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 .
Objection to the Drawings
The drawings are objected to.
Specifically, FIGS. 4 and 5 contain lines, text, and numbers in a light color font which appears inadequate for purposes of reproducibility. Please consult MPEP § 608.02, Section V, and specifically 37 CFR § 1.84(a)(l).
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 cancelled, 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.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-7 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the phrase: “the first transmittance wavelength and the second transmittance wavelength”. However, this phrase lacks antecedent basis because there are no earlier-recited first and second transmittance wavelengths. Thus, it is unclear whether this phrase is intended to be the first instance of this claimed feature or is intended to refer to a different earlier-recited feature. For examination, this phrase will be treated as: “a first transmittance wavelength and a second transmittance wavelength”.
Claims 2-7 inherit the deficiencies of Claim 1.
Claims 4 and 11 recite the phrase: “the first transmittance wavelength of the violet & UV absorbent region at 400 nm has an absorbance 100%”. It is unclear how a “transmittance wavelength” can have an “absorbance [of] 100%” because 100% absorbance means that there is zero transmittance. Furthermore, a range of 400 nm to 780 nm is already defined earlier in the claim as being a “transmittance region”. For examination, this phrase will be interpreted as: “the violet & UV absorbent region has an absorbance of 100% below 400 nm”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-10 and 12-14 are allowable. Claims 1-7 and 11 are rejected based upon 35 USC 112(b) as explained above, but as best understood, would be allowable if rewritten to overcome such rejections.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter.
With respect to Claim 1, although the prior art discloses various optical lens device, including lenses to which both infrared light absorbing layers and ultraviolet light absorbing layers may be added, and having transmittance between 400 nm and 780 nm, the prior art does not appear to further disclose or suggest the lens body having a violet & UV absorbent region, an IR absorbent region, and a whole-visible-spectrum transmittance region provided therebetween.
With respect to Claim 8, although the prior art discloses various infrared-filtering thermal-isolative optical methods, including providing both infrared light absorbing layers and ultraviolet light absorbing layers to a lens, and having transmittance between 400 nm and 780 nm, the prior art does not appear to further disclose or suggest the lens body having a violet & UV absorbent region, an IR absorbent region, and a whole-visible-spectrum transmittance region provided therebetween.
With respect to Claims 2-7 and 9-14, these claims each depend from either Claim 1 or Claim 8, and are therefore allowable for at least the reasons stated above.
Related Art
The following reference is cited to show an example of the combined use of infrared light absorbing layers with ultraviolet light absorbing layers, in association with a system having a lens, but which does not otherwise disclose or suggest the claimed invention: U.S. Pat. No. 7,679,820 of Wu et al.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RYAN S DUNNING whose telephone number is 571-272-4879. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday 10:30AM to 7:00PM Eastern Time Zone. 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, BUMSUK WON can be reached at 571-272-2713. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RYAN S DUNNING/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872