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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed July 3rd, 2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-10 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.
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 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hamlaoui (US 2023/0314837) in view of Chalberg (US 2023/0181030), further in view of Ohlendorf (US 2024/0393615).
Regarding claim 1, Hamlaoui discloses an eyeglass lens (Figs. 1-2, element 10) for preventing and controlling myopia ([0074], “an example of myopia control optical lens 10”), comprising a lens body (12), wherein the lens body comprises:
a first area (as shown in Figs. 1-2, the center of the lens 10 is considered as the first area), the first area being a regular area formed with an optical centre of the lens body as a centre (as shown in Figs. 1-2, the center of the lens 10 is a first area), and the first area having a refractive power with a myopia correction function ([0074], “a refraction area 12”, the base lens has a refractive power);
a second area (as shown in Figs. 1-2, the periphery of lens 10 is considered as the second area), the second area being a peripheral area of the lens body (as shown in Figs. 1-2, the periphery of the lens 10 is a second area), and the second area being used for focusing an image on a position in front of a retina of an eye, to inhibit myopia development of the eye ([0075], “The prescription is for example adapted for correcting an abnormal refraction of the eye of the wearer”, as shown in Fig. 2, the convex shape of 10 will focus light to the retina); and
third areas (as shown in Figs. 1-2, the intermediate area between the center and periphery of 10 is considered the third area), the third areas being a plurality of island-shaped areas separate from one another on a portion of the lens body (14, as shown in Fig. 1, 14 are separate from one another) between the first area and the second area, and the third areas being used for cutting off or scattering light passing through the areas so as to reduce a contrast of a retinal image, to inhibit a refractive error of the eye ([0077], “the plurality of optical elements 14 have an optical function which combined with the refractive area provide a perturbated image, for example an image of reduced quality, on the retina of the wearer”).
Hamlaoui does not specifically disclose wherein the first area and the second area comprise a front surface and a rear surface of the lens body, either one or both of the front surface and the rear surface are free-form surfaces, either one or both of the front surface and the rear surface comprise a horizontal meridian and a vertical meridian, and the first area and the second area form areas comprising: a central area used for providing a positive refractive power for myopia correction; and a peripheral area comprising a progressive area symmetrically distributed on two sides of the vertical meridian and radiating outward from the central area.
However Chalberg, in the same field of endeavor because both teach an eyeglass lens, teaches wherein the first area (Figs. 1A and 1F-1H, 105F) and the second area (123F) comprise a front surface and a rear surface of the lens body (140, as shown in Fig. 1A, 140 has a front and rear surface), either one or both of the front surface and the rear surface are free-form surfaces ([0060], “Multi-focal or progressive lens with a radially symmetric pattern centered on the lens”), either one or both of the front surface and the rear surface comprise a horizontal meridian and a vertical meridian (Fig. 1F, 120F has a horizontal and vertical meridians), and the first area and the second area form areas comprising: a central area (121F) used for providing a positive refractive power for myopia correction (as shown in Fig. 1A, a convex center is utilized for the base lens for myopia correction); and a peripheral area comprising a progressive area symmetrically distributed on two sides of the vertical meridian and radiating outward from the central area (as shown in Fig. 1F, 123F and 124F are symmetric across the vertical median).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to have the eyeglass lens of Hamlaoui with the wherein the first area and the second area comprise a front surface and a rear surface of the lens body, either one or both of the front surface and the rear surface are free-form surfaces, either one or both of the front surface and the rear surface comprise a horizontal meridian and a vertical meridian, and the first area and the second area form areas comprising: a central area used for providing a positive refractive power for myopia correction; and a peripheral area comprising a progressive area symmetrically distributed on two sides of the vertical meridian and radiating outward from the central area as taught by Chalberg, for the purpose of manufacturing a lens utilizing inputs from a user ([0062]).
Modified Hamlaoui does not specifically disclose an area of the third areas is 25% ~ 45% of a sum of areas of the second area and the third areas.
However Ohlendorf, in the same field of endeavor because both teach an eyeglass lens, teaches an area of the third areas (Fig. 11, examiner interprets the area comprising 801-805 to be the third area) is 25% ~ 45% of a sum of areas of the second area (examiner interprets the second area to be the clear area surrounding 805) and the third areas (calculated based off of Fig. 11, the third area is 31% of the sum of the second and third areas).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to have the eyeglass lens of Hamlaoui in view of Chalberg with the area of the third areas is 25% ~ 45% of a sum of areas of the second area and the third areas as taught by Ohlendorf, for the purpose of improving comfortability of the lens ([0052]).
Regarding claim 2, Modified Hamlaoui teaches as is set forth in claim 1 rejection above and Hamlaoui further discloses wherein each separate island-shaped area (14) of the third areas is in a symmetrical shape, the symmetrical shape comprises a circular shape, a square shape and a regular hexagon shape ([0226], “The microlenses have a spherical front surface”), each separate island-shaped area of the third areas has a diameter of 0.1 mm-2.0 mm ([0226], “a microlens radius of 0.5 mm”, thus a diameter of 1.0mm), and spacing between adjacent separate island-shaped areas is 0.1 mm-3.0 mm ([0226], “a mesh step of 1.51 mm”).
Regarding claim 3, Modified Hamlaoui teaches as is set forth in claim 1 rejection above and Hamlaoui further discloses wherein the third areas are formed at a front surface or a rear surface of the lens body (as shown in Figs. 1-2, 14 is formed on a front surface of 10), the third areas form a regular area having the optical centre of the lens body (as shown in Figs. 1-2, elements 14 form a central circle) as a centre and having a diameter of 5.0 mm-22 mm (estimated using Fig. 2, the center diameter is 7.5 mm), and the regular area formed by the third areas comprises a circular shape, a shell shape, a triangle shape, a square shape and a regular hexagon shape (as shown in Figs. 1-2, the center area is a circular shape).
Regarding claim 4, Modified Hamlaoui teaches as is set forth in claim 1 rejection above and Hamlaoui further discloses wherein the third areas cut off or scatter light by reducing a degree of finish of a surface so as to reduce the contrast of imaging on the retina ([0082], “the optical elements 14 may be scattering elements creating scattered volumes of light in front and/or behind the retina of the wearer”).
Regarding claim 5, Modified Hamlaoui teaches as is set forth in claim 4 rejection above and Hamlaoui further discloses wherein an area of the third areas is 10%-80% of a sum of areas of the second area and the third areas ([0226], “a microlenses density of 40%”).
Regarding claim 6, Modified Hamlaoui teaches as is set forth in claim 1 rejection above and Hamlaoui further discloses wherein refractive powers of the first area and the second area vary through the optical centre of the lens body continuously and radially ([0075], “The refraction area may have a continuous variation of refractive power. For example, the refractive area may have a progressive addition design”).
Regarding claim 7, Modified Hamlaoui teaches as is set forth in claim 1 rejection above and Hamlaoui further discloses wherein the first area and the second area obtain different refractive powers by forming different surface shapes ([0075], “the refractive area may have a progressive addition design”, examiner interprets this to mean the first and second areas have different shapes).
Claims 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hamlaoui (US 2023/0314837) in view of Chalberg (US 2023/0181030), further in view of Ohlendorf (US 2024/0393615) and Chalberg2 (US 2022/0011602).
Regarding claim 9, modified Hamlaoui teaches as is set forth in claim 1 rejection above but does not specifically disclose wherein the first area and the second area form an area having a feature point offset from the optical centre of the lens body along a horizontal meridian, and the feature point has an additional refractive power of a refractive power being 0.40 D-2.00 D with respect to a correcting refractive power.
However Chalberg2, in the same field of endeavor because both teach an eyeglass lens, teaches wherein the first area (Figs. 1-2 and 8, 110) and the second area (140) form an area having a feature point offset (120) from the optical centre of the lens body along a horizontal meridian (examiner interprets this to be the horizontal axis of Fig. 1, as shown in Fig. 1, 120 is offset along both the vertical and horizontal meridians, [0056], “This offset can be 1 mm or more (e.g., 2 mm or more, 3 mm or more, 4 mm or more, 5 mm or more, 6 mm or more, 7 mm or more, such as 10 mm or less, 9 mm or less, 8 mm or less)”), and the feature point has an additional refractive power of a refractive power being 0.40 D-2.00 D with respect to a correcting refractive power ([0107], “Near-vision aperture 820 is located in this area of the lens … (e.g., +0.5 D or more, +0.75 D or more, +1.0 D or more, +1.25 D or more, +1.5 D or more”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to have the eyeglass lens of Hamlaoui in view of Chalberg further in view of Ohlendorf with the wherein the first area and the second area form an area having a feature point offset from the optical centre of the lens body along a horizontal meridian, and the feature point has an additional refractive power of a refractive power being 0.40 D-2.00 D with respect to a correcting refractive power as taught by Chalberg2, for the purpose of reducing eye-lengthening without impacting a user’s vision ([0034]).
Modified Hamlaoui does not specifically disclose a feature point offset from the optical centre by 20 mm.
However Chalberg2, in the same field of endeavor because both teach an eyeglass lens, teaches ([0056]) the offset can be 2mm or more from the center of the lens, thus demonstrating that the offset is a result effective variable as it confers to the user’s vision. Further, it appears that one of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success in modifying Hamlaoui to have a feature point offset from the optical centre by 20 mm, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges of a result-effective variable involves only routine skill in the art, MPEP2144.05.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to modify the eyeglass lens of Hamlaoui in view of Chalberg2 to have a feature point offset from the optical centre by 20 mm since it has been held that “where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation." In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955).
Regarding claim 10, modified Hamlaoui teaches as is set forth in claim 9 rejection above and Hamlaoui further discloses wherein the second area (peripheral edge of 10) has an additional refractive power with respect to the first area (center of 10) for focusing the image on the position in front of the retina of the eye, to inhibit myopia development of the eye ([0075], “The refraction area may have a continuous variation of refractive power. For example, the refractive area may have a progressive addition design”, examiner interprets this to mean the refractive power increases towards the edge of the lens).
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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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 mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW Y LEE whose telephone number is (571)272-3526. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 5:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Pinping Sun can be reached at (571) 270 - 1284. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MATTHEW Y LEE/Examiner, Art Unit 2872 10 October 2025
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