DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group IB, claims 13-16, in the reply filed on 9/30/25 is acknowledged.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 13-16 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.
Regarding claim 13, the phrase “the first portion being less than the second potion and less than the third portion” renders the claim indefinite. First, it is unclear whether the phrase is comparing the width of each portion or the power of the light distribution of each portion. Secondly, it is unclear whether the second portion is required to be less than the third portion, whether it is referencing the width or the light distribution. The following rejections are based on the broadest reasonable interpretations. Claims 14-16 are rejected based upon the rejected base claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 13-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Das et al. (US 2013/0201445).
Regarding claim 13, Das (Figures 1A-1C; [0011]-[0026]) discloses an ophthalmic lens comprising a first surface 12 and a second surface 14 disposed about an optical axis, and a diffractive profile 28 imposed on one of the first surface or the second surface, and configured to cause a distribution of light among at least three focal lengths 30a-30b-30c including a near focal length, an intermediate focal length, and a far focal length, such that a first portion of the distribution is directed to the near focal length, a second portion of the distribution is directed to the far focal length, and a third portion of the distribution is directed to the intermediate focal length. Das discloses all the claimed limitations except that the first portion being less than the second portion and less than the third portion. However, the adjustment of either 3 portions are well within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to suit specific applications. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify each of the 3 portions for application-specific purpose.
Regarding claims 14-16, Das discloses all the claimed limitations except that wherein the first portion of the distribution is smaller than a respective portion of the distribution directed to any other focal length of the at least three focal lengths, and wherein the first portion of the distribution of light is no more than 20% of the distribution of light, and wherein the second portion of the distribution of light is at least 50% of the distribution of light. However, the adjustment of light distribution of either 3 portions are well within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to suit specific applications. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify each of the 3 portions for application-specific purpose.
Conclusion
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/JACK DINH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872 10/14/25
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