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 .
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.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 1-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 1, applicant claims “opposite phase signs to have a complementary relationship”, which is unclear. Phase is measured in angles of 0 to 360 degrees and it is unclear how one phase can have an opposite sign from another phase. It could be the applicant seeks to have waves that are 180 degrees out of phase, but this is not explicitly claimed or described in the specification. The office believes it is more likely applicant is claiming waveplates that impart left and right-handed circular polarization states in order to shift the phase by a desired amount. Further, applicant’s use of “complementary relationship” is unclear. Applicant’s specification provides multiple definitions of what this complementary relation is meant to be (top of page 3):
Slope signs of phase values between two waveplates are opposite to each other
Phase value of two waveplates are ϕ and -ϕ, where the magnitude is the same and only the sign is opposite
Magnitude of the absolute value is different and the sign is opposite
With respect to 1, any pair of waveplates with different phase retardation properties would include instances of the slopes having different signs at some points. With respect to 2 and 3, these two definitions are mutually exclusive. Therefore, one could say a system that satisfies 2 is complementary but then one that satisfies 3 could not be complementary.
Given all of the above, it is unclear how one of ordinary skill in the art would interpret the claim language to determine if a particular pair of waveplates were imparting “opposite phase signs to have a complementary relationship”. For the purposes of this action the office will interpret the claim such that the waveplates cause left and right-handed polarization as described on page 15 of applicant’s specification.
Regarding claim 11, applicant claims “one or more waveplates disposed on an incident or opposite surface having a curved shape and have a shape corresponding to the curved shape.” It is not clear how, if there is more than one waveplate, a plurality of waveplates would attach to one side of the lens. It is also not clear, based on this language, if the waveplate is on the curved side or a flat side of the lens. Applicant’s specification does not appear to support multiple waveplates attached to a single surface. If the opposite surface is curved and the waveplate can be on the incident surface, then it is not clear what kind of surface of the waveplate would be “complementary” to the curved surface.
For the purposes of this action the office will interpret the claim such that the waveplate can be attached to either surface of a lens and may be curved or not.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
second sentence of page 3 does not begin with a capital letter, and
line 12 has two adjacent commas.
Please review the specification for any additional informalities. Appropriate correction is required.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 and 14-17 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, any intervening claims and overcoming the 112 rejection above.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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) 1-3 and 5-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tabirian et al. (PGPUB 20160047956).
Regarding claim 1, as best understood, Tabirian discloses a multifocal lens having multiple waveplates, the multifocal lens comprises:
a lens having an incident surface and an opposite surface thereof (any of 614-616 or 903 and note that Tabirian characterizes the waveplates as lenses); and
two or more waveplates disposed on the lens in a direction of a central axis of the lens and made of a birefringent material (any of 614-616 not identified as “a lens” above or 1001-1003),
wherein respective phases of neighboring waveplates have opposite phase signs to have a complementary relationship ([0172] where the waveplates include left and right-handed circular polarization).
Regarding claim 2, Tabirian discloses wherein light intensity at a point where a focal point is formed changes as thicknesses of one or more of the waveplates change (this is a fundamental property of optics – varying the thickness of any lens changes the intensity of light at its focal point).
Regarding claim 3, Tibirian discloses wherein, when the thicknesses of the waveplates are adjusted such that light intensity at a location where one focal point is formed becomes 0, the number of focal points changes (if the light intensity is zero at a focal point, then there can be no practical focal point).
Regarding claim 5, Tabirian discloses wherein a position of a focal point generated by the lens and the waveplates is calculated according to Equation 2 below depending upon the number of waveplates (equation 2 below defines an effective focal length wherein the distance between adjacent lenses is near zero, see [0159] for stacked plates):
< Equation 2 >
PNG
media_image1.png
90
486
media_image1.png
Greyscale
where fN represents a focal distance after passing a last waveplate, and fLW-n represents a focal distance of each waveplate.
Regarding claim 6, Tabirian discloses wherein, in phase distribution of the waveplates, a location where a focal point is formed changes as a phase section X between a center of the lens and a point, where a phase rapidly changes, changes ([0145]).
Regarding claim 7, Tabirian discloses wherein in the same phase section (X) between neighboring first and second waveplates a phase at the second waveplate decreases when a phase at the first waveplate increases ([0172] where the waveplates include left and right-handed circular polarization).
Regarding claim 8, Tabirian discloses wherein a focal point generated by the lens and the waveplates is further formed in a diameter direction of the lens (Figs. 1-3).
Regarding claim 9, Tabirian discloses wherein two or more waveplates are stacked and disposed on an incident surface of the lens or an opposite surface thereof (Fig. 6c).
Regarding claim 10, Tabirian discloses wherein, among the waveplates, one or more waveplates are disposed on an incident surface of the lens, and remaining one or more waveplates are disposed on an opposite surface of the lens (Fig. 6c where 615 is the lens and 614 and 616 are stacked on either side).
Regarding claim 11, as best understood, Tabirian discloses wherein one or more waveplates of the waveplates are disposed on an incident surface or opposite surface of the lens having a curved shape and have a shape corresponding to the curved shape (Figs. 6c/d).
Regarding claim 12, Tabirian discloses wherein one or more waveplates of the waveplates are disposed on an incident surface of the lens having a flat shape or an opposite surface thereof and have a shape corresponding to the flat shape (Figs. 6c/d and [0193]).
Regarding claim 13, Tabirian discloses wherein, among the waveplates, one or more waveplates are disposed on an incident surface of the lens having a first curved shape and have a shape corresponding to the first curved shape, and remaining one or more waveplates are disposed on an opposite surface of the lens having a second curved shape and have a shape corresponding to the second curved shape ([0193]).
Examiner Notes
Examiner cites particular columns and line numbers in the references as applied to the claims below for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested that, in preparing responses, the applicant fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TRAVIS S FISSEL whose telephone number is (313)446-6573. The examiner can normally be reached on 9AM-5PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Stephone Allen can be reached on (571) 272-2434. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TRAVIS S FISSEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872