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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 06/03/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
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 1-7, 11-17 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hamid Muhammed et al.
Hamid Muhammed et al. (US Pub. No. 2023/0288193 A1) discloses:
Regarding claim 1, a multi-function projector (Figure 2, element 110) comprising: a multi-wavelength laser source (Figure 2, element 116) configured to emit a laser beam (Figure 2, element 130), wherein a wavelength of the laser beam (Figure 2, element 130) is capable of being switched to a first wavelength or a second wavelength (page 4, paragraph 0029, lines 1-9); a metasurface (Figure 2, element 118) disposed on a path of the laser beam (Figure 2, element 130) and configured to diffract the laser beam (Figure 2, element 130) onto a projected surface (i.e. object space; page 13, paragraph 0117, lines 11-14), wherein the metasurface (Figure 2, element 118) is configured to diffract the laser beam (Figure 2, element 130) with the first wavelength to form a light pattern on the projected surface (i.e. object space; page 13, paragraph 0117, lines 11-14), and the metasurface (Figure 2, element 118) is configured to diffract the laser beam with the second wavelength (Figure 2, element 122) to form flood illumination (Figure 2, element 128) on the projected surface (i.e. object space); and a light sensor (Figure 2, element 138) disposed beside the metasurface (Figure 2, element 118) and configured to sense the projected surface (page 14, paragraph 0123, lines 10-13).
Regarding claims 2 and 12, the metasurface (Figure 2, element 118) is configured to diffract the laser beam (Figure 2, element 130) with the first wavelength to form a plurality of pattern tiles arranged on the projected surface (page 14, paragraph 0121, lines 6-9).
Regarding claims 3 and 13, the light pattern on the projected surface comprises a plurality of dots (i.e. light spot; page 3, paragraph 0024, lines 13-14).
Regarding claims 4 and 14, the multi-wavelength laser source (Figure 2, element 116), the metasurface (Figure 2, element 118), and the light sensor (Figure 2, element 138) form a structured light sensor (Figure 2, element 134).
Regarding claims 5 and 15, the laser source (Figure 2, element 116) is a high contrast grating vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (page 12, paragraph 0106, lines 2-3 and 6-8).
Regarding claims 6 and 16, the light sensor (Figure 2, element 138) is a camera (page 14, paragraph 0123, lines 2-3).
Regarding claims 7 and 17, a lens (Figure 2, element 120) disposed on a path of the laser beam (Figure 2, element 130) and between the multi-wavelength laser source (Figure 2, element 116) and the metasurface (Figure 2, element 118).
Regarding claim 11, a multi-function projector (Figure 2, element 110) comprising: a first laser source (Figure 2, element 126) configured to emit a first laser beam (Figure 2, element 130); a first metasurface (Figure 2, element 124) disposed on a path of the first laser beam (Figure 2, element 130) and configured to diffract the first laser beam (Figure 2, element 130) to form a light pattern on the projected surface (i.e. object space; page 13, paragraph 0117, lines 11-14); a second laser source (Figure 2, element 122) configured to emit a second laser beam (Figure 2, element 128); a second metasurface (Figure 2, element 120) disposed on a path of the second laser beam (Figure 2, element 128) and configured to diffract the second laser beam (Figure 2, element 128) to form flood illumination on the projected surface (i.e. object space); and a light sensor (Figure 2, element 138) disposed beside the first metasurface (Figure 2, element 124) and the second metasurface (Figure 2, element 120) and configured to sense the projected surface (page 4, paragraph 0029, lines 1-9).
Regarding claim 21, the second laser source (Figure 2, element 122) is defocused (i.e. diffuse illumination; page 13, paragraph 0117, lines 9-11) with respect to the second metasurface (Figure 2, element 120).
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 8-10 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hamid Muhammed et al. in view of Riley, Jr. et al.
Hamid Muhammed et al. (US Pub. No. 2023/0288193 A1) teaches the salient features of the present invention as explained above except (regarding claims 8 and 18) the metasurface comprises a plurality of nanopillars standing up on and distributed over a surface; (regarding claims 9 and 19) a height of the nanopillars is less than 800 nanometers; and (regarding claims 10 and 20) a pitch of the nanopillars ranges from 300 nanometers to 800 nanometers.
Riley, Jr. et al. (US Pub. No. 2019/0064532 A1) discloses:
Regarding claims 8 and 18, the metasurface (Figure 1D, element 18) comprises a plurality of nanopillars (Figure 1D, element 16) standing up on and distributed over a surface (Figure 1D, element 10).
Regarding claims 9 and 19, a height of the nanopillars is less than 800 nanometers (page 6, paragraph 0167, line 2).
Regarding claims 10 and 20, a pitch of the nanopillars ranges from 300 nanometers to 800 nanometers (page 19, paragraph 0270, lines 2 and 4-5, and paragraph 0272, lines 7-8).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a metasurface comprising a plurality of nanopillars standing up on and distributed over a surface, a height of the nanopillars is less than 800 nm, and a pitch of the nanopillars ranges from 300 nm to 800 nm as shown by Riley, Jr. et al. in combination with Hamid Muhammed et al.’s invention for the purpose of imposing a phase shift on the impinging light (Riley, Jr. et al., page 3, paragraph 0069, line 8).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Atiya et al. (US Pub. No. 2019/0388194 A1) discloses a light projector including a light source and a pattern generator configured to generate a light pattern. The light field camera includes a light field camera sensor, the light field camera sensor comprising an image sensor comprising an array of sensor pixels, and an array of micro-lenses disposed in front of the image sensor such that each micro-lens is disposed over a sub-array of the array of sensor pixels.
Channon et al. (US Pub. No. 2024/0045126 A1) teaches a device configured to act as a flood illuminator and a dot projector. The device utilizes a dual channel light source configured to switch between first and second polarizations, and a polarization sensitive metaoptic that outputs dot projection and flood illumination in response to receiving the first polarization and the second polarization, respectively.
You et al. (US Pub. No. 2019/0137665 A1) shows projectors, each including a light source configured to emit laser light, a substrate spaced apart from the light source by a distance, a pattern mask including a pattern on a first surface of the substrate, the first surface facing the light source, and a meta-lens including a plurality of first nanostructures on a second surface of the substrate, the second surface facing the first surface, the nanostructures having a shape dimension of a sub-wavelength that is less than a wavelength of light emitted from the light source.
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/MAGDA CRUZ/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2882
03/20/2026
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