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 .
Response to Election/Restriction
Applicant’s election of Group I without traverse in the reply filed on 12/24/2025 is acknowledged. The claims 1-3, 6-13, 16 and 18-20 are pending. Claims 4, 5, 14, 15 and 17 are withdrawn. The examination results are as following.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 06/22/2023 and 09/30/2024 being considered by the examiner. A copy of initialed form is attached for Applicant’s record.
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.
Claims 1, 2, 7, 8, 13 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Archambeau et al. (WO2011036420 of record).
Regarding claim 1, Archambeau discloses an optical device for a wearer comprising: at least one electrochromic cell (100) which comprises a rear shell (11) and a front shell (10) and respectively defining for the optical device a backside surface proximal to at least one eye of the wearer and an opposite front surface, the rear shell and the front shell being provided with at least one pair of transparent electrodes (1, 2, 3, 4) and delimiting a sealed cavity filled with an electrochromic composition (13),
wherein one of the front shell and the rear shell comprises a mineral glass substrate and the other one comprises an organic polymeric substrate (page 10, lines 5 - 13), and
wherein the electrochromic cell forms a hybrid mineral-organic ophthalmic lens (page 1, line 25 - page 2, line 5, page 7, lines 17 - 19) selected from piano lenses and prescription lenses satisfying a prescription for power correction (i.e. piano lenses as illustrated in the figures or a spectacle lens, see page 10, lines 5 - 13).
Regarding claim 2, Archambeau discloses the optical device of claim 1, wherein the front shell of the device comprises said mineral glass substrate and the rear shell comprises said organic polymeric substrate.
Regarding claims 7 and 20, Archambeau disclose the optical device of claim 1, wherein the rear shell comprises the organic polymeric substrate, which is a monolayer or multilayer, according to a weight fraction greater than 50%, the organic polymeric substrate being based on at least one thermoplastic, thermosetting or photo-cured polymer (page 10, lines 9-10).
Regarding claim 8, Archambeau discloses the optical device of claim 7, wherein the organic polymeric substrate of Archambeau is based on at least one transparent thermoplastic polymer for example selected from:
- (meth)acrylic (co)polymers, in particular polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA),
- triacetate of cellulose (TAC),
- polyesters, such as polyethylene furanoate (PEF), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or
polyethylene naphthalate (PEN),
- copolyesters,
- polycarbonate (PC),
- cyclic olefin copolymers (COG),
- cyclic olefin polymers (COP), and
- multilayer films of at least one of these polymers, and/or of at least one of a copolymer of ethylene and vinyl alcohol (EVOH), a poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), a polychlorotrifluoroethylene (PCTFE), a polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) and a polyamide (PA) (page 10, lines 9-10).
Regarding claim 13, Archambeau disclose spectacle glasses comprising two ophthalmic lenses fitted on a frame (implicit for spectacles), each of said two ophthalmic lenses comprises an electrochromic cell which comprises a rear shell and a front shell respectively defining for each of said two ophthalmic lenses said backside surface and said opposite front surface, wherein each of said two ophthalmic lenses forms said hybrid mineral-organic ophthalmic lens selected from piano lenses and prescription lenses satisfying a prescription for power correction (page 1, line 25 - page 2, line 5, page 7, lines 17-19, and page 10, lines 5-13).
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 3, 6, 9, 11, 12, 18, 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Archambeau in view of Lam et al. (WO2012079159 of record).
Regarding claims 3 and 19, Archambeau discloses the optical device of claim 1. However, Archambeau does not disclose wherein the rear shell and the front shell both curved are distant from each other by a distance of 10 μm to 400 μm, forming a gap defining said sealed cavity, which is delimited at a periphery thereof by an adhesive seal; wherein said front surface and said backside surface for example being convex and concave, respectively. Lam is in same field of endeavor and teaches wherein the rear shell and the front shell both curved are distant from each other by a distance of 10 μm to 400 μm (par.[0081]) forming a gap defining said sealed cavity, which is delimited at a periphery thereof by an adhesive seal (reference 42); wherein said front surface and said backside surface for example being convex and concave, respectively (see e.g. figure 2). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before effective filing date of the claimed invention, to apply teaching of Lam to device of Archambeau for purpose of forming lens device.
Regarding claims 6 and 18, Archambeau discloses the optical device of claim 1. However, Archambeau does not discloses wherein the rear shell and the front shell have curved inner surfaces opposite to the backside surface of the rear shell and to the front surface of the front shell, respectively, the curved inner surfaces being provided with said at least one pair of transparent electrodes which face each other on the rear shell and the front shell, or which are both located on the rear shell or on the front shell, and wherein each electrode of said at least one pair of transparent electrodes is made of an electrically conductive layer comprising at least one of: at least one transparent conductive oxide deposited by sputtering, a deformable electrically conductive nanostructure comprising a metal, and a stack of first insulator layer- metal layer- second insulator layer, where the first insulator layer is equal to or different from the second insulator layer, the second insulator layer in contact with the electrochromic composition including a transparent conductive oxide, and the first insulator layer comprising a transparent conductive oxide or being a non-conductive layer; wherein: the at least one transparent conductive oxide (TCO) deposited by sputtering is selected from ATO (AlSnO), ATZO (AlSnZnO), AZO (AlZnO), FTO (FSnO), GZO (GaZnO), ITO (InSnO), ITZO (InSnZnO), IZO (InZnO) and mixtures thereof, the deformable electrically conductive nanostructure comprises a metal and is selected from nano-meshes, nanowires and nano-grids, and in the stack of first insulator layer—metal layer—second insulator layer, the metal layer is silver, gold or copper, the second insulator layer in contact with the electrochromic composition comprises indium tin oxide, and the first insulator layer comprises indium tin oxide or is a non-conductive layer able to increase light transmission through the stack or able to form a barrier layer.
Lam is in same field of endeavor and teaches wherein the rear shell and the front shell have curved inner surfaces opposite to the backside surface of the rear shell and to the front surface of the front shell, respectively, the curved inner surfaces being provided with said at least one pair of transparent electrodes (24, 28) which face each other on the rear shell and the front shell, or which are both located on the rear shell or on the front shell, and preferably wherein each electrode of said at least one pair of transparent electrodes is made of an electrically conductive layer comprising at least one of:
- at least one transparent conductive oxide (TCO) deposited by sputtering for example selected from ATO (AISnO), ATZO (AISnZnO), AZO (AIZnO), FTO (FSnO), GZO(GaZnO), ITO (lnSnO), ITZO (lnSnZnO), IZO (lnZnO) and mixtures thereof,
- a deformable electrically conductive nanostructure comprising a metal and for example selected from nanomeshes, nanowires and nanogrids, and
- a stack of insulator layer - metal layer (M) - insulator layer, where M is for example silver, gold of copper and where 11 is equal to or different from 12,the insulator layer in contact with the electrochromic composition comprising a transparent conductive oxide (TCO), for example indium tin oxide (ITO), and the other insulator layer comprising a transparent conductive oxide (TCO), for example indium tin oxide (ITO) (02: paragraph [0075]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before effective filing date of the claimed invention, to apply teaching of Lam to device of Archambeau for purpose of forming lens device.
Regarding claim 9, Archambeau discloses the optical device of claim 7. However, Archambeau does not disclose wherein the organic polymeric substrate of 02 is based on at least one transparent thermosetting or photo-cured polymer for example selected from polyurethanes, polyurethane/polyureas, polythiourethanes, polyol(allyl carbonate) (co)polymers, polyepisulfides, polyepoxides. Lam is in same field of endeavor and teaches wherein the organic polymeric substrate of 02 is based on at least one transparent thermosetting or photo-cured polymer for example selected from polyurethanes, polyurethane/polyureas, polythiourethanes, polyol(allyl carbonate) (co)polymers, polyepisulfides, polyepoxides (see paragraph [0069]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before effective filing date of the claimed invention, to apply teaching of Lam to device of Archambeau for purpose of forming lens device.
Regarding claim 11, Archambeau discloses the optical device of claim 1. However, Archambeau does not disclose wherein the rear shell and the front shell have curved inner surfaces opposite to the backside surface of the rear shell and to the front surface of the front shell, respectively, the front shell and/or the rear shell further each comprising at least one of a polarizing film, a photochromic layer, photochromic polarizing layer, a hardcoat, an antireflective coating, an anti-smudge coating, an antifog coating, a blue light cut coating and an antistatic coating, on said front surface and/or on said backside surface, and at least one of the hardcoat and antireflective coating being located on said curved inner surfaces of the front shell and/or the rear shell, respectively. Lam is in same field of endeavor and teaches the front shell and/or the rear shell of Lam further each comprise at least one of a polarizing film, a photochromic layer, photochromic polarizing layer, a hardcoat, an antireflective coating, an anti-smudge coating, an antifog coating, a blue light cut coating and an antistatic coating, for example on said front surface and/or on said backside surface (see e.g. paragraph [0070]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before effective filing date of the claimed invention, to apply teaching of Lam to device of Archambeau for purpose of forming lens device.
Regarding claim 12, Archambeau discloses the optical device of claim 1. However, Archambeau does not disclose wherein said electrochromic composition is a liquid solution or a gel comprising: at least one electrochromic oxidizing agent, and at least one electrochromic reducing compound, a solvent, a thickener, and an electrolyte, and wherein said sealed cavity is delimited at a periphery thereof by an adhesive seal which is a flexible glue. Lam is in same field of endeavor and teaches wherein the electrochromic composition is a liquid solution or a gel comprising at least one electrochromic oxidizing agent, for example selected from mono viologens or bis viologens, anthraquinones, benzazoles, imidazo[1 ,2-a]pyridines,2,1,3-benzothiadiazoles, imidazoles, benzoselenadiazoles, benzoselenazoles and derivatives thereof, and
- at least one electrochromic reducing compound, for example chosen from derivatives of ferrocene, phenoxazine, phenazine, phenothiazine, thioanthrene, tetrathiafulvalene, and mixtures thereof,
- a solvent
- a thickener (implicit for a gel) and wherein said sealed cavity is delimited at a periphery thereof by an adhesive seal which is a flexible glue (paragraphs [0079],[0080], the front shell material can be a (mineral) glass or a polymer material (see paragraph [00160]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before effective filing date of the claimed invention, to apply teaching of Lam to device of Archambeau for purpose of forming lens device.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Archambeau, as applied to claim 2 above, in view of Ishak et al. (US 8360574 B2).
Regarding claim 10, Archambeau discloses the optical device of claim 2 with the rear shell and the front shell have curved inner surfaces opposite to the backside surface of the rear shell and to the front surface of the front shell, respectively. However, Archambeau does not disclose wherein the rear shell further comprising a deformable barrier coating on its curved inner surface and/or on said backside surface, the deformable barrier coating forming a barrier to at least one of oxygen, water vapor and solvents and being: based on at least one polymer derived from alcohol units, or an adhesive layer based on at least one polymer not derived from alcohol units, or an inorganic or hybrid organic/inorganic gas barrier coating.
Ishak et al. is in same field of endeavor and teaches wherein the rear shell further comprising a deformable barrier coating on its curved inner surface and/or on said backside surface, the deformable barrier coating forming a barrier to at least one of oxygen, water vapor and solvents and being: based on at least one polymer derived from alcohol units, or an adhesive layer based on at least one polymer not derived from alcohol units, or an inorganic or hybrid organic/inorganic gas barrier coating (col. 23, lines 52-60). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before effective filing date of the claimed invention, to apply teaching of Ishak et al. to device of Archambeau for purpose of forming lens device.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Archambeau, as applied to claim 2 above, in view of Linhardt et al. (US 20170176774 A1).
Regarding claim 16, Archambeau discloses the optical device of claim 2. However, Archambeau does not disclose wherein the optical device is devoid of an optical substrate bonded to the front shell or the rear shell.
Linhardt et al. is in same field of endeavor and teaches wherein the optical device is devoid of an optical substrate bonded to the front shell or the rear shell (figure 4). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before effective filing date of the claimed invention, to apply teaching of Linhardt et al. to device of Archambeau for purpose of forming lens device.
Conclusion
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/TUYEN TRA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872