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 .
Claims 1-20 are currently pending in the present application.
Claims 1 and 20 are currently amended; claims 2-7 and 9-19 are original; and claim 8 has been previously presented.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 27 May 2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments have been fully considered but are rendered moot in light of the new rejections below.
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 (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 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.
Claim(s) 1-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Smith (US11662550).
Re: claim 1, Smith discloses a display panel 104 (Fig. 2) which displays an image on an image display surface thereof (Figs. 1, 2; col. 4, lines 3-10); at least one lens frame 112 (col. 5, lines 48-50 disclose Fresnel, concave and/or convex) disposed on the image display surface (disposition disclosed in Fig. 2), wherein the at least one lens frame refracts image display lights emitted from the image display surface (capability disclosed in at least Fig. 2 & col. 5, lines 48-50 where Fresnel, concave and convex lenses inherently refract light); and at least one multi-channel lens 114 (col. 5, lines 48-50 disclose that lens 114 is a Fresnel lens) which forms exit paths of the image display lights refracted by the at least one lens frame for each of multiple channels thereof (capability disclosed in at least Fig. 2 & col. 5, lines 48-50 where light output from lens 112 is input into lens 114 and where a channel corresponds to a facet or the center of the Fresnel lens), wherein each of the at least one multi-channel lens includes a plurality of subsidiary lens (col. 5, lines 48-50 where a subsidiary lens is comprised of a facet of the Fresnel lens) corresponding to the multiple channels, respectively, and arranged in a circular shape or a clover shape to surround a center thereof (in a circular Fresnel lens, the facets inherently are arranged in concentric circles around a center where Figs. 1 & 2 disclose that lens 114 is circular).
Re: claim 2, Smith discloses the limitations of claim 1, and Smith further discloses that the at least one lens frame 112 comprises first and second lens frames disposed in line with positions of a user's left and right eyes, respectively (disposition disclosed in Figs. 1, 2), and wherein the first and second lens frames refract the image display lights output from the image display surface of the display panel 104 toward a front side at a predetermined angle in an outward direction or toward an outer periphery to output the image display lights to rear surfaces of the at least one multi-channel lenses (capability disclosed in Figs. 1-3).
Re: claim 3, Smith discloses the limitations of claim 1, and Smith further discloses that the at least one multi-channel lens 114 comprises first and second multi-channel lenses disposed in line with the first and second lens frames (first & second lenses so disposed disclosed in Figs. 1, 2), respectively, and wherein the first and second multi-channel lenses 114 pass the image display lights refracted by the first and second lens frames 112 through different paths for the multiple channels, to transmit the image display lights to the user's left and right eyes through channels of the different paths (capability disclosed in Figs. 1, 2 & col. 5, lines 48-50 where lenses 114 are Fresnel lenses).
Re: claim 4, Smith discloses the limitations of claim 2 and Smith further discloses that each of the first and second lens frames 112 comprises a lens sheet having an area and a shape corresponding to the image display surface of the display panel (sheet, area & shape disclosed in Figs. 1, 2); and a plurality of optical lenses disposed on a front surface of the lens sheet (plurality of optical lenses disclosed in col. 5, lines 48-50 where first & second lens frames are Fresnel lenses where an optical lens is a facet of the Fresnel lens), wherein the plurality of optical lenses refracts the image display lights passed through the lens sheet in an outward direction (capability to transmit and pass light through outwardly disclosed in at least Figs. 2, 3) or toward an outer periphery of the lens sheet to output the image display lights.
Re: claim 5, Smith discloses the limitations of claim 4 and Smith further discloses that the plurality of optical lenses (col. 5, lines 48-50) is formed in a ring type (ring shape disclosed in Figs. 1, 2) having different circumferences from each other, and is arranged in a form of a plurality of concentric circles on the front surface of the lens sheet to cover the front surface of the lens sheet (col. 5, lines 48-50 where the facets of a ring-shaped Fresnel lens are concentric circles surrounding a center portion)
Re: claim 6, Smith discloses the limitations of claim 4, and Smith further discloses that one or more structural characteristics of length, area and width of adjacent optical lenses of the plurality of optical lenses are different from each other (col. 5, lines 48-50 where the area of the concentric circles of facets disposed around a center in a Fresnel lens increases as the distance from the center increases).
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.
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Smith in view of Goward (US11972895).
Re: claim 20, Smith discloses a main frame 106 mounted on a user's body (head-mounted disclosed in Fig. 1); a display device 104 mounted on the main frame (Fig. 1 discloses mounted), wherein the display device displays an image (Figs. 1, 2; col. 4, lines 3-10); wherein the display device comprises: a display panel 104 which displays the image on an image display surface thereof (Figs. 1, 2; col. 4, lines 3-10);at least one lens frame 112 disposed on the image display surface (Fig. 2), wherein the at least one lens frame refracts image display lights emitted from the image display surface (capability disclosed in at least Fig. 2 & col. 5, lines 48-50 where Fresnel, concave and convex lenses inherently refract light); and at least one multi-channel lens 114 (col. 5, lines 48-50 disclose that lens 114 is a Fresnel lens) which forms exit paths of the image display lights refracted by the at least one lens frame for each of multiple channels thereof (capability disclosed in at least Fig. 2 & col. 5, lines 48-50 where light output from lens 112 is input into lens 114 and where a channel corresponds to a facet or the center of the Fresnel lens), wherein each of the at least one multi-channel lens includes a plurality of subsidiary lens (col. 5, lines 48-50 where a subsidiary lens is comprised of a facet of the Fresnel lens) corresponding to the multiple channels, respectively, and arranged in a circular shape or a clover shape to surround a center thereof (in a circular Fresnel lens, the facets inherently are arranged in concentric circles around a center where Figs. 1 & 2 disclose that lens 114 is circular).
Smith does not explicitly disclose a cover frame covering the display device.
Goward discloses a cover frame 1202 (Figs. 11, 12) covering the display device 1115(A), 1115(B) (covering disclosed in Figs. 11, 12).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at a time before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a cover frame covering the display device, as disclosed in Goward, applied to the device disclosed by Smith for the purpose of protecting the displays from environmental and/or impact damage.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANGELA MEDICH whose telephone number is (313)446-4819. The examiner can normally be reached M-T & Th-F 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM ET.
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/ANGELA M. MEDICH/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871
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