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 .
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(s) 1-4 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20250328017 A1 (HATSUMI; Ryo et al.) in view of US 20220252883 A1 (Tsai; Cheng-Hsiu et al.)
PNG
media_image1.png
254
364
media_image1.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image2.png
386
512
media_image2.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image3.png
636
494
media_image3.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image4.png
416
700
media_image4.png
Greyscale
Per claim 1, Hatsumi teaches a virtual image display device [see figure 10A], comprising: an image display device [30] including a pixel display region for displaying an image and a light transmitting region for causing externals to be visually recognizable [see paragraphs 0004: “Goggles-type devices and glasses-type devices have been developed as electronic devices for virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR)”]; a polarizing plate being arranged on a face side of the image display device and being configured to limit transmitted light to a predetermined polarization direction [32]; an image selection conversion member being arranged on a face side of the polarizing plate and including a wavelength plate for selectively changing a polarization direction of image light according to the pixel display region [see quarterwave plate 33]; and a polarization separation lens element being arranged on a face side of the image selection conversion member and having refractive power selectively acting on polarization of the image light [see figure 8:40 and see paragraphs 0110-0112: “The optical device 40 has a region where the half mirror 41, the lens 42, the retardation plate 43, the reflective polarizing plate 44, and the lens 45 overlap with each other. An optical axis of the lens 42 and the lens 45 is placed to intersect perpendicularly with a display portion of the display panel 31. In the case where the dark filter 46 is provided, the dark filter 46 is preferably provided on the incident surface side of the half mirror 41, between the reflective polarizing plate 44 and the lens 45, or on the emission surface side of the lens 45. FIG. 8 illustrates an example in which the dark filter 46 is provided on the incident surface side of the half mirror 41. Note that the term “perpendicular” indicates that the angle formed between two straight lines is greater than or equal to 85° and less than or equal to 95°. Here, one of the two straight lines refers to the optical axis of the lens 42 and the lens 45 and the other refers to a straight line parallel to the display portion (display surface). For example, a first surface of the half mirror 41 can be close to the first surface of the lens 42. Furthermore, a first surface of the reflective polarizing plate 44 can be close to a first surface of the retardation plate 43, and a first surface of the lens 45 can be close to a second surface of the reflective polarizing plate 44.]
Hatsumi lacks a light shielding member being arranged on an external side of the image display device and being configured to suppress incidence of external light on the pixel display region. However, Tsai figure 5 teaches augmented reality goggles comprising a display, 420, and a light shielding member being arranged on an external side of the image display device and being configured to suppress incidence of external light on the pixel display region, 110. Tsai teaches an expected benefit at paragraph 0019: “The light-shielding element 110 may determine whether to shield an environmental image from the outside according to the control signal CT2. When the light-shielding element 110 is turned on, the environmental image from the outside is shielded and cannot be transmitted to the target zone TG; on the contrary, when the light-shielding element 110 is turned off, the environmental image from the outside can be transmitted to the target zone TG. The display 120 then generates the display image DIMG according to the control signal CT3.” Therefore, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Tsai with Hatsumi.
Per claim 2, Hatsumi et al. teach the virtual image display device according to claim 1, wherein the pixel display region is a light emitting region corresponding to a pixel or a sub pixel [see figure 9, pixels 71], and the wavelength plate is arranged in a region corresponding to the light emitting region [inherent, see figures 8-9].
Per claim 3, Hatsumi et al. teach the virtual image display device according to claim 1, wherein the light shielding member is arranged in a region corresponding to a pixel or a sub pixel of the pixel display region [inherent to the combination, see figures 8-9 and 5 above].
Per claim 4, Hatsumi et al. teach the virtual image display device according to claim 1, wherein the polarizing plate limits the image light from the image display device and external light passing through the light shielding member to polarized light in a first direction [inherent to linear polarizers block a certain amount of light], and transmits the light [inherent to the polarizers], and the image selection conversion member converts the image light passing through the polarizing plate into polarized light in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction [see paragraph 0131: “The left circularly polarized light inverted by the half mirror 41 passes through the lens 42, and the light is incident on the retardation plate 43 and is converted into 90° linearly polarized light.”]
Per claim 9, Tatsumi et al. teach a head-mounted display apparatus, comprising: a first device including the virtual image display device according to claim 1 [92 left eye, see figures 8-10]; a second device including the virtual image display device according to claim 1 [92 left eye, see figures 8-10]; and a support device including a temple configured to support the first device and the second device so that the first device and the second are wearable on a head [90-91].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-8 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art teaches the virtual image display device according to claim 1. In combination with the limitations above the prior art does not teach the polarization separation lens element is a polarization separation liquid crystal lens including a plurality of element lenses that cause respective pixels or sub pixels constituting the image display device to form an image individually.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES A DUDEK whose telephone number is (571)272-2290. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 6:30-4:30 MT.
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, Jennifer Carruth can be reached at 571-272-9791. 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.
/JAMES A DUDEK/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871