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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are:
In Claim 1:
“the first light source module…configured to…” (defined as a light emitting diode module or a laser diode module (e.g., Para. [0041]));
“the second light source module…configured to…” (see above);
“the light combining module…configured to…” (defined as a light guiding element, a mirror, and a first light splitting element (see, e.g., Claim 2));
In Claim 2:
“the light guiding element…configured to…” (defined as a first substrate and a second substrate; the first substrate includes an optical layer which may be a coating layer or a mirror; the second substrate may be a coating layer or a mirror (see, e.g., Para. [0048]));
“the first light splitting element…configured to…” (defined as a coating layer that reflects light of a particular wavelength (see, e.g., Para. [0051]);
In Claim 4:
“the second light splitting element…configured to…” (see above);
“the third light splitting element…configured to…” (see above);
In Claim 5:
“the fourth light splitting element…configured to…” (see above);
In Claim 6:
“a third light source module…configured to…” (see above);
“the light combining module…configured to…” (see above)
In Claim 9:
“…the third light splitting element is also configured to…” (see above);
In Claim 18:
“…the second light splitting element…is configured to…” (see above)
In Claim 19:
“…a third light source module configured to…” (see above);
“…the third light splitting element…is configured to…” (see above)
In Claim 20:
“…the first light source module is configured…” (see above);
“…the light combining module is configured…” (see above);
“…the second light source module is configured…” (see above)
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
With regard to Claim 1, on line 6, “a transmission direction of the first beam” should be changed to --a transmission direction of [[ ]] the first beam” (i.e., the double-space should be deleted).
Appropriate correction is required.
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 2-19 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
With regard to Claims 2, 4, 5, 9, 18, and 19, the limitation “light splitting element” appears to be used in a manner contradictory to its accepted meaning in the art. More specifically, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize/understand a “light splitting element” to be an optical element that splits, divides, or separates a light beam into two or more beams. However, Applicant appears to be utilizing a light splitting element to transmit/reflect beams of a particular wavelength (e.g., in Claim 2, the first light splitting element transmits a first color beam and reflects second/third color beams). There does not appear to be any actual beam splitting. The present application light splitting element appears to be receiving multiple color beams and reflecting/transmitting said color beams according to a wavelength.
Clarification is required.
For present purposes of examination, the “light splitting element” shall be deemed to be similar to an optical filter that transmits particular wavelengths and reflects others.
Claims 3, 6-8, and 10-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) because they inherit the indefiniteness of the claim(s) they respectively depend upon.
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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mayer et al. (US 2014/0132934).
With regard to Claim 1, Mayer et al. discloses in Fig. 6 (annotated below) an illumination system, comprising a first light source module (M1, M3), a second light source module (M4, M6), and a light combining module (XSWL, X-ADDER, XLML), and the illumination system being configured to provide an illumination beam (OUT), wherein:
the first light source module (M1, M3) is configured to generate a first beam (G1, B1), the first beam is incident on the light combining module along a first direction (c-direction below), and the light combining module is configured to change a transmission direction of the first beam from the first direction to a second direction (a-direction below) and then to a third direction (b-direction), and the first beam leaves the light combining module along the third direction, wherein the first direction, the second direction, and the third direction are perpendicular to each other;
the second light source module (M4, M6) is configured to generate a second beam (R2, G2), the second beam is incident on the light combining module along the second direction, and the light combining module is configured to change a transmission direction of the second beam from the second direction to the third direction, and the second beam leaves the light combining module along the third direction; and
the first beam and the second beam leaving the light combining module form the illumination beam, wherein the first beam comprises at least one of a first color beam (G1) and a second color beam (B1) and the second beam comprises at least one of a fourth color beam (R2) and a fifth color beam (G2).
PNG
media_image1.png
330
384
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Luo et al. (WO 2023/005546), published on 26 January 2023. All references shall be taken from published US patent application publication US 2024/0248382, which shall be deemed to be a direct translation of the cited reference.
With regard to Claim 20, Mayer et al. discloses in Fig. 4 and 6 a projection device, comprising:
an illumination system (100);
a light valve (6); and
a projection lens (30), wherein
the illumination system comprises:
a first light source module (110),
a second light source module (120), and
a light combining module (A1, A2, B1, B2),
the illumination system is configured to provide an illumination beam,
the light valve is disposed on a transmission path of the illumination beam and is configured to convert the illumination beam into an image beam, and
the projection lens is disposed on a transmission path of the image beam and is configured to project the image beam out of the projection device, wherein:
the first light source module (110) is configured to generate a first beam, the first beam is incident on the light combining module along a first direction (z-axis), and the light combining module is configured to change a transmission direction of the first beam from the first direction to a second direction (y-axis) and then to a third direction (x-axis), and the first beam leaves the light combining module, wherein the first direction, the second direction, and the third direction are perpendicular to each other;
the second light source module (120) is configured to generate a second beam, the second beam is incident on the light combining module along the second direction, and the light combining module is configured to change a transmission direction of the second beam from the second direction to the third direction, and the second beam leaves the light combining module; and
the first beam and the second beam leaving the light combining module form the illumination beam, wherein the first beam comprises at least one of a first color beam, a second color beam, and a third color beam, and the second beam comprises at least one of a fourth color beam, a fifth color beam, and a sixth color beam (Para. [0097]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Minor et al. (US 10,408,390)
Telephone/Fax Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PASCAL M. BUI-PHO whose telephone number is (571)272-2714. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM EST.
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, Jonathan T. Moffat can be reached at (571) 272-4390. 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.
/PASCAL M BUI PHO/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3798