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.
Drawings
The drawings with 4 Sheets of Figs. 1-7 received on 9/28/2023 are acknowledged and accepted.
Specification
Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure.
The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details.
The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided.
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because:
Abstract recites “An object of the present invention is to provide an image display device capable of easily detecting an eye gaze. The object is achieved by providing an image display optical system.” This is incorrect language. It is suggested to be replaced with:
--An image display device capable of easily detecting an eye gaze. An image display optical system;--
A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
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.
Claim(s) 1-3,7-9, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Berkner-Cieslicki et al (US 2021/0041948 A1, hereafter Berkner).
Regarding Claim 1, Berkner teaches (fig 2A) an image display device (VR/AR HMD 200, para 50) comprising:
an image display optical system (display 210, right one of the two eyepieces 220, para 51);
an infrared light source (IR light source 230, para 51) that irradiates an eyeball of a user (user’s eye 292, para 51, as in fig 2A) with infrared light (IR light from IR light source 230);
a hologram element (transmissive diffraction gratings 250, para 51, transmissive diffraction grating implemented as a holographic layer 250, para 52) that transmits infrared light emitted by the infrared light source (IR light source 230, para 51) and reflected by the eyeball of the user (eye 292) (A portion of the IR light is reflected off the user's eyes 292 to the eye-facing surfaces of the eyepieces 220 of the HMD 200”, para 53); and
an infrared light image sensor (“eye tracking camera 240 (e.g. infrared (IR) cameras”, para 51) that images infrared light transmitted through the hologram element (holographic layer 250, para 52), wherein the hologram element (holographic layer 250, para 52) acts on infrared light without acting on visible light (“The transmissive holographic layers 250 integrated in the eyepieces 220 are configured to redirect at least a portion of the IR light received at the eyepieces 220 towards the IR cameras 240, while allowing visible light to pass”, para 53) and emits reproduced infrared light with an intensity distribution in a plane direction corresponding to an eye gaze of the user (“The IR cameras 240, which may for example be located at or near an edge of the display 210, capture images of the user's eyes 292 from the infrared light redirected by the transmissive holographic layers 250”, para 53, redirected IR light from holographic layer 250 has an intensity distribution in a plane direction with respect to user eye 292 as in fig 2A).
Regarding Claim 2, Berkner teaches the image display device according to claim 1,
wherein the image display optical system (display 210, Right one of the two eye pieces 220, para 51) includes a lens optical system (Right one of the two eyepieces 220, para 51) and an image display element (display 210, para 51).
Regarding Claim 3, Berkner teaches the image display device according to claim 2,
wherein the infrared light image sensor (“eye tracking camera 240 (e.g. infrared (IR) cameras”, para 51) is mounted on a substrate (“The IR cameras 240, which may for example be located at or near an edge of the display 210, capture images of the user's eyes 292 from the infrared light redirected by the transmissive holographic layers 250”, para 53, being located at the edge of the display 210, camera 240 is on a substrate constituting the display 210) constituting the image display element (display 210, para 51) together with pixels for displaying an image (“The eyepieces 220 form a virtual image of the displayed content”, para 51).
Regarding Claim 7, Berkner teaches the image display device according to claim 1,
wherein the hologram element (transmissive diffraction gratings 250, para 51, transmissive diffraction grating implemented as a holographic layer 250, para 52) is disposed between the image display optical system (display 210, Right one of the two eye pieces 220, para 51) and the eyeball of the user (eye 292).
Regarding Claim 8, Berkner teaches the image display device according to claim 2,
wherein the hologram element (transmissive diffraction gratings 250, para 51, transmissive diffraction grating implemented as a holographic layer 250, para 52) is disposed between the image display optical system (display 210, Right one of the two eye pieces 220, para 51) and the eyeball of the user (eye 292).
Regarding Claim 9, Berkner teaches the image display device according to claim 3,
wherein the hologram element (transmissive diffraction gratings 250, para 51, transmissive diffraction grating implemented as a holographic layer 250, para 52) is disposed between the image display optical system (display 210, Right one of the two eye pieces 220, para 51) and the eyeball of the user (eye 292).
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.
Claim(s) 4,10, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Berkner-Cieslicki et al (US 2021/0041948 A1, hereafter Berkner) in view of Long et al (US 2022/0091316 A1).
Regarding Claim 4, Berkner teaches the image display device according to claim 2.
However, Berkner does not teach
wherein the image display element has a region through which infrared light is transmitted, and the infrared light image sensor is disposed on an opposite side of the image display element from a visual recognition side.
Berkner and Long are related as IR sensors and displays.
Long teaches (fig 1)
wherein the image display element (display 50, para 41) has a region through which infrared light is transmitted, and the infrared light image sensor (infrared sensor 80, para 43) is disposed on an opposite side of the image display element (display 50, para 41) from a visual recognition side (“An IR sensor 80 placed beneath the optical stack 100 may remain essentially hidden from view from an observer looking at display 50, but can receive and process infrared light from something in front of (external to) display 50”, para 43).
Therefore, 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 image display element and path of infrared light of Berkner to include the image display element and the infrared light image sensor being disposed on an opposite side of the image display element of Long for the purpose of remaining hidden from an observer and still process light from an object such as a finger in devices like smart phones (para 43).
Regarding Claim 10, Berkner-Long teaches the image display device according to claim 4,
wherein the hologram element (transmissive diffraction gratings 250, para 51, transmissive diffraction grating implemented as a holographic layer 250, para 52, Berkner) is disposed between the image display optical system (display 210, Right one of the two eye pieces 220, para 51) and the eyeball of the user (eye 292).
Claim(s) 5,6,11,12, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Berkner-Cieslicki et al (US 2021/0041948 A1, hereafter Berkner) in view of Gruhlke et al (US 2022/0171188 A1).
Regarding Claim 5, Berkner teaches the image display device according to claim 1.
However, Berkner does not teach
wherein the image display optical system includes an image display element and a light guide plate on which an image displayed by the image display element is incident and through which the image propagates.
Berkner and Gruhlke are related as image display optical systems.
Gruhlke teaches (fig 5)
wherein the image display optical system includes an image display element (display, para 48) and a light guide plate (substrate 260, para 48) on which an image displayed by the image display element (display, para 48) is incident and through which the image propagates (image light from the display propagates to the eye of the user).
Therefore, 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 image display optical system of Berkner to include an image display element and a light guide plate of Gruhlke for the purpose of avoiding certain situations and improving the performance of eye tracking (para 17).
Regarding Claim 6, Berkner teaches the image display device according to claim 5.
However, Berkner does not teach
wherein the light guide plate is infrared light transmissive, and the image display device further comprises an infrared light mirror that is disposed on an opposite side of the light guide plate from the eyeball of the user and that transmits visible light and reflects infrared light, and the infrared light image sensor receives infrared light reflected by the infrared light mirror.
Berkner and Gruhlke are related as image display optical systems.
Gruhlke teaches (fig 5)
wherein the light guide plate (substrate 260, para 48) is infrared light transmissive (“the substrate may be transparent or semi-transparent to infrared light and visible light”, para 51), and the image display device further comprises an infrared light mirror (light redirecting mechanism 265, para 48, “In some aspects, the light directing mechanism may be a mirror coupled to the substrate”, para 53) that is disposed on an opposite side of the light guide plate (substrate 260, para 48) from the eyeball of the user (as in fig 5) and that transmits visible light (para 50) and reflects infrared light (“the mirror may direct the infrared light reflected from the eye of the user towards the eye tracking camera”, para 53), and the infrared light image sensor (“eye tracking camera 255”, para 48) receives infrared light reflected by the infrared light mirror (light redirecting mechanism 265, para 48. “In some aspects, the light directing mechanism may be a mirror coupled to the substrate”, para 53).
Therefore, 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 image display optical system of Berkner to include an image display element and a light guide plate of Gruhlke for the purpose of avoiding certain situations and improving the performance of eye tracking (para 17).
Regarding Claim 11, Berkner-Gruhlke teaches the image display device according to claim 5,
wherein the hologram element (transmissive diffraction gratings 250, para 51, transmissive diffraction grating implemented as a holographic layer 250, para 52, Berkner) is disposed between the image display optical system (display 210, Right one of the two eye pieces 220, para 51) and the eyeball of the user (eye 292).
Regarding Claim 12, Berkner-Gruhlke teaches the image display device according to claim 6,
wherein the hologram element (transmissive diffraction gratings 250, para 51, transmissive diffraction grating implemented as a holographic layer 250, para 52, Berkner) is disposed between the image display optical system (display 210, Right one of the two eye pieces 220, para 51) and the eyeball of the user (eye 292).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JYOTSNA V DABBI whose telephone number is (571)270-3270. The examiner can normally be reached M-Fri: 9:00am-5:00pm.
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/JYOTSNA V DABBI/Examiner, Art Unit 2872 11/13/2025