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 .
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 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1, 3-4 and 6-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yu (CN114296163A).
Regarding claim 1, Yu teaches a lens (Fig. 1-5, Pages 1-5 of English translation of CN114296163A) comprising:
a housing (the lens housing 1 in Fig. 1) made of a first medium (Fig. 1-5, the lens housing 1 is made of glass, page 4, last paragraph), the housing (the lens housing 1 in Fig. 1) defining a cavity (the cavity for the optical medium 2 in Fig. 1-5); and
a second medium (the optical medium 2 in Fig. 1-5) in the cavity (the cavity for the optical medium 2 in Fig. 1-5), the second medium (the optical medium 2 in Fig. 1-5) having a refractive index (Table 1, Page 4),
wherein the second medium (the optical medium 2 in Fig. 1-5) is replaceable (Fig. 1, Page 4, Table 1) in the cavity (the cavity for the optical medium 2 in Fig. 1-5).
Regarding claims 3-4 and 6-8, Yu also teaches the following elements:
(Claim 3) the second medium has a refractive index in a range of 1.4 to 2.0 (Table 1, Page 4, Paragraphs 5-7 and 14).
(Claim 4) the first medium is made of glass (Fig. 1-5, the lens housing 1 is made of glass, page 4, last paragraph) or plastic.
(Claim 6) the lens is a concave lens or a convex lens (Fig. 1-5).
(Claim 7) the housing (the lens housing 1 in Fig. 1) has an overall thickness in a range of 1 mm to 30 mm (page 4, last paragraph, the thickness of the housing 1 is 1mm in Fig. 4-5).
(Claim 8) the cavity has an overall thickness in a range of 0.05 mm to 30 mm (page 4, last paragraph, the cavity thickness h is 6mm in Fig. 4-5).
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 of this title, 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 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Robb (US 4932762).
Regarding claim 2, Yu teaches that the first medium is made of glass (Fig. 1-5, the lens housing 1 is made of glass, page 4, last paragraph). Yu does not teach the following elements.
Robb teaches the following elements (Fig. 1, Col. 1-2, Tables 1-2):
(Claim 2) a glass (SF2 glass in Fig. 1, Col. 2, Lines 49-62, Tables 1-2) has a refractive index in a range of 1.4 to 1.7 (Col. 2, Lines 49-62, Tables 1-2).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to the artisan of ordinary skill to employ the above elements as taught by Robb for the system of Yu such that in the system of Yu,
(Claim 2) the first medium has a refractive index in a range of 1.4 to 1.7.
The motivation is to provide inexpensive, chemically stable, non-corrosive and non-toxic optical glass (Robb, Col. 1, Lines 43-54).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu as applied to claim 1 above, and in view of Quaglia (US 5739959).
Regarding claim 5, Yu teaches that the second medium (the optical medium 2 in Fig. 1-5) is a liquid optical medium or a gas optical medium (Page 2, Paragraph 8). Yu does not teach the following elements.
Quaglia teaches the following elements (Fig. 1-17, Col. 4, Col. 7-8):
(Claim 5) a second medium (the liquid corresponding to 3 in Fig. 1, Col. 4, Col. 8) is one selected from polymer, polymer solution (Col. 8. Lines 12-21), ionic liquid, and hydrogel.
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to the artisan of ordinary skill to employ the above elements as taught by Quaglia for the system of Yu such that in the system of Yu,
(Claim 5) the second medium is one selected from polymer, polymer solution, ionic liquid, and hydrogel.
The motivation is to provide a medium/liquid with excellent optical properties and will not free or evaporate under optical properties everyday environments and weather conditions (Quaglia, Col. 8. Lines 12-21).
Claims 9, 11, 13-14 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu (CN114296163A) in view of Pedder (US 2025/0020926).
Regarding claim 9, Yu teaches a lens group (Page 2, Paragraph 4, Fig. 1-5, Pages 1-5 of English translation of CN114296163A) comprising:
a lens (the lens shown in Fig. 1-5), the lens (the lens shown in Fig. 1-5) comprising:
a housing (the lens housing 1 in Fig. 1) made of a first medium (Fig. 1-5, the lens housing 1 is made of glass, page 4, last paragraph), the housing (the lens housing 1 in Fig. 1) defining a cavity (the cavity for the optical medium 2 in Fig. 1-5); and
a second medium (the optical medium 2 in Fig. 1-5) in the cavity (the cavity for the optical medium 2 in Fig. 1-5), the second medium (the optical medium 2 in Fig. 1-5) having a refractive index (Table 1, Page 4),
wherein the second medium (the optical medium 2 in Fig. 1-5) is replaceable (Fig. 1, Page 4, Table 1) in the cavity (the cavity for the optical medium 2 in Fig. 1-5).
Yu does not teach an optical element, the lens adhering to the optical element.
Pedder teaches that (Fig. 9, Fig. 13, Fig. 21A-21B, [0094-0095, 0113-0117, 0164-0169]) an optical element (112 in Fig. 9, or 128/124/122/120 in Fig. 13, or 126/128/124/122/120 in Fig. 21A-21B), the lens (the lens corresponding to 82 in Fig. 9, 13 and Fig. 21A-21B) adhering to (directly or indirectly adhering to shown in Fig. 9, Fig. 13, Fig. 21A-21B) the optical element (112 in Fig. 9, or 128/124/122/120 in Fig. 13, or 126/128/124/122/120 in Fig. 21A-21B).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to the artisan of ordinary skill to employ the above elements as taught by Pedder for the system of Yu such that in the system of Yu, an optical element, the lens adhering to the optical element. The motivation is to provide an electronic device may including a head-mounted support structure, a lens module comprising a catadioptric lens and a tunable lens, and a display that is viewable through the lens module (Pedder, [0005]).
Regarding claims 11, 13 and 14, Yu also teaches the following elements:
(Claim 11) the second medium has a refractive index in a range of 1.4 to 2.0 (Table 1, Page 4, Paragraphs 5-7 and 14).
(Claim 13) the lens is a concave lens or a convex lens (Fig. 1-5)1
(Claim 14) the housing (the lens housing 1 in Fig. 1) has an overall thickness in a range of 1 mm to 30 mm (page 4, last paragraph, the thickness of the housing 1 is 1mm in Fig. 4-5), the cavity has an overall thickness in a range of 0.05 mm to 30 mm (page 4, last paragraph, the cavity thickness h is 6mm in Fig. 4-5).
Regarding claim 16, Yu does not teach the following elements.
Pedder teaches the following elements (Fig. 9, Fig. 13, Fig. 21A-21B, [0094-0095, 0113-0117, 0164-0169]):
(Claim 16) the optical element (112 in Fig. 9, or 128/124/122/120 in Fig. 13, or 126/128/124/122/120 in Fig. 21A-21B) comprises a phase delay plate (the quarter wave plate 124 in Fig. 13, [0113]) and a lens (120 in Fig. 13, [0113]); and a lens (the lens 112 in Fig. 9, which is corresponding to 120 in Fig. 13, [0095]) is a Fresnel lens (Fig. 13, [0095]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to the artisan of ordinary skill to employ the above elements as taught by Pedder for the system of Yu in view of Pedder such that in the system of Yu in view of Pedder,
(Claim 16) the optical element comprises a phase delay plate and a Fresnel lens.
The motivation is to provide an electronic device may including a head-mounted support structure, a lens module comprising a catadioptric lens and a tunable lens, and a display that is viewable through the lens module (Pedder, [0005]).
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu in view of Pedder as applied to claim 9 above, and further in view of Robb (US 4932762).
Regarding claim 10, Yu teaches that the first medium is made of glass (Fig. 1-5, the lens housing 1 is made of glass, page 4, last paragraph). Yu does not teach the following elements.
Robb teaches the following elements (Fig. 1, Col. 1-2, Tables 1-2):
(Claim 10) a glass (SF2 glass in Fig. 1, Col. 2, Lines 49-62, Tables 1-2) has a refractive index in a range of 1.4 to 1.7 (Col. 2, Lines 49-62, Tables 1-2).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to the artisan of ordinary skill to employ the above elements as taught by Robb for the system of Yu in view of Pedder such that in the system of Yu in view of Pedder,
(Claim 10) the first medium has a refractive index in a range of 1.4 to 1.7.
The motivation is to provide inexpensive, chemically stable, non-corrosive and non-toxic optical glass (Robb, Col. 1, Lines 43-54).
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu in view of Pedder as applied to claim 9 above, and further in view of Quaglia (US 5739959).
Regarding claim 12, Yu teaches that the first medium is made of glass (Fig. 1-5, the lens housing 1 is made of glass, page 4, last paragraph) or plastic, and the second medium (the optical medium 2 in Fig. 1-5) is a liquid optical medium or a gas optical medium (Page 2, Paragraph 8). Yu does not teach the following elements.
Quaglia teaches the following elements (Fig. 1-17, Col. 4, Col. 7-8):
(Claim 12) a second medium (the liquid corresponding to 3 in Fig. 1, Col. 4, Col. 8) is one selected from polymer, polymer solution (Col. 8. Lines 12-21), ionic liquid, and hydrogel.
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to the artisan of ordinary skill to employ the above elements as taught by Quaglia for the system of Yu in view of Pedder such that in the system of Yu in view of Pedder,
(Claim 12) the second medium is one selected from polymer, polymer solution, ionic liquid, and hydrogel.
The motivation is to provide a medium/liquid with excellent optical properties and will not free or evaporate under optical properties everyday environments and weather conditions (Quaglia, Col. 8. Lines 12-21).
Claims 9 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu (CN114296163A) in view of Ye (CN114578571A).
Regarding claim 9, Yu teaches a lens group (Page 2, Paragraph 4, Fig. 1-5, Pages 1-5 of English translation of CN114296163A) comprising:
a lens (the lens shown in Fig. 1-5), the lens (the lens shown in Fig. 1-5) comprising:
a housing (the lens housing 1 in Fig. 1) made of a first medium (Fig. 1-5, the lens housing 1 is made of glass, page 4, last paragraph), the housing (the lens housing 1 in Fig. 1) defining a cavity (the cavity for the optical medium 2 in Fig. 1-5); and
a second medium (the optical medium 2 in Fig. 1-5) in the cavity (the cavity for the optical medium 2 in Fig. 1-5), the second medium (the optical medium 2 in Fig. 1-5) having a refractive index (Table 1, Page 4),
wherein the second medium (the optical medium 2 in Fig. 1-5) is replaceable (Fig. 1, Page 4, Table 1) in the cavity (the cavity for the optical medium 2 in Fig. 1-5).
Yu does not teach an optical element, the lens adhering to the optical element.
Ye teaches that (Fig. 18-21, Fig. 1-17, Abs, Page 17 of English translation of CN114578571A) an optical element (the element corresponding to 211 in Fig. 19-21, Page 17, Last two paragraphs), a lens (the lens corresponding to 100 in Fig. 18-21, Fig. 1-17, Abs) adhering to (Fig. 19-21, Page 17, Last two paragraphs) the optical element (the element corresponding to 211 in Fig. 19-21, Page 17, Last two paragraphs).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to the artisan of ordinary skill to employ the above elements as taught by Ye for the system of Yu such that in the system of Yu, an optical element, the lens adhering to the optical element. The motivation is to provide a wearable device with an adjustable zoom lens (Ye, Abs, Page 17, Paragraph 6).
Regarding claim 17, Yu teaches a lens group (Page 2, Paragraph 4, Fig. 1-5, Pages 1-5 of English translation of CN114296163A) comprising:
a lens (the lens shown in Fig. 1-5), the lens (the lens shown in Fig. 1-5) comprising:
a housing (the lens housing 1 in Fig. 1) made of a first medium (Fig. 1-5, the lens housing 1 is made of glass, page 4, last paragraph), the housing (the lens housing 1 in Fig. 1) defining a cavity (the cavity for the optical medium 2 in Fig. 1-5); and
a second medium (the optical medium 2 in Fig. 1-5) in the cavity (the cavity for the optical medium 2 in Fig. 1-5), the second medium (the optical medium 2 in Fig. 1-5) having a refractive index (Table 1, Page 4),
wherein the second medium (the optical medium 2 in Fig. 1-5) is replaceable (Fig. 1, Page 4, Table 1) in the cavity (the cavity for the optical medium 2 in Fig. 1-5).
Yu does not teach a head mounted display device comprising: a frame, a display module, the display module fixed on the frame, the display module configured to emit image light; and the lens group, the lens group fixed on the frame, the lens group configured to modulate natural light and the image light; wherein the lens group comprises an optical element, the lens adhering to the optical element.
Ye teaches that (Fig. 18-21, Fig. 1-17, Abs, Page 17 of English translation of CN114578571A) a head mounted display device (Fig., 18-21, Fig. 1-17) comprising: a frame (the frame corresponding to 270 and 290 in Fig. 18), a display module (the module corresponding to 220 in Fig. 21, Fig. 18), the display module fixed on the frame (Fig. 18), the display module (the module corresponding to 220 in Fig. 21, Fig. 18) configured to emit image light (Fig. 21); and the lens group (the lens group corresponding to 210 in Fig. 18-21), the lens group fixed on the frame (Fig. 18), the lens group configured to modulate natural light and the image light; wherein the lens group (the lens group corresponding to 210 in Fig. 18-21) comprises an optical element (the element corresponding to 211, or 311 and 213 in Fig. 19-21, Page 17, Last two paragraphs), the lens (the lens corresponding to 100 in Fig. 18-21, Fig. 1-17, Abs) adhering to (Fig. 19-21, Page 17, Last two paragraphs) the optical element (the element corresponding to 211, or 311 and 213 in Fig. 19-21, Page 17, Last two paragraphs).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to the artisan of ordinary skill to employ the above elements as taught by Ye for the system of Yu such that in the system of Yu, a head mounted display device comprising: a frame, a display module, the display module fixed on the frame, the display module configured to emit image light; and the lens group, the lens group fixed on the frame, the lens group configured to modulate natural light and the image light; wherein the lens group comprises an optical element, the lens adhering to the optical element. The motivation is to provide a wearable device with an adjustable zoom lens (Ye, Abs, Page 17, Paragraph 6).
Claims 15 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu in view of Ye as applied to claims 9 and 17 above, and further in view of Nguyen (US 2014/0064655).
Regarding claims 15 and 18, Yu does not teach the following elements.
Ye teaches the following elements (Fig. 18-21, Fig. 1-17, Abs, Page 17 of English translation of CN114578571A):
(Claims 15 and 18) the optical element (the element corresponding to 211 in Fig. 19-21, Page 17, Last two paragraphs) comprises a surface relief grating and an optical waveguide (Page 17, Last Paragraph).
Nguyen teaches the following elements (Fig. 3-5, [0034-0035]):
(Claims 15 and 18) an surface relief grating (148 in Fig. 4-5, [0035]) is an output coupling grating (148 in Fig. 4-5, [0035]), the optical waveguide (150 in Fig. 4-5) is configured to transmit the image light (the light from 120 in Fig. 3-4, [0034]), the output coupling grating (148 in Fig. 4-5, [0035]) is configured to output the image light transmitted from the optical waveguide (Fig. 4).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to the artisan of ordinary skill to employ the above elements as taught by Ye and Nguyen for the system of Yu in view of Ye such that in the system of Yu in view of Ye,
(Claims 15 and 18) the optical element comprises an output coupled grating and an optical waveguide, the optical waveguide is configured to transmit the image light, the output coupling grating is configured to output the image light transmitted from the optical waveguide.
The motivation is to provide a wearable device with an adjustable zoom lens and the wearable device can be myopic glasses, hyperopia glasses, glasses intelligent augmented reality enhancing glasses (AR glasses), augmented reality enhancing helmet, augmented reality enhancing mask (Ye, Abs, Page 17, Paragraph 6).
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu in view of Ye as applied to claim 17 above, and further in view of Pedder (US 2025/0020926).
Regarding claim 19, Yu does not teach the following elements.
Pedder teaches the following elements (Fig. 9, Fig. 13, Fig. 21A-21B, [0094-0095, 0113-0117, 0164-0169]):
(Claim 19) the optical element (128/124/122/120 in Fig. 13, or 126/128/124/122/120 in Fig. 21A-21B) comprises a phase delay plate (the quarter wave plate 124 in Fig. 13, [0113]) and a lens (120 in Fig. 13, [0113]); and a lens (the lens 112 in Fig. 9, which is corresponding to 120 in Fig. 13, [0095]) is a Fresnel lens (Fig. 13, [0095]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to the artisan of ordinary skill to employ the above elements as taught by Pedder for the system of Yu in view of Ye such that in the system of Yu in view of Ye,
(Claim 19) the optical element comprises a phase delay plate and a Fresnel lens.
The motivation is to provide an electronic device may including a head-mounted support structure, a lens module comprising a catadioptric lens and a tunable lens, and a display that is viewable through the lens module (Pedder, [0005]).
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu in view of Ye as applied to claim 9 above, and further in view of Liang (CN105451636A).
Regarding claim 20, Yu also reaches that a method (Fig. 4-5, Page 4, Table 1) for adjusting a diopter of the lens group (Fig. 4-5), the method comprising: obtaining a lens focal length (Fig. 4-5); a refractive index of the second medium (the optical medium 2 in Fig. 1-5) to be filled in the cavity can be calculated (Page 4, Table 1) based on the lens focal length (Page 4, Table 1); and filling the cavity with the second medium having the refractive index (Fig. 4-5, Page 4). Yu does not teach the following elements.
Liang teaches the following elements (Fig. 1a-1b and Fig. 5-6, Abs, Pages 2-3, 7 and 15 of English translation of CN105451636A):
(Claim 20) a method for adjusting a diopter of the lens group (Fig. 5-6, Fig. 1a-1b), the method comprising: obtaining a degree of myopia/hyperopia of eyes of an user (Fig. 1a-1b, Page 2, last paragraph); calculating a lens focal length based on the obtained degree of myopia or hyperopia (Page 2, last paragraph).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to the artisan of ordinary skill to employ the above elements as taught by Liang for the system of Yu in view of Ye such that in the system of Yu in view of Ye,
(Claim 20) a method for adjusting a diopter of the lens group, the method comprising: obtaining a degree of myopia/hyperopia of eyes of an user; calculating a lens focal length based on the obtained degree of myopia or hyperopia and calculating a refractive index of the second medium to be filled in the cavity based on the obtained degree of myopia or hyperopia; and filling the cavity with the second medium having the refractive index.
The motivation is to provide human eye with corrected sunglasses and glasses (Liang, Abs).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHAN LIU whose telephone number is (571)270-0383. The examiner can normally be reached on 9am-5pm EST M-F.
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/Shan Liu/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871