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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I in the reply filed on 2/4/2026 is acknowledged.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 3-5, 15, and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Publication No. 2021/0318467 ("Zhou").
Regarding claim 1, Zhou discloses a sensor for determining a physical characteristic, comprising:
a linear polarizer (104A, Fig. 1, paragraph [0028]);
a polarization-sensitive metalens (102, Fig. 1, paragraphs [0027], [0034], [0043]), positioned between the linear polarizer (104A, Fig. 1) and a photosensor (114, Fig. 1), configured to manipulate light (paragraph [0030]) from a scene (112, Fig. 1) filtered by the linear polarizer (104A, Fig. 1, paragraph [0023]), according to two or more phase profiles (phase gradient, paragraph [0033], or see paragraphs [0046], [0048]) to simultaneously produce at least two images (paragraph [0034]: “LCP and RCP components (e.g., images)”, see also 244A-B, Fig. 2C, paragraphs [0040], [0048]) on a surface of the photosensor (114, Fig. 1, paragraph [0037]); and
processing circuitry (implicit, see paragraphs [0053]-[0054]) configured to:
receive, from the photosensor (114, Fig. 1), a measurement (LCP output, RCP output, Fig. 2A, see also Fig. 9D, paragraph [0048], intensity is measured) corresponding to the at least two images (paragraphs [0037], [0048]); and
determine, according to the measurement (paragraph [0048]), a physical characteristic associated with at least one feature in the scene (edge detection, paragraph [0048]).
Regarding claim 3, Zhou discloses the sensor of Claim 1, wherein the photosensor (114, Fig. 1) is a polarization-sensitive photosensor (paragraph [0038]).
Regarding claim 4, Zhou discloses the sensor of Claim 3, wherein a first image of the at least two images produced by the polarization-sensitive metalens (102, Fig. 2A) includes light of a first polarization (LCP output, Fig. 2A) and wherein a second image of the at least two images includes light of a second polarization (RCP output, Fig. 2A, paragraph [0034]).
Regarding claim 5, Zhou discloses the sensor of Claim 4, wherein the measurement includes a first intensity measurement corresponding to the light of the first polarization (intensity of LCP output, Fig. 2A) and a second intensity measurement corresponding to the light of the second polarization (intensity of RCP output, Fig. 2A, paragraphs [0027], [0046]-[0047]).
Regarding claim 15, Zhou discloses an attachment for a polarization-sensitive imaging device (Fig. 1), comprising:
a polarization-sensitive metalens (102, Fig. 1, paragraphs [0027], [0034], [0043]), positioned between a filter (104A, Fig. 1) and a photosensor (114, Fig. 1), configured to manipulate light (paragraph [0030]) from a scene (112, Fig. 1, under the broadest reasonable interpretation, a scene is simply what is being observed in a frame, in this case the scene is object 112) filtered by the filter (104A, Fig. 1, paragraph [0023]), according to two or more phase profiles (phase gradient, paragraph [0033], or see paragraphs [0046], [0048]) to simultaneously produce at least two images (paragraph [0034]: “LCP and RCP components (e.g., images)”, see also 244A-B, Fig. 2C, paragraphs [0040], [0048]) on a surface of the photosensor (114, Fig. 1, paragraph [0037]); and
wherein each of the two or more phase profiles implemented by the polarization-sensitive metalens (102, Fig. 1) apply a spatial frequency filter (paragraphs [0022], [0029]) to manipulate the filtered light (light output from 104A, Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 17, Zhou discloses the attachment of Claim 15, wherein a first image of the at least two images produced by the polarization-sensitive metalens (102, Fig. 2A) includes light of a first polarization (LCP output, Fig. 2A) and wherein a second image of the at least two images includes light of a second polarization (RCP output, Fig. 2A, paragraph [0034]).
Regarding claim 18, Zhou discloses the attachment of Claim 17, wherein the polarization-sensitive imaging device ( Fig. 1) is configured to measure an intensity associated with the at least two images (114, Fig. 1, inherently measures intensity, see also paragraphs [0027], [0046]-[0048]), the measurement including a first intensity measurement corresponding to the light of the first polarization state (intensity of LCP output, Fig. 2A) and a second intensity measurement corresponding to the light of the second polarization state (intensity of RCP output, Fig. 2A).
Claims 1, 7, 15, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Publication No. 2020/0225386 ("Tsai").
Regarding claim 1, Tsai discloses a sensor for determining a physical characteristic, comprising:
a linear polarizer (LP behind commercial camera lens, Fig. 11, paragraph [0043]);
a polarization-sensitive metalens (metalens array, Fig. 11), positioned between the linear polarizer (LP behind commercial camera lens, Fig. 11) and a photosensor (DSLR Camera, Fig. 11, or see CCD, Fig. 14), configured to manipulate light (paragraph [0004]) from a scene (represented by A, B, C, Fig. 11) filtered by the linear polarizer (LP, Fig. 11), according to two or more phase profiles (first and second phase compensation structures, paragraphs [0007]-[0008], [0020], structure’s geometry produce desired phase profiles) to simultaneously produce at least two images on a surface of the photosensor (see Fig. 14, paragraphs [0004], [0060], [0135]-[0137]); and
processing circuitry (implicit, rendering and depth estimation algorithms requires processing circuity, see paragraphs [0005], [0046], [0135]-[0137]) configured to:
receive, from the photosensor (DSLR Camera, Fig. 11, or see CCD, Fig. 14), a measurement (imaging signal, paragraph [0020], see also [0135]-[0137], radiance) corresponding to the at least two images (sub-images, paragraph [0020]); and
determine, according to the measurement, a physical characteristic associated with at least one feature in the scene (depth information, paragraph [0137]).
Regarding claim 7, Tsai discloses the sensor of Claim 1, wherein the light from the scene includes spatially incoherent light (paragraphs [0045],[0064]).
Regarding claim 15, Tsai discloses an attachment for a polarization-sensitive imaging device (Fig. 11, or Fig. 14), comprising:
a polarization-sensitive metalens (metalens array, Fig. 11), positioned between a filter (LP behind commercial camera lens, Fig. 11, paragraph [0043]) and a photosensor (DSLR Camera, Fig. 11, or see CCD, Fig. 14), configured to manipulate light (paragraph [0004]) from a scene (represented by A, B, C, Fig. 11) filtered by the filter (LP behind commercial camera lens, Fig. 11), according to two or more phase profiles (first and second phase compensation structures, paragraphs [0007]-[0008], [0020], structure’s geometry produce desired phase profiles) to simultaneously produce at least two images on a surface of the photosensor (sub-images, paragraph [0019], see also Fig. 14, paragraphs [0004], [0060], [0135]-[0137]); and
wherein each of the two or more phase profiles implemented by the polarization-sensitive metalens (metalens array, Fig. 11) apply a spatial frequency filter (Tsai discloses the claimed structure, therefore it similarly applies a spatial frequency filter) to manipulate the filtered light (light output from LP, Fig. 11).
Regarding claim 20, Tsai discloses the attachment of Claim 15, wherein the light from the scene includes spatially incoherent light (paragraphs [0045],[0064]).
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 2 and, 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou in view of U.S. Patent Publication No. 2021/0015604 ("Ma").
Regarding claim 2, Zhou discloses the sensor of Claim 1, wherein the light includes light having a first polarization (paragraph [0031]), but does not disclose that the linear polarizer manipulates the light to produce first light having a first polarization state and second light having a second polarization state.
However, Ma discloses a device that can manipulate the light to produce first light having a first polarization state and second light having a second polarization state (see paragraph [0304]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to use a device that can produce two polarization states as disclosed by Ma in the device of Zhou in order to control the type and orientation of the polarization as desired based on application.
Regarding claim 16, Zhou discloses the attachment of Claim 15, wherein the light includes light having a first polarization (paragraph [0031]), but does not disclose that the linear polarizer manipulates the light to produce first light having a first polarization state and second light having a second polarization state.
However, Ma discloses a device that can manipulate the light to produce first light having a first polarization state and second light having a second polarization state (see paragraph [0304]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to use a device that can produce two polarization states as disclosed by Ma in the device of Zhou in order to control the type and orientation of the polarization as desired based on application.
Claims 6 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou in view of U.S. Patent Publication No. 2022/0086372 ("Menon").
Regarding claim 6, Zhou discloses the sensor of Claim 5, but does not disclose that determining the physical characteristic comprises determining depth associated with the at least one feature by performing greater than two floating point operations (FLOPs) per pixel.
However, Menon discloses an algorithm for determining depth information using a metafilter by performing greater than two floating point operations (FLOPs) per pixel (paragraph [0132]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to determine a physical characteristic by performing greater than two FLOPs as disclosed by Menon in the device of Zhou in order to reduce the cost of finding a scene from sensor data.
Regarding claim 19, Zhou discloses the attachment of Claim 18, but does not disclose that the polarization-sensitive imaging device is configured to determine a depth associated with at least one feature in the scene using the measurement, wherein determining the depth includes performing greater than two floating point operations (FLOPs) per pixel.
However, Menon discloses an algorithm for determining depth information using a metafilter by performing greater than two floating point operations (FLOPs) per pixel (paragraph [0132]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to determine a physical characteristic by performing greater than two FLOPs as disclosed by Menon in the device of Zhou in order to reduce the cost of finding a scene from sensor data.
Conclusion
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/MONICA T TABA/Examiner, Art Unit 2878
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