DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on 10/29/2025 has been entered and considered by Examiner. Claims 1-9, 11, 13- 22 are presented for examination. This Action is made FINAL.
Terminal Disclaimer
The terminal disclaimer filed on 10/29/2025 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of US Pat.: 11935274 has been reviewed and is accepted. The terminal disclaimer has been recorded.
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.
Claims 1-5, and 18-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over He et al. (US 20090128664 A1) in view of Walsh et al. (US Pub. 20220067864 A1).
For claim 1, He discloses an iris scanning device (device used to scan irises, and it's made up of several parts), comprising:
optics to receive a fist optical signal from a first eye of person and a second optical signal form a second eye of the person (Fig. 1-3, The first light signal comes from one of the person's eyes/irises, and the second signal comes from the other eye/iris.) [0041-42, 0047-48],
wherein the optics comprises:
a movable mirror (105); and
a stationary mirror (106);
wherein the movable mirror is configured to align with one of the first eye during the time period such that the first optical signal from the first eye of the person is reflected by the movable mirror to the stationary mirror (Figs. 1-3) [0040-43];
a selector (105) (chooses between different inputs, e.g. switch) [0034-35];
a lens (102/101) optically coupled to the selector (Fig. 1-3, lens connected in a way that lets light pass from the selector to the lens); and
a camera sensor (103) optically coupled to the lens (Fig. 1-3, sensor that receives light from the lens.) [0049-51];
wherein the selector is configured to receive a first optical signal and a second optical signal (Fig. 1-3, The first light signal comes from one of the person's eyes/irises, and the second signal comes from the other eye/iris.) [0047-51];
wherein the selector selectively allows a passed optical signal to be optically propagated to the lens during the time period and inhibits a blocked optical signal from being optically propagated to the lens during the time period (The switch picks one of the two light signals to pass through to the lens during a specific time and blocks the other one from getting through during that same time.) [0041-42, 0047-48],
the passed optical signal being the first optical signal during the time period (The signal that is allowed through is either the one from the first eye or the second eye, depending on the time.) [0041-43], and
the blocked optical signal being the second optical signal during the time period (Fig. 1-3, The one that is blocked/prevented is whichever eye/iris wasn't chosen at that time.) [0041-43]; and
wherein the lens causes the passed optical signal to be incident on the camera sensor during the time period (Figs. 1-3, The lens takes the signal that got through and focuses it onto the camera sensor during that time.) [0041-43].
But He doesn’t explicitly teach front end optics configured to receive a fist optical signal from a first eye of person and a second optical signal form a second eye of the person,
However, Walsh discloses front end optics configured to receive a fist optical signal from a first eye of person and a second optical signal form a second eye of the person (Fig. 8) [0079, 0086, 0096, 0100],
Walsh also discloses wherein the front end optics comprises:
a movable mirror (530/550); and
a stationary mirror (528/552);
wherein the movable mirror is configured to align with one of the first eye during the time period such that the first optical signal from the first eye of the person is reflected by the movable mirror to the stationary mirror [0079, 0086, 0096, 0100];
Since, all are analogous arts addressing mirrors and lens used in an optic device; Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of He with Walsh to ensure proper optical elements can be used to optimize optical quality, thus, improving system efficiency.
For claim 18, He discloses a method of employing an iris scanning device, comprising:
receiving, at the iris scanning device, a first optical signal representative of a first eye of a person and a second optical signal representative of a second eye of the person (Fig. 1-3, The first light signal comes from one of the person's eyes/irises, and the second signal comes from the other eye/iris.) [0047-51],
selectively allowing a passed optical signal to be optically propagated to a lens of the iris scanning device during a time period and inhibiting a blocked optical signal from being optically propagated to the lens during the time period (The switch picks one of the two light signals to
pass through to the lens during a specific time and blocks the other one from getting through
during that same time.) [0041-42, 0047-48],
the passed optical signal being one of the first optical signal or the second optical signal during the time period (The signal that is allowed through is either the one from the first eye or the second eye, depending on the time.) [0041-43],
the blocked optical signal being a differing one of the first optical signal or the second optical signal during the time period (Fig. 1-3, The one that is blocked/prevented is whichever
eye/iris wasn't chosen at that time.) [0041-43], and
the lens causes the passed optical signal to be incident on a camera sensor during the time period (Figs. 1-3, The lens takes the signal that got through and focuses it onto the camera sensor during that time.) [0041-43]; and
performing image processing on an output signal of the camera sensor to generate iris scan data for one of the first eye or the second eye of the person during the time period [0040-43.
But He doesn’t explicitly teach wherein at least one movable mirror of the iris scanning device is aligned with the first eye of the person and the second eye of the person to received the first optical signal representative of the first eye of the person and the second optical signal representative of the second eye of the person;
However, Walsh discloses wherein at least one movable mirror of the iris scanning device is aligned with the first eye of the person and the second eye of the person to received the first optical signal representative of the first eye of the person and the second optical signal representative of the second eye of the person (Fig. 8) [0079, 0086, 0096, 0100];
Walsh also discloses receiving, at the iris scanning device, a first optical signal representative of a first eye of a person and a second optical signal representative of a second eye of the person [0100, 0079, 0086, 0096],
Since, all are analogous arts addressing mirrors and lens used in an optic device; Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of He with Walsh to ensure proper optical elements can be used to optimize optical quality, thus, improving system efficiency.
For claim 2, He discloses a computing system, comprising:
a processor (108); and memory that stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor [0035, 0022], cause the processor to perform acts comprising:
performing image processing on an output signal of the camera sensor to generate iris scan data for one of the first eye of the person during the time period [0040-43].
For claim 3, He discloses the iris scanning device comprises a single camera sensor (103) utilized for generating iris scan data, the camera sensor being the single camera sensor [0040-43].
For claims 4 and 19, He discloses a controller that causes the selector to switch between allowing the first optical signal or the second optical signal to be optically propagated to the lens over time [0040-43].
For claim 5, He discloses the passed optical signal is the second optical signal during a differing time period [0040-43], and
the blocked optical signal is the second optical signal during the differing time period [0040-43].
For claim 20, He discloses the passed optical signal is the differing one of the first optical signal or the second optical signal during a differing time period [0040-43], and
the blocked optical signal is the one of the first optical signal or the second optical signal
during the differing time period [0040-43].
For claim 21, He as modified by Walsh, Walsh further discloses the at least one movable mirror comprises a single movable mirror that is aligned with the first eye of the person during the time period and aligned with the second eye of the person during a differing time period (Fig. 8) [0078-79, 0096]. See motivation to combine the reference from the above.
For claim 22, He as modified by Walsh, Walsh further discloses the iris scanning device comprises a single lens configured to cause the passed optical signal to be incident on the camera sensor over time, the lens being the single lens (Fig. 8) [0078-79, 0096]. See motivation to combine the reference from the above.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-9, and 11 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 13-17 are allowed
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to all the claims have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
In view of amendment, the reference Kim has been used for new ground of rejections.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
Inquiries
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to PAKEE FANG whose telephone number is (571)270-3633. The Examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 9:00AM-5:00PM.
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If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s supervisor, Armouche, Hadi can be reached on 571-270-3618. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/PAKEE FANG/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2409