Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 02, 2026
Application No. 18/431,345

Lens Systems

Final Rejection §103
Filed
Feb 02, 2024
Priority
Feb 13, 2023 — provisional 63/484,583
Examiner
SUMLAR, JOURNEY F
Art Unit
2872
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Apple Inc.
OA Round
2 (Final)
69%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
3m
Est. Remaining
81%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 69% — above average
69%
Career Allowance Rate
425 granted / 616 resolved
+1.0% vs TC avg
Moderate +12% lift
Without
With
+11.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 12m
Avg Prosecution
25 currently pending
Career history
637
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.1%
-38.9% vs TC avg
§103
56.5%
+16.5% vs TC avg
§102
27.8%
-12.2% vs TC avg
§112
12.1%
-27.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 616 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 02/02/2024 has been considered by the examiner. 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 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hou (US Patent Publication Number 2019/0041601 A1) in view of Perreault (US Patent Publication Number 2020/0132888 A1). Hou teaches, as claimed in independent claim 13, an electronic device (See Fig. 3A) comprising a head-mounted housing structure; and a lens system (See Fig. 4c) comprises first (3) and second lenses (4) configured to provide a base optical power (¶0103 “the optical power of tunable lens2 is negative” and ¶0113 “The optical power of Alvarez lens2 ranges from −0.3(1/mm) to 0.3(1/mm) )), wherein the first lens (3) comprises a first surface (Alvarez surface), wherein the second lens (4) comprises a second surface (Alvarez surface), wherein the-first and second surfaces are opposing freeform surfaces that are laterally shifted to provide an additional optical power in combination with the base optical power wherein the base optical power is a negative optical power, and wherein the additional optical power is a positive optical power (¶0103 “the optical power of the tunable lens1 is positive and the optical power of tunable lens2 is negative (as in FIG. 3(a)), at telescope end, the optical power of tunable lens1 is negative and the optical power of tunable lens2 is positive”), Hou fails to teaches a an electronic device (See Fig. 3A) comprising: a head-mounted housing structure. In a related art, Perrault teaches an electronic device (See Fig. 3A) comprising: a head-mounted housing structure (¶00155 “HMDs and other near-eye display systems”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill of art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the electronic device, as taught by Hou, with the head-mounted housing structure, as taught by Perrault, for the purpose of providing corrective effect for a user's impacted vision (¶0015). Hou teaches, as claimed in claim 14, wherein the first (3) and second lenses (4) apply the base optical power to passing light when the first and second lenses are in an aligned state and wherein the first and second lenses apply the combination of the base optical power and the additional optical power when the first and second lenses are in an offset state after a lateral shift from the aligned state (¶0103 “the optical power of the tunable lens1 is positive and the optical power of tunable lens2 is negative (as in FIG. 3(a)), at telescope end, the optical power of tunable lens1 is negative and the optical power of tunable lens2 is positive”). Hou teaches, as claimed in claim 15, wherein the first lens (3) comprises a third surface, wherein the second lens (4) comprises a fourth surface, wherein lenses comprise the third and fourth surfaces are non-freeform surfaces (See outer surfaces of lenses 3 and 4), and wherein the base optical power is provided using at least one of the first, second, third, and fourth surfaces of the first and second lenses (¶0103 “the optical power of the tunable lens1 is positive and the optical power of tunable lens2 is negative (as in FIG. 3(a)), at telescope end, the optical power of tunable lens1 is negative and the optical power of tunable lens2 is positive”), Hou fails to teaches a an electronic device (See Fig. 3A). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 1, 4-6, 9-12 and 18-26 are allowed. The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: The prior art fails to teach all of the limitations of claims 1 which includes wherein the non-freeform surface of the first lens has a smaller degree of curvature than the non-freeform surface of the second lens. Regarding claims 4-6 and 9-12 has dependency on independent claim 1. The prior art fails to teach all of the limitations of claims 18 which includes wherein the freeform surfaces of the first and second lenses are laterally shifted shift to provide an adjustable additional optical power in combination with the base optical power, wherein the base optical power is a positive optical power, and wherein the additional optical power is an additional positive optical power. Regarding claims 19-26 has dependency on independent claim 18. Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.” Conclusion Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOURNEY F SUMLAR whose telephone number is (571)270-0656. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-4pm. 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, Ricky Mack can be reached at 571-272-2333. 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. JOURNEY F. SUMLAR Examiner Art Unit 2872 24 August 2026 /SHARRIEF I BROOME/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Feb 02, 2024
Application Filed
Mar 24, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
Jun 16, 2026
Response Filed
Aug 27, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12748321
METHOD FOR DESIGNING SPECTACLE LENS, METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING SPECTACLE LENS, AND SYSTEM FOR DESIGNING SPECTACLE LENS
4y 8m to grant Granted Sep 29, 2026
Patent 12749420
NEAR EYE DISPLAY
3y 7m to grant Granted Sep 29, 2026
Patent 12748318
MODULAR AND ADJUSTABLE EYEGLASSES FOR UNIVERSAL FITMENT
2y 10m to grant Granted Sep 29, 2026
Patent 12741478
OPTICAL DEVICE AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE THEREOF
4y 7m to grant Granted Sep 22, 2026
Patent 12736735
PARALLEL PLATE WAVEGUIDES
5y 0m to grant Granted Sep 15, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
69%
Grant Probability
81%
With Interview (+11.6%)
2y 12m (~3m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 616 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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