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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 12 – 20 have been withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected specie, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 7/15/26. Regarding applicant’s argument “Similarly, independent claim 12 recites "wherein the plurality of optoelectronic components are adhered to the plurality of optical components”, Examiner respectfully asserts that claim 12 does not recite the limitation “adhered”. Thus, the restriction requirement is maintained.
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 1 – 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Min et al. (U.S. PG Pub. # 2021/0037932 A1) in view of von Badinski et al. (U.S. PG Pub. # 2015/0220109 A1).
In Re claims 1, 8 and 11, ‘932 teaches a method of manufacturing a wearable ring device comprising a plurality of optical components, comprising: assembling the plurality of optical components (lenses and filters, par. 0075) onto an inner circumference of an inner housing member (130) of the wearable ring device and aligned with a plurality of apertures (132a – 132c) of the inner housing member of the wearable ring device, wherein the plurality of optical components comprises a first type of optical components (lenses within any of 132a – 132c) configured to manipulate a light emission direction or a light detection direction and a second type of optical components (filters, par. 0075) configured to at least partially seal (by covering at least partially the opening of 132, figs. 2, 9A, 9B) the plurality of apertures; positioning a plurality of optoelectronic components (172a – 172d) affixed to a flexible printed circuit board (PCB and FPCB, par. 0065) onto the inner circumference of the inner housing member of the wearable ring device (fig. 2), wherein the plurality of optoelectronic components comprise a set of light emitting components and a set of light detecting components (par. 0049); and the first type of optical components are positioned between the plurality of optoelectronic components and the second type of optical components (par. 0075); wherein assembling the plurality of optical components onto the inner housing member further comprises: assembling the second type of optical components of the plurality of optical components onto the inner circumference of the inner housing member of the wearable ring device (par. 0075); wherein the plurality of optical components comprises a lens, a reflector, a prism, a microprism, a micro lenses array, an angular filter, a metamaterial lens, a metallic material, or a combination thereof (par. 0074).
‘932 is silent to adhering the plurality of optoelectronic components to the plurality of optical components such that the plurality of optical components are aligned with the plurality of optoelectronic components.
‘109 teaches using a transparent potting epoxy to seal a ring (410) to make it almost completely waterproof and prevent debris, dust, moisture, or any other unwanted fluids or materials from interacting with the internal components as well as increasing the structural rigidity of the ring (par. 0189, 0195, 0197,0203).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify ‘932 to add potting material, as taught by ‘109, to fill in openings 132 and cover the lenses and filters of ‘932 so as to adhere the components as claimed, thus making the ring at least almost completely waterproof and prevent debris, dust, moisture, or any other unwanted fluids or materials from interacting with the internal components as well as increase the structural rigidity of the ring as a person with ordinary skill has good reason to pursue the known options within his or her technical grasp.
In Re claims 2 – 7, 9, the previous combination is silent to:
wherein assembling the plurality of optical components onto the inner housing member occurs prior to adhering the plurality of optoelectronic components to the plurality of optical components;
depositing the plurality of optical components onto an alignment substrate prior to assembling the plurality of optical components onto the inner circumference of the inner housing member of the wearable ring device;
wherein assembling the plurality of optical components onto the inner housing member occurs prior to adhering the plurality of optoelectronic components to the plurality of optical components;
depositing the first type of optical components of the plurality of optical components onto an alignment substrate; and assembling the first type of optical components deposited on the alignment substrate onto the inner circumference of the inner housing member of the wearable ring device;
assembling the second type of optical components of the plurality of optical components onto the inner circumference of the inner housing member of the wearable ring device after assembling the first type of optical components onto the inner circumference of the inner housing member;
applying a light source to the plurality of optical components to create a seal between the plurality of optical components and the plurality of apertures, wherein the light source is applied prior to adhering the plurality of optoelectronic components to the plurality of optical components;
applying a light source to the second type of optical components to create a seal between the second type of optical components and the plurality of apertures, wherein the light source is applied prior to assembling the first type of optical components onto the inner circumference of the inner housing member of the wearable ring device;
depositing the first type of optical components of the plurality of optical components onto an alignment substrate; and assembling the first type of optical components deposited on the alignment substrate onto the inner circumference of the inner housing member of the wearable ring device after assembling the second type of optical components onto the inner housing member.
However, it is well known in the art to assemble the claimed components on an alignment substrate prior to assembly as claimed so as to ensure optimum placement of the components on the circuit board,
assembling the plurality of optical components onto the inner housing member occurs prior to adhering the plurality of optoelectronic components to the plurality of optical components,
assembling the second type of optical components after assembling the first type of optical components onto the inner circumference of the inner housing member as claimed
so as to ensure optimum optical placement and coupling between the components before permanently fixing them in place;
applying a light source to the plurality of optical components to create a seal between the plurality of optical components and the plurality of apertures, wherein the light source is applied prior to adhering the plurality of optoelectronic components to the plurality of optical components,
depositing the first or second types of optical components as claimed, so as to ensure optimum optical coupling between the optical components and optoelectronic components.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the previous combination to assemble the claimed components on an alignment substrate prior to assembly and assembling the claimed optical components onto the inner housing member occurring prior to adhering the plurality of optoelectronic components to the plurality of optical components as claimed, by using a light curing epoxy as the epoxy whereby a light source to cures the epoxy to create a hermetic seal, without disturbing the optical components, so as to ensure optimum placement of the components on the circuit board and inner housing as a person with ordinary skill has good reason to pursue the known options within his or her technical grasp.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHAD SMITH whose telephone number is (571)270-1294. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30 - 5.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Uyen-Chau Le can be reached at 1-571-272-2397. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/CHAD H SMITH/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874
Prosecution Insights