10, Venugopal and Venkatraman disclose the wearable electronic device of claim 1. Venugopal further discloses wherein the first lens includes a first surface that faces an outside of the wearable electronic device (Venugopal, Para 0094; “The light reflected from the arterial blood flood and/or that has passed through a user's arterial blood and/or tissue 465 may pass through the windows 450 to the near detector 430”; also shown in the cited Fig. 4 of Venugopal (in discussion of Claim 4), window 450 has a surface facing tissue 465), and
wherein the first lens is disposed in an interior of the first hole such that the first surface is spaced apart from a rear surface of the wearable electronic device (Venugopal, Para 0123; “The windows 650 may be disposed in the frit center opening …”. As shown in the cited Fig. 6C below, the exterior surface of window 650 is spaced apart from the back cover of the device).
Fig. 6C of Venugopal
PNG
media_image3.png
309
422
media_image3.png
Greyscale
Claim 2 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Venugopal and Venkatraman, further in view of Seo et al (US 20200304618 A1; hereafter Seo).
With regard to Claim 2, Venugopal and Venkatraman disclose the wearable electronic device of claim 1, but do not explicitly and clearly disclose wherein the first biometric sensor is configured to detect a temperature as the first biometric information, based on the light of the designated wavelength band.
Seo in the same field of endeavor discloses wherein the first biometric sensor is configured to detect a temperature as the first biometric information, based on the light of the designated wavelength band (Seo, Para 0196; “the temperature sensor 143 includes …, a second element 440, a sensor cover 450, and a filter 460.”) (Seo, Para 0229; “The sensor cover 450 is provided with a filter 460 covering the hole 455 and transmitting only the wavelength band of the infrared region to perform optical focusing.”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Venugopal and Venkatraman, as suggested by Seo, in order to use the optical sensor to measure temperature as biometric information. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of making use of infrared light from the subject to measure temperature in a non-contact way (Seo, Para 0002; “A general non-contact infrared sensor includes a first element for absorbing infrared rays radiated from a measurement object to generate an electrical signal, and a second element for sensing temperature by amplifying and filtering an electrical signal generated from the first element”).
With regard to Claim 13, Venugopal and Venkatraman disclose the wearable electronic device of claim 1. Venugopal further discloses wherein the rear cover includes sapphire glass (Venugopal, Para 0065; “The back cover 107 and/or windows 120 may be formed of sapphire …”). Venugopal and Venkatraman as discussed above do not disclose wherein the first lens includes a silicon lens.
Seo in the same field of endeavor discloses wherein the first lens includes a silicon lens (Seo; Para 0250; “the temperature sensor 143 may have a hole formed on an upper surface thereof, and a filter (to be described later) may be disposed at the formed hole. The filter may be a spherical silicon lens.”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Venugopal and Venkatraman, as suggested by Seo, in order to use a silicon lens. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of improved performance of the device by enabling transmitting infrared rays through the silicon lens (Seo, Para 0230; “… a spherical or aspherical lens formed of a material capable of transmitting infrared rays, including silicon”).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Venugopal and Venkatraman, further in view of Shimizu (US 20150173675 A1; hereafter Shimizu).
With regard to Claim 5, Venugopal and Venkatraman disclose the wearable electronic device of claim 4. Venugopal further discloses comprising at least one processor operatively connected to the first biometric sensor and the second biometric sensor (Venugopal, Para 0152; “… a system bus or other communication mechanism 1014 may provide communication between the processor 1004, the power source 1006, the memory 1008, the sensor system 1010, and/or the I/O mechanism 1012.”. All the disclosed sensors are part of the disclosed sensor system 1010, so are operatively connected to the processor 1004).
Venugopal and Venkatraman do not explicitly and clearly disclose wherein the first biometric sensor includes an elastic member comprising an elastic material disposed between the first board and the PCB, and
wherein the elastic member provides an elastic force in a direction that faces the lens, to the first board.
Shimizu in the same field of endeavor discloses wherein the first biometric sensor includes an elastic member (shock absorber 92) comprising an elastic material (Shimizu, Para 0136; “As the shock absorbers 90 and 92, for example, a member such as a urethane material may be employed.”) disposed between the first board and the PCB (Shimizu, Para 0135; “the shock absorber 92 is provided between the circuit board 160 and the sensor substrate 45.”), and
wherein the elastic member provides an elastic force in a direction that faces the lens, to the first board (Shimizu, Fig. 9 shows the elastic member (shock absorber 92) to be disposed immediately above the board (sensor substrate 45), and facing the lens (light transmitting member 50).)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Venugopal and Venkatraman, as suggested by Shimizu, in order to include an elastic member between the board and the printed circuit board to provide force to the board in a direction facing the lens. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of stably supporting the board and the printed circuit board inside the device (Shimizu, Para 0036; “… if the shock absorber is provided, the circuit board and the sensor substrate can be stably supported in the case unit, and occurrence of rattling or the like of the components can be suppressed.”).
Claims 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Venugopal and Venkatraman, further in view of Hettler et al (US 20210251509 A1; hereafter Hettler) and Han et al (US 20200264343 A1; hereafter Han).
With regard to Claim 11, Venugopal and Venkatraman disclose the wearable electronic device of claim 1. Venugopal further discloses wherein the first lens includes a first surface that faces an outside of the wearable electronic device, and a second surface in an opposite direction to the first surface (As shown in the cited Fig. 4 of Venugopal (in discussion of Claim 4), window 450 has an exterior surface facing tissue 465 and an interior surface facing sensor 430).
Venugopal and Venkatraman do not disclose wherein the first lens has a plurality of fine holes that extend from the first surface to the second surface and pass through the first lens, and
wherein the wearable electronic device includes a first protection layer and/or a second protection layer disposed on the first surface and/or the second surface of the first lens.
Hettler in the same field of endeavor discloses wherein the first lens (window 9) has a plurality of fine holes (regions denoted as 14) that extend from the first surface to the second surface and pass through the first lens (Hettler, Fig. 7 shows a plurality of holes (denoted as 14) in the window 9). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Venugopal and Venkatraman, as suggested by Hettler, in order to include a plurality of fine holes extending from one surface to the other surface of the lens. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of filling in the holes with materials of different refractive index to reduce optical noise (Hettler, Para 0186; “When using a fiber-optic plate 16, the light, when injected into the optical fibers, remains within the respective individual light-conducting fibers, so that backscattering of light within the fiber-optic plate 16 onto the receiver diode 11 cannot occur, or at least to a much lesser degree.”).
Venugopal, Venkatraman and Hettler do not disclose wherein the wearable electronic device includes a first protection layer and/or a second protection layer disposed on the first surface and/or the second surface of the first lens.
Han in the same field of endeavor discloses wherein the wearable electronic device includes a first protection layer and/or a second protection layer disposed on the first surface and/or the second surface of the first lens (Han, Para 0085; “A protection layer 151 covering the plurality of second nanostructures NS2 may further be included in the meta-lens 101.”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Venugopal, Venkatraman and Hettler, as suggested by Han, in order to add a protection layer on one or both surfaces of the lens. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of protecting the nanostructures inside the lens and thus maintaining the lens’ function.
With regard to Claim 12, Venugopal, Venkatraman, Hettler and Han disclose the wearable electronic device of claim 11, but as discussed above do not disclose comprising optic members filled in the plurality of fine holes, respectively.
Hettler further discloses comprising optic members (fibers 14) filled in the plurality of fine holes, respectively (Hettler, Para 0158; “… a fiber-optic plate is made up of fibers 14, such as glass fibers, which are embedded in a cladding material 15 …”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Venugopal, Venkatraman, Hettler and Han, as further suggested by Hettler, in order to fill optical members in the holes of the lens. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of effectively guiding light to transmit from one side of the lens to the other side (Hettler, Para 0082; “Due to the lower refractive index of the cladding material compared to the material of the fibers, total internal reflection occurs so that individual light guides are defined.”).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LEI ZHANG whose telephone number is (571)272-7172. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-5pm E.T..
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Pascal Bui-Pho can be reached at (571) 272-2714. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/L.Z./Examiner, Art Unit 3798
/PASCAL M BUI PHO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3798
Prosecution Insights