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 are objected to because the character of lines not durable, clean, sufficiently dense and portions of the text of is illegible, see 37 CFR 1.84(l & p). In figures 4-13 the examiner guesses that the text/legend is supposed to read “b1”, “b2”, … “b10” in figures 4-13, respectively, however this is illegible. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Examiner’s Comments
Regarding the use of parentheses in the claims - Parentheses in claims are used to enclose reference characters corresponding to elements recited in the detailed description and the drawings and are considered as having no effect on the scope of the claims, see MPEP 608.01(m).
Claim Objections
Claim 10 is objected to because of the following informalities: apparent inadvertent typographical error. The examiner suggests “a[[n]] sawtooth inclination angle”. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 4 and 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 4 “a phase modulation j1 added to natural light by the continuous concave lens arrays is expressed as
φ
1
=
-
π
x
3
2
+
y
3
2
λ
f
”, raises clarity issues. It is unclear what the further limitation is. The claim notes a mathematical formula to describe/define the inherent phase modulation (i.e. j1) of the claimed device. However, there appears to be no limitation on the device, per se, such as a range of j1. For purposes of examination the examiner will treat the claim as stating an inherent physical property.
Regarding claim 7 “wherein a phase modulation j1 added to incident light by the continuous convex free-form surface lens arrays is expressed as
φ
1
=
-
π
x
3
2
+
y
3
2
λ
f
1
-
2
π
λ
y
3
∙
s
i
n
θ
3
”, raises clarity issues. It is unclear what the further limitation is. The claim notes a mathematical formula to describe/define the inherent phase modulation (i.e. j1) of the claimed device. However, there appears to be no limitation on the device, per se, such as a range of j1. For purposes of examination the examiner will treat the claim as stating an inherent physical property.
Regarding claim 8 “wherein a phase modulation j2 added to incident natural light by the continuous sawtooth gratings is expressed as
φ
2
=
-
2
π
λ
y
4
∙
sin
θ
4
”, raises clarity issues. It is unclear what the further limitation is. The claim notes a mathematical formula to describe/define the inherent phase modulation (i.e. j2) of the claimed device. However, there appears to be no limitation on the device, per se, such as a range of j2. For purposes of examination the examiner will treat the claim as stating an inherent physical property.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. foreign patent document CN114294611A, using US Patent Application Publication 2023/0220967 as an English translation, in view of Basquin US Patent 586,211.
Regarding claim 1 Liu discloses a combined monolithic uniform lighting device based on lenses and sawtooth gratings (title e.g. figures 1 and 4), wherein the device comprises a thin light sheet (e.g. see figures 1 and 4) with an outer side surface is a continuous lens array (abstract “first surface is a free-form surface array” e.g. see figures 1 and 4), and inner side surface is continuous sawtooth gratings (abstract “second surface is a sawtooth surface array” e.g. see figures 1 and 4).
Liu does not disclose ten thin light sheets with different, specific orientations in an array where the sequence of the ten thin light sheets being circularly shifted1. Specifically Liu does not disclose wherein the device comprises ten first thin light sheets (1), ten second thin light sheets (2), ten third thin light sheets (3), ten fourth thin light sheets (4), ten fifth thin light sheets (5), ten sixth thin light sheets (6), ten seventh thin light sheets (7), ten eighth thin light sheets (8), ten ninth thin light sheets (9) and ten tenth thin light sheets (10), which are arranged in a matrix to form a daylighting matrix; a first row of the daylighting matrix comprises a first thin light sheet (1), a second thin light sheet (2), a third thin light sheet (3), a fourth thin light sheet (4), a fifth thin light sheet (5), a sixth thin light sheet (6), a seventh thin light sheet (7), an eighth thin light sheet (8), a ninth thin light sheet (9), and a tenth thin light sheet (10) in order from left to right; a second row of the daylighting matrix comprises a tenth thin light sheet (10), a first thin light sheet (1), a second thin light sheet (2), a third thin light sheet (3), a fourth thin light sheet (4), a fifth thin light sheet (5), a sixth thin light sheet (6), a seventh thin light sheet (7), an eighth thin light sheet (8), and a ninth thin light sheet (9) in order from left to right; a third row of the daylighting matrix comprises a ninth thin light sheet (9), a tenth thin light sheet (10), a first thin light sheet (1), a second thin light sheet (2), a third thin light sheet (3), a fourth thin light sheet (4), a fifth thin light sheet (5), a sixth thin light sheet (6), a seventh thin light sheet (7), and an eighth thin light sheet (8) in order from left to right; a fourth row of the daylighting matrix comprises an eighth thin light sheet (8), a ninth thin light sheet (9), a tenth thin light sheet (10), a first thin light sheet (1), a second thin light sheet (2), a third thin light sheet (3), a fourth thin light sheet (4), a fifth thin light sheet (5), a sixth thin light sheet (6), and a seventh thin light sheet (7) in order from left to right; a fifth row of the daylighting matrix comprises a seventh thin light sheet (7), an eighth thin light sheet (8), a ninth thin light sheet (9), a tenth thin light sheet (10), a first thin light sheet (1), a second thin light sheet (2), a third thin light sheet (3), a fourth thin light sheet (4), a fifth thin light sheet (5), and a sixth thin light sheet (6) in order from left to right; a sixth row of the daylighting matrix comprises a sixth thin light sheet (6), a seventh thin light sheet (7), an eighth thin light sheet (8), a ninth thin light sheet (9), a tenth thin light sheet (10), a first thin light sheet (1), a second thin light sheet (2), a third thin light sheet (3), a fourth thin light sheet (4), and a fifth thin light sheet (5) in order from left to right; a seventh row of the daylighting matrix comprises a fifth thin light sheet (5), a sixth thin light sheet (6), a seventh thin light sheet (7), an eighth thin light sheet (8), a ninth thin light sheet (9), a tenth thin light sheet (10), a first thin light sheet (1), a second thin light sheet (2), a third thin light sheet (3), and a fourth thin light sheet (4) in order from left to right; an eighth row of the daylighting matrix comprises a fourth thin light sheet (4), a fifth thin light sheet (5), a sixth thin light sheet (6), a seventh thin light sheet (7), an eighth thin light sheet (8), a ninth thin light sheet (9), a tenth thin light sheet (10), a first thin light sheet (1), a second thin light sheet (2), and a third thin light sheet (3) in order from left to right; a ninth row of the daylighting matrix comprises a third thin light sheet (3), a fourth thin light sheet (4), a fifth thin light sheet (5), a sixth thin light sheet (6), a seventh thin light sheet (7), an eighth thin light sheet (8), a ninth thin light sheet (9), a tenth thin light sheet (10), a first thin light sheet (1), and a second thin light sheet (2) in order from left to right; a tenth row of the daylighting matrix comprises a second thin light sheet (2), a third thin light sheet (3), a fourth thin light sheet (4), a fifth thin light sheet (5), a sixth thin light sheet (6), a seventh thin light sheet (7), an eighth thin light sheet (8), a ninth thin light sheet (9), a tenth thin light sheet (10), and a first thin light sheet (1) in order from left to right; an angle (β1) between a sawtooth line of a sawtooth grating on an inner surface of the first thin light sheet (1) and a horizontal plane is 50°; an angle (β2) between a sawtooth line of a sawtooth grating on an inner surface of the second thin light sheet (2) and a horizontal plane is 30°; an angle (β3) between a sawtooth line of a sawtooth grating on an inner surface of the third thin light sheet (3) and a horizontal plane is 20°; an angle (β4) between a sawtooth line of a sawtooth grating on an inner surface of the fourth thin light sheet (4) and a horizontal plane is 10°; an angle (β5) between a sawtooth line of a sawtooth grating on an inner surface of the fifth thin light sheet (5) and a horizontal plane is 5°; an angle (β6) between a sawtooth line of a sawtooth grating on an inner surface of the sixth thin light sheet (6) and a horizontal plane is 175°; an angle (β7) between a sawtooth line of a sawtooth grating on an inner surface of the seventh thin light sheet (7) and a horizontal plane is 170°; an angle (β8) between a sawtooth line of a sawtooth grating on an inner surface of the eighth thin light sheet (8) and a horizontal plane is 160°; an angle (β9) between a sawtooth line of a sawtooth grating on an inner surface of the ninth thin light sheet (9) and a horizontal plane is 150°; and an angle (β10) between a sawtooth line of a sawtooth grating on an inner surface of the tenth thin light sheet (10) and a horizontal plane is 130°.
Applicant’s state issue is to evenly distribute sunlight into a room, see instant application paragraph [0006].
Basquin teaches a similar sheet (page 1 lines 8-11 “light-diffusing devices for windows”) with a sawtooth profile (page 1 line 22 “prismatic glass” e.g. see figure 4); and further teaches a series of a series of differently oriented prismatic sections (e.g. figure 3 prismatic sections D, D1 & D2) which has a circular shift (see annotated figure A below) for the purpose of projecting the light in several different directions (page 1 lines 68-71) so the light is more thoroughly diffused (page 1 lines 33-38), thereby addressing applicant’s state issue. Therefore, it would have been obvious to an ordinarily skilled artisan before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for device disclosed by Liu to be arranged in an array of sections with the grating having different orientations where the sections are circularly shifted as taught by Basquin for the purpose of projecting outside light in several different directions so the light is more thoroughly diffused in a room, thereby addressing applicant’s state issue.
[AltContent: textbox (D2)][AltContent: textbox (D2)][AltContent: textbox (D1)][AltContent: textbox (D)]
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224
188
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Figure A. Annotated portion of Bisquin figure 3 showing claimed shifting pattern of sections.
Basquin only teaches three differently orientated sections. Basquin does not teach ten thin sheets with ten specific orientations (i.e. b1-b10). Regarding ten (instead of three), it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to increase the number of sheets , since it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art, St. Regis Paper Co. v. Bemis Co., 193 USPQ 8 (1977); and further it has been held that mere duplication of parts has no patentable significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced, In re Harza, 274 F.2d 669, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960), see MPEP 2144.04. One would be motivated to increase the number of sections to more evenly distribute the light. Regarding the specific orientation (i.e. b1-b10), it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art, In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233 (C.C.P.A. 1955), see MPEP 2144.05. In this case the combination of Liu and Basquin has multiple sections of thin sheets with lenses and sawtooth gratings arranged with a circular shift to evenly distribute outside light in a room, fulfilling the general conditions of the claim. One would be motivated to choose specific orientation angles (i.e. b1-b10) for the purpose of evenly distributing the light. Therefore, it would have been obvious to an ordinarily skilled artisan before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for the device as disclosed by the combination of Liu and Basquin to have ten sections with the specified orientation angles (i.e. b1-b10) for the purpose of evenly distributing the light and since mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art and said duplication has no new or unexpected result, and discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art.
Regarding claim 2 the combination of Liu and Basquin disclose the combined monolithic uniform lighting device based on lenses and sawtooth gratings according to claim 1, as set forth above. Liu further discloses wherein the continuous lens arrays refer to continuous concave lens arrays (paragraph [0010] e.g. see figure 3).
Regarding claim 3 the combination of Liu and Basquin disclose the combined monolithic uniform lighting device based on lenses and sawtooth gratings according to claim 2, as set forth above. Liu further discloses wherein a thickness z1 of different positions x1 and y1 on a surface of each concave lens of the continuous concave lens arrays is expressed as
z
1
=
-
x
1
2
+
y
1
2
r
1
+
r
1
2
-
x
1
2
+
y
1
2
, wherein is a radius of curved surface of a concave lens (mathematical definition of an inherent physical property), and the radius of curved surface is 1-5 times a minimum spacing between the concave lens and a sawtooth grating (paragraph [0011] “concave free-form surface, which makes the light propagate in the horizontal direction through refraction, and the radius of curvature is 1-5 times the minimum spacing between the free-form surface and the sawtooth grating”).
Regarding claim 4 the combination of Liu and Basquin disclose the combined monolithic uniform lighting device based on lenses and sawtooth gratings according to claim 2, as set forth above. Liu further discloses wherein a phase modulation j1 added to natural light by the continuous concave lens arrays is expressed as
φ
1
=
-
π
x
3
2
+
y
3
2
λ
f
, wherein x3 and y3 are positions of an incident wavefront of the lens arrays, λ represents a center wavelength of the natural light, and f represents a focal length of the lens (inherent physical property, see 112 section above).
Regarding claim 5 the combination of Liu and Basquin disclose the combined monolithic uniform lighting device based on lenses and sawtooth gratings according to claim 1, as set forth above. Liu further discloses wherein the continuous lens arrays refer to continuous convex free-form surface lens arrays (paragraph [0010] e.g. see figure 1).
Regarding claim 6 the combination of Liu and Basquin disclose the combined monolithic uniform lighting device based on lenses and sawtooth gratings according to claim 5, as set forth above. Liu further discloses wherein a thickness d1 of different positions x1 and y1 on each convex free-form surface of the continuous convex free-form surface lens arrays is expressed as
d
1
x
1
,
y
1
=
1
n
-
1
x
1
2
+
y
1
2
r
1
+
r
1
2
-
x
1
2
+
y
1
2
+
y
1
∙
s
i
n
θ
1
, wherein n represents a refractive index, r1 represents a radius of curvature at a vertex of the convex free-form surface, and θ1 represents a surface-type inclination angle of the convex free-form surface, which makes the light propagate in a horizontal direction through refraction (mathematical definition of an inherent physical property), and the radius of curvature is 1-5 times a minimum spacing between the free-form surface and the sawtooth grating (paragraph [0011] “convex free-form surface, which makes the light propagate in the horizontal direction through refraction, and the radius of curvature is 1-5 times the minimum spacing between the free-form surface and the sawtooth grating”).
Regarding claim 7 the combination of Liu and Basquin disclose the combined monolithic uniform lighting device based on lenses and sawtooth gratings according to claim 5, as set forth above. Liu further discloses wherein a phase modulation j1 added to incident light by the continuous convex free-form surface lens arrays is expressed as
φ
1
=
-
π
x
3
2
+
y
3
2
λ
f
1
-
2
π
λ
y
3
∙
s
i
n
θ
3
, wherein θ3 represents an incident angle of the natural light on the free-form surface, λ represents a center wavelength of the incident light, f1 represents an equivalent focal length of the free-form surface, and x3 and y3 are positions of an incident wavefront of free-form surface arrays (inherent physical property, see 112 section above).
Regarding claim 8 the combination of Liu and Basquin disclose the combined monolithic uniform lighting device based on lenses and sawtooth gratings according to claim 1, as set forth above. Liu further discloses wherein a phase modulation j2 added to incident natural light by the continuous sawtooth gratings is expressed as
φ
2
=
-
2
π
λ
y
4
∙
sin
θ
4
, wherein y4 represents a position of an incident wavefront of the sawtooth surface array, and θ4 represents an incident angle of natural light on a sawtooth surface (inherent physical property, see 112 section above).
Regarding claim 9 the combination of Liu and Basquin disclose the combined monolithic uniform lighting device based on lenses and sawtooth gratings according to claim 1 including ten thin light sheets, as set forth above. Liu further discloses wherein the thin light sheets of the combined monolithic uniform lighting device based on light sheets and sawtooth gratings provided in this embodiment are all made of transparent materials with a transmittance greater than 85% (paragraph [0014] “device material is the high-transmittance material with a transmittance above 85%”).
Regarding claim 10 the combination of Liu and Basquin disclose the combined monolithic uniform lighting device based on lenses and sawtooth gratings according to claim 1, as set forth above. Liu further discloses wherein each lens of the continuous lens arrays corresponds to each sawtooth of the sawtooth gratings of the continuous sawtooth gratings, a center position of the sawtooth matches an optical axis of the lens (paragraph [0013] “free-form surface array corresponds to the sawtooth surface array one to one, and the center position of the sawtooth matches the optical axis of the free-form surface lens unit”), and a range of an sawtooth inclination angle of the continuous gratings θ is 20°-70° (paragraph [0012] “the inclination angle of the sawtooth in the sawtooth surface array is ϑ, and the range of ϑ is 20°-70°”).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Cummings US Patent 593,045; in regards to a thin light sheet with a sawtooth profile on one side and a convex lens on the other side used to distribute outside light throughout a room, see figures 1-4 and page 1 lines 11-18.
Kodaira et al. foreign patent document JPH04175702A; in regards to a device comprising multiple diffraction gratings with various directivities are combined and arranged into a pane, see figure 3.
Vasylyev US Patent Application Publication 2015/0085368; in regards to a thin light sheet with a grating on one side and a convex lens on the other side used to distribute outside light in a room, see figure 11 and paragraph [0006].
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to George G King whose telephone number is (303)297-4273. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5.
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/George G. King/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872 January 6, 2026
1 A circular shift is when the last element in a row is moved to be the first element in the following row and the remaining elements are shifted.