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 claims 1-9 in the reply filed on 8/19/2025 is acknowledged.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1 and 5-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zheng (US2023/0166467 A1) in view of Siders (EP1409198 B1).
Regarding claim 1, Zheng discloses a process of manufacturing a customized contact lens [abstract] for astigmatism [0053], comprising the steps of: (A) providing at least one optical part containing astigmatic optics [0053] on an anterior surface of a lens to prepare a male mold and a female mold respectively [0031], wherein the male mold is spaced from the female mold by a gap which includes a thickness of the optical part [0045]; (B) pouring material for contact lens into the female mold [0031] (figure 2a); (C) joining the male mold and the female mold (figure 2b); (D) curing the material for contact lens to form an unfinished lens, the unfinished lens including a convex front surface and a concave rear surface [0028 -0031]; (E) removing the female mold and machining the convex front surface of the unfinished lens on the male mold (figure 2c) to remove the thickness to be machined other than the optical part,
Zheng does not explicitly disclose thickness to be machined and wherein the machining comprises the sub-steps of: (E1) executing a program of a prescription of contact lens to generate a lens document; (E2) using software installed in a CNC lathe to open the lens document and translating the lens document into a format which can be read by CNC lathe software; (E3) inputting a thickness of the unfinished lens into a CNC lathe computer and performing the CNC lathe software to read the thickness of the unfinished lens; and (E4) executing the CNC lathe software to activate the CNC lathe based on the lens document and the thickness of the unfinished lens; and (F) removing the unfinished lens and hydrating the unfinished lens to manufacture a finished contact lens.
However, analogous lens art, Siders, discloses wherein the machining comprises the sub-steps of: (E1) executing a program of a prescription of contact lens to generate a lens document [0051]; (E2) using software installed in a CNC lathe to open the lens document and translating the lens document into a format which can be read by CNC lathe software [0072, 0070]; (E3) inputting a thickness of the unfinished lens into a CNC lathe computer and performing the CNC lathe software to read the thickness of the unfinished lens [0049]; and (E4) executing the CNC lathe software to activate the CNC lathe based on the lens document and the thickness of the unfinished lens [0057, 0060] for the benefit of significantly reduces the costs of acquiring and operating a full service surfacing and edging ophthalmic lens laboratory [0022]. Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have incorporated wherein the machining comprises the sub-steps of: (E1) executing a program of a prescription of contact lens to generate a lens document; (E2) using software installed in a CNC lathe to open the lens document and translating the lens document into a format which can be read by CNC lathe software; (E3) inputting a thickness of the unfinished lens into a CNC lathe computer and performing the CNC lathe software to read the thickness of the unfinished lens; and (E4) executing the CNC lathe software to activate the CNC lathe based on the lens document and the thickness of the unfinished lens; and (F) removing the unfinished lens and hydrating the unfinished lens to manufacture a finished contact lens, as taught by Siders into the method taught by Zhen for the benefit of significantly reducing the costs of acquiring and operating a full service surfacing and edging ophthalmic lens laboratory.
Regarding claim 5, Zheng teaches wherein the male mold is formed of a material configured to adhere to the unfinished lens and the female mold is formed of a material configured to not adhere to the unfinished lens [0031], figure 2c.
Regarding claim 6, Zheng does not explicitly teach wherein three molds are provided, the female mold of each mold has the same curvature at a joining surface, and the male mold of each mold has a different curvature at the joining surface so that three unfinished lenses having different concave rear surfaces are manufactured, and the three unfinished lenses have the same convex front surface. However, Zheng does disclose having different curvatures of the male and female lenses [0028, 0030]. As for the multiple lens, according to MPEP 2144.04 IV duplication of parts is within the skillset of one ordinary skilled in the art. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have incorporated multiple lens in order to streamline processes.
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zheng (US2023/0166467 A1) in view of Siders (EP1409198 B1), as applied to claim 1 and further in view of Davison (US 2010/0109176 A1).
Regarding claim 2, Zheng does not explicitly disclose wherein in step (A) at least one of optical combination of myopia, presbyopia, and multi-focus is incorporated into the convex front surface of the lens; and wherein in step (E) the unfinished lens having optical features including astigmatism, myopia, presbyopia, and multi-focus is machined. Analogous art, Davidson, discloses wherein in step (A) at least one of optical combination of myopia, presbyopia, and multi-focus is incorporated into the convex front surface of the lens; and wherein in step (E) the unfinished lens having optical features including astigmatism, myopia, presbyopia, and multi-focus is machined [0035]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have incorporated at least one of optical combination of myopia, presbyopia, and multi-focus is incorporated into the convex front surface of the lens; and wherein in step (E) the unfinished lens having optical features including astigmatism, myopia, presbyopia, and multi-focus is machined based on the design needs of the final product and for the benefit of having one lens that works in different conditions.
Claim(s) 3-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zheng (US2023/0166467 A1)) in view of Siders (EP1409198 B1), as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Chou (US 2015/0035881 A1).
Regarding claim 3, Zheng does not explicitly discloses an ink is applied on a predetermined area of the male mold before the male mold and the female mold are joined, and after the male mold and the female mold are joined, the material for contact lens penetrates or joins the ink to manufacture a color contact lens after the material for contact lens has been cured. However, one ordinary skill in the art would look to conventional art to determine the conventional way to add to color to lenses; wherein a transparent protective layer is applied on the male mold prior to applying ink on the male mold, the ink is disposed between the protective layer and the material for contact lens, and the male mold and the female mold are joined and cured thereafter. Analogous art, Chou et al, discloses an ink is applied on a predetermined area of the male mold before the male mold and the female mold are joined, and after the male mold and the female mold are joined, the material for contact lens penetrates or joins the ink to manufacture a color contact lens after the material for contact lens has been cured; wherein a transparent protective layer is applied on the male mold prior to applying ink on the male mold, the ink is disposed between the protective layer and the material for contact lens, and the male mold and the female mold are joined and cured thereafter (claim 8). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have incorporated determine the conventional way to add to color to lenses; wherein a transparent protective layer is applied on the male mold prior to applying ink on the male mold, the ink is disposed between the protective layer and the material for contact lens, and the male mold and the female mold are joined and cured, as taught by Chou into the method taught by Zeng in order to shorten manufacturing time [0007].
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zheng (US2023/0166467 A1) in view of Siders (EP1409198 B1), as applied to claim 1, and further in view of CN113021738, herein referred to as ‘738.
Regarding claim 7, Zheng teaches wherein the material for contact lens is hydrogel or silicone glue [0034], but does not explicitly disclose the male mold is formed of a highly polarized material and has a polarity different from that of the material for contact lens, and the female mold is formed of a non-polarized material. However, analogous lens art, ‘738, discloses the use of polarity treatment to only one of the lens (claim 1) for the benefit preventing excessive stickiness (last paragraph under background). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have incorporated disclose the male mold is formed of a highly polarized material and has a polarity different from that of the material for contact lens, and the female mold is formed of a non-polarized material, as taught by ‘738, into the method taught by Zheng for the benefit of preventing excessive stickiness.
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zheng (US2023/0166467 A1) in view of Siders (EP1409198 B1), as applied to claim 1, and further in view of CN117067644A, herein referred to as ‘644.
Regarding claim 8, Zheng does not explicitly teaches wherein the male mold is polybutylene telephthalide (PBT) and the female mold is polypropylene (PP). However, analogous art, ‘644, discloses the male mold is made of PBT while the female mole is made of PPT [80]. Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have included wherein the male mold is polybutylene telephthalide (PBT) and the female mold is polypropylene (PP) since it is conventionally well known and easy to demold [008].
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zheng (US2023/0166467 A1) in view of Siders (EP1409198 B1), as applied to claim 1, and further in view of JP2013/538139A, herein referred to as ‘139A.
Regarding claim 9, Zheng teaches, wherein in step (E) a chuck (20) is provided on an axis of rotation and is configured to fasten the male mold so as to machine the convex front surface of the unfinished lens [0052];but does not explicitly disclose wherein a pressure of 0.40-0.60mpa is applied on the male mold by the chuck. However, analogous art, ‘139, discloses a backpressure of 0.5-2.5 Mpa, which overlaps with applicant’s range of 0.40-.60 mpa (claim 1). Further, MPEP 2144.05 states In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 Where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to have determined the optimum values of the relevant process parameters through routine experimentation in the absence of a showing of criticality.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FARAH N TAUFIQ whose telephone number is (571)272-6765. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday: 8:00 am-4:30 pm.
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/FARAH TAUFIQ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1754