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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, “a plurality of superimposed and coaxial luminous indicators, each including a head about said axis of rotation (D) and a body extending substantially perpendicularly to said axis of rotation (D), and wherein a lower indicator situated closer to said dial than an upper indicator situated immediately above said lower indicator, on said crystal side, has at least one secondary orifice arranged around a central bore in its said head, so as to allow said luminous flux to pass through said lower indicator via said at least one secondary orifice so that at least part of said luminous flux is absorbed by the light guide of said upper indicator” claim 13, “an optical insulation layer (40) between said opaque metal layer and the transparent light guide layer, and wherein the difference Δn between the refractive index of the optical insulation layer and the refractive index of the transparent light guide layer is in the range 0.1 to 0.5, inclusive” - claim 9 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 9 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the enablement requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and/or use the invention.
The specification does not enable the limitation “wherein the difference Δn between the refractive index of the optical insulation layer and the refractive index of the transparent light guide layer (38) is in the range 0.1 to 0.5, inclusive.” – claim 9. For example, applicant does not provide the index of refraction of the transparent light guide layer or the optical insulation layer. Applicant merely sets forth the result.
The specification fails to sufficiently identify specific materials and corresponding refractive indices; provide working examples demonstrating any combination of materials that achieves the claimed range; teach material selection criteria or methods for determining whether a given material combination will fall within the claimed range. The specification even fails to disclose the refractive index of the transparent light guide layer material, making it impossible to calculate what optical insulation layer materials would achieve the claimed difference.
Claims 9 and 10 cover any luminous indicator having: opaque metal layer, transparent light-guide layer, optical insulation layer, and a refractive index difference Δn from 0.1 to 0.5.
Applicant’s disclosure does not teach with enough detail, how to select and pair materials across that range to obtain the claimed structure and its intended optical function without undue experimentation.
Breadth of the claim: The claim covers a broad genus of: transparent light guide materials, optical insulation layers, adhesives/resins, and refractive-index differences over a wide range.
There is sparse guidance: The spec gives almost no concrete implementation details: no refractive index for the light guide layer, no actual refractive index for any optical insulation layer, no identified pair of materials satisfying the range, no working example, no test protocol or design rule for selecting acceptable pairs.Optical behavior is material-dependent: Whether the structure works as intended depends on: refractive index, thickness, interface properties, wavelength, geometry, and interaction with total internal reflection / coupling.
Undue experimentation: Without examples or selection criteria, PHOSITA would have to screen candidate materials and evaluate whether they satisfy both: the claimed delta.n range, and the intended optical performance. Accordingly, practicing the full scope of the claimed limitation would require undue experimentation.
Claim 10 depends from claim 9 and thus has the same issue. For these reasons it is concluded that claims 9 & 10 is not enabled.
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 9-10 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 9 delta n is not defined. Claim 9 is therefore indefinite.
Claim 10 depends from claim 9 and thus has at least the same defect.
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.
Claim(s) 1-9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tortora US 20150346691 in view of Tortora 2021/0200155.
With regard to claim 1 Tortora ‘691 discloses a display device (display hands - title) for a watch (title) including at least one light source (luminous - title) and including, between a dial (paragraph 4) carrying at least one reference scale on a top side (hour symbols - paragraphs 3-4) and a crystal (paragraph 3) on the side facing the user, a set of hands (figure 1) coaxial about an axis of rotation (figure 1) including at least a first luminous indicator (title, abstract) including a first light guide (60, paragraph 25) arranged to diffuse part of the light emitted by said at least one light source (20), wherein said first light guide (60).
Tortora does not specifically detail the claimed: includes first coupling microstructures arranged in the transparent layer of the first light guide, which are arranged to allow light to enter said first light guide and/or to allow light to exit said first light guide.Although Tortora clearly sets forth structures which admit light and emit light in a controlled way. The only apparent deficiency may be to the term “microstructures”.
Tortora ‘155 teaches includes first coupling microstructures arranged in the transparent layer of the first light guide, which are arranged to allow light to enter said first light guide and/or to allow light to exit said first light guide – figures 2, 3; paragraph 36.
Before the earliest effective filing date it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to configure Tortora’ 691 with first coupling microstructures arranged in the transparent layer of the first light guide, which are arranged to allow light to enter said first light guide and/or to allow light to exit said first light guide, as taught by Tortora ‘155. The reason for doing so would have been to control the admission and emission of light as taught by Tortora. A reason for doing so would have been to control remission of light to even the lighting characteristics.
With regard to claim 2 Tortora ‘691 and ‘155 teach the display device (1, 2 figure 1) according to claim 1.Tortora ‘691 does not disclose the claimed:wherein said at least one first luminous indicator comprises several layers including an opaque metal layer and a transparent layer forming said first light guide, and forming a first head and a first body, said first head being centred relative to said axis of rotation and arranged to receive a luminous flux on a first lower face not visible to the user, and wherein said first coupling microstructures are arranged on or in the transparent light guide layer at said head to provide input coupling into said transparent light guide layer.
Tortora ‘155 teaches:wherein said at least one first luminous indicator comprises several layers including an opaque metal layer and a transparent layer (abstract) forming said first light guide (abstract, figure 1), and forming a first head and a first body (head and body visible in figure 1), said first head being centred relative to said axis of rotation and arranged to receive a luminous flux on a first lower face not visible to the user (the light emission is shown in figure 1 in the rotational center of the display hands), and wherein said first coupling microstructures are arranged on or in the transparent light guide layer at said head to provide input coupling into said transparent light guide layer (the aperture elements and re-emission / light admission layers are shown in figure 1. See figure 2 regarding admission and distribution inside the hand with the layers depicted).
Before the earliest effective filing date it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to configure Tortora’ 691 with said at least one first luminous indicator comprises several layers including an opaque metal layer and a transparent layer forming said first light guide, and forming a first head and a first body, said first head being centred relative to said axis of rotation and arranged to receive a luminous flux on a first lower face not visible to the user, and wherein said first coupling microstructures are arranged on or in the transparent light guide layer at said head to provide input coupling into said transparent light guide layer, as taught by Tortora ‘155. The reason for doing so would have been to achieve superior lighting characteristics for the user to benefit from a high quality illumination profile of the display hands and dial as taught by Tortora ‘155.
With regard to claim 3 Tortora ‘691 and ‘155 teach the display device (100) according to claim 1, wherein said coaxial set of hands (10) includes, between said first luminous indicator (1, 2) and said crystal (paragraphs 3, 4), at least one second luminous indicator (2/1) including a second light guide (58/60) arranged to diffuse part of the light emitted by said at least one light source (title, abstract, figures 1-7 of ‘691; title, abstract, figures 1, 2 ‘155) and/or by said first luminous indicator (1), and wherein said second light guide (58/60) includes second coupling microstructures (title, abstract, figures 1-7 of ‘691; title, abstract, figures 1, 2 ‘155) arranged in the transparent layer of the first light guide (title, abstract, figures 1-7 of ‘691; title, abstract, figures 1, 2 ‘155), which are arranged to allow light to enter said second light guide (title, abstract, figures 1-7 of ‘691; title, abstract, figures 1, 2 ‘155) and/or to allow light to exit said second light guide (title, abstract, figures 1-7 of ‘691; title, abstract, figures 1, 2 ‘155)
(title, abstract, figures 1-7 of ‘691; title, abstract, figures 1, 2 ‘155)With regard to claim 4 Tortora ‘691 and ‘155 teach the display device (abstract, title) according to claim 1, wherein said coaxial set of hands (1, 2) includes, between said first luminous indicator (1, 2) and said crystal (paragraphs 3, 4), a plurality of superimposed and coaxial luminous indicators (figures 1-2), each including a light guide arranged to diffuse part of the light emitted by said at least one light source (figures 1-2) and/or by the luminous indicator placed beneath it on the side facing away from said crystal (figures 1-2), and each including coupling microstructures, which are arranged to allow light to enter said light guide and/or to allow light to exit said light guide (figures 1-2; see modification of parent claim(s)).
With regard to claim 5 Tortora ‘691 and ‘155 teach the display device according to claim 1.
Tortora ‘691 does not disclose the claimed: wherein at least one luminous indicator included in said coaxial set of hands, comprises several layers including an opaque metal layer (36) and a transparent, light guide-forming layer, and forming a head and a body, said head being centred relative to said axis of rotation (D) and arranged to receive a luminous flux on a first lower face that is not visible to the user, and wherein said coupling microstructures are arranged on or in the transparent light-guide layer at said head in order to absorb at least some of said luminous flux and to re-emit a second luminous flux into said transparent light-guide layer.
Tortora ‘155 teaches:wherein at least one luminous indicator included in said coaxial set of hands (figures 1-3), comprises several layers including an opaque metal layer (title, abstract, paragraphs 15, 34, claim 5) and a transparent, light guide-forming layer, and forming a head and a body, said head being centred relative to said axis of rotation (figure 1) and arranged to receive a luminous flux on a first lower face that is not visible to the user (figures 1, 2), and wherein said coupling microstructures are arranged on or in the transparent light-guide layer at said head in order to absorb at least some of said luminous flux and to re-emit a second luminous flux into said transparent light-guide layer (title, abstract, figures 1-3).
Before the earliest effective filing date it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to configure Tortora’ 691 wherein at least one luminous indicator included in said coaxial set of hands, comprises several layers including an opaque metal layer (36) and a transparent, light guide-forming layer, and forming a head and a body, said head being centred relative to said axis of rotation (D) and arranged to receive a luminous flux on a first lower face that is not visible to the user, and wherein said coupling microstructures are arranged on or in the transparent light-guide layer at said head in order to absorb at least some of said luminous flux and to re-emit a second luminous flux into said transparent light-guide layer, as taught by Tortora ‘155. The reason for doing so would have been to achieve superior lighting characteristics for the user to benefit from a high quality illumination profile of the display hands and dial as taught by Tortora ‘155.
With regard to claim 6 Tortora ‘691 and ‘155 teach the display device according to claim 5.
Tortora ‘691 does not disclose the claimed:
wherein a fluorescent or phosphorescent material is arranged on or in the transparent light guide layer of at least one luminous indicator included in said coaxial set of hands, at said head in order to absorb at least part of said luminous flux and to re-emit a second respectively fluorescent or phosphorescent luminous flux in the transparent light guide layer.
Tortora ‘155 teaches:
wherein a fluorescent or phosphorescent material (52 figures 1-2) is arranged on or in the transparent light guide layer (figures 1-2) of at least one luminous indicator included in said coaxial set of hands (figures 1-2), at said head in order to absorb at least part of said luminous flux and to re-emit a second respectively fluorescent or phosphorescent luminous flux in the transparent light guide layer (abstract, paragraphs 6-11, 36; claims 1, 9)
Before the earliest effective filing date it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to configure Tortora’ 691 to comprise: a fluorescent or phosphorescent material is arranged on or in the transparent light guide layer of at least one luminous indicator included in said coaxial set of hands, at said head in order to absorb at least part of said luminous flux and to re-emit a second respectively fluorescent or phosphorescent luminous flux in the transparent light guide layer, as taught by Tortora ‘155. A reason for doing so would have been to arrange light to enter said first light guide and/or to allow light to exit said first light guide, as taught by Tortora ‘155. The reason for doing so would have been to control the admission and emission of light as taught by Tortora. A reason for doing so would have been to control remission of light to even the lighting characteristics.
With regard to claim 7 Tortora ‘691 and ‘155 teach the display device according to claim 1.
Tortora ‘691 does not disclose the claimed:
wherein the indicator closest to said crystal has a coupling surface, grouping together its coupling microstructures, which is greater than the coupling surface of the indicator immediately below, on the side facing away from said crystal.
Tortora ‘155 teaches:
wherein the indicator closest to said crystal has a coupling surface, grouping together its coupling microstructures, which is greater than the coupling surface of the indicator immediately below, on the side facing away from said crystal (figures 1-3; the crystal is on the top side, the microstructure is on the opposite side, the plurality is shown in figure 3).
Before the earliest effective filing date it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to configure Tortora’ 691 to comprise: an indicator closest to said crystal has a coupling surface, grouping together its coupling microstructures, which is greater than the coupling surface of the indicator immediately below, on the side facing away from said crystal, as taught by Tortora ‘155. The reason for doing so would have been to orient the display to illuminate the desired regions of the device and achieve a unique and interesting visual aesthetic as taught by Tortora ‘155.
With regard to claim 8 Tortora and Tortora teach the display device (100) according to claim 5, wherein at least one luminous indicator included in said coaxial set of hands (‘691 figure 1, ‘155 figure 1), includes a transparent light guide layer (abstract, figures 1-3 of both references), which is arranged to produce total internal reflection of the light rays of the second luminous flux substantially perpendicular to said axis of rotation (abstract, figures 1-3 of both references).
With regard to claim 9 Tortora ‘691 and ‘155 teach the display device (abstract, figure 1) according to claim 1.
Tortora ‘691 does not disclose the claimed:
wherein at least one luminous indicator included in said coaxial set of hands (10), comprises several layers including an opaque metal layer (36) and a transparent light guide-forming layer (38), and includes an optical insulation layer (40) between said opaque metal layer (36) and the transparent light guide layer (38), and wherein the difference Δn between the refractive index of the optical insulation layer and the refractive index of the transparent light guide layer (38) is in the range 0.1 to 0.5, inclusive.
Tortora ‘155 teaches a light guide comprising a plurality of layers including a metal layer and a transparent layer. Paragraph 34 – opaque metal layer 36, transparent light guide layer 38. Figure 2 governs the internal reflection and remission.
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Before the earliest effective filing date it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to configure Tortora’ 691 to comprise at least one luminous indicator included in said coaxial set of hands, comprises several layers including an opaque metal layer and a transparent light guide-forming layer, and includes an optical insulation layer (40) between said opaque metal layer and the transparent light guide layer, and wherein the difference Δn between the refractive index of the optical insulation layer and the refractive index of the transparent light guide layer is in the range 0.1 to 0.5, inclusive, as taught in part by Tortora ‘155. The reason for doing so would have been to generally constrain the light to the appropriate region, but allow it to bleed into the adjoining layers to form a sufficient illumination of the illumination regions both through direct emission of the light and even distribution thereof, as well as indirect illumination such as the incident UV light which needs to excite the other elements. Doing so would require only ordinary skill in the art and would be plainly and evidently a desirable choice owing to the consideration that the range would allow the light to both escape the region and be internally reflected so as to provide even and distributed lighting. Further the claimed region is quite large relative to the total possible. Thus in evaluating patentability it must be considered whether the invention is obvious as a whole. Since the range covers such a large range .1 to .5 it follows that those skilled in the art would have found at least some value within that range obvious because they must reasonably achieve some operable result pursuant to the disclosures of Tortora.
With regard to claim 11 Tortora and Tortora teach the display device (figure 1, abstract) according to claim 1, wherein at least one luminous indicator included in said coaxial set of hands (1, 2 figures 1-9b), includes a flat upper face and a flat lower face, perpendicular to said axis of rotation (figures 1-9b).
With regard to claim 12 Tortora and Tortora teach the display device (figure 1, abstract) according to claim 1, wherein at least one luminous indicator included in said coaxial set of hands (10), comprises a head including a central bore in which a socket made of opaque material is arranged (figures 1-9b; paragraphs 18-22; in figure 1 for example the light guide regions are 58 and 60. The central portions are not light guides or otherwise disclosed in any way to be transparent).
With regard to claim 13 (depends from claim 1) Tortora ‘691 does not teach the claimed: wherein said coaxial set of hands includes, between said first luminous indicator and said crystal, a plurality of superimposed and coaxial luminous indicators, each including a head about said axis of rotation (D) and a body extending substantially perpendicularly to said axis of rotation (D), and wherein a lower indicator situated closer to said dial than an upper indicator situated immediately above said lower indicator, on said crystal side, has at least one secondary orifice arranged around a central bore in its said head, so as to allow said luminous flux to pass through said lower indicator via said at least one secondary orifice so that at least part of said luminous flux is absorbed by the light guide of said upper indicator.
Tortora ‘155 teaches a light source 30 below the dial – paragraphs 30-31; figure 1 – comprising diodes – claim 11; paragraphs 24, 30, 31 – and fluorescent material – paragraphs 36, 38, claims 1, 9, 10, 12. See figures 1-3 where the light comes up from the bottom enters the various layers and is distributed therethrough. See also coaxial depiction and heads.
Before the earliest effective filing date it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to configure Tortora’ 691 with coaxial set of hands includes, between said first luminous indicator and said crystal, a plurality of superimposed and coaxial luminous indicators, each including a head about said axis of rotation (D) and a body extending substantially perpendicularly to said axis of rotation (D), and wherein a lower indicator situated closer to said dial than an upper indicator situated immediately above said lower indicator, on said crystal side, has at least one secondary orifice arranged around a central bore in its said head, so as to allow said luminous flux to pass through said lower indicator via said at least one secondary orifice so that at least part of said luminous flux is absorbed by the light guide of said upper indicator, as taught by Tortora ‘155. The reason for doing so would have been to locate the light source near the power source, to provide a larger more powerful light source, to mount the light source on the PCB for simplified electrical and circuit design, and to provide improved structural support to the elements, as taught by Tortora ‘155. A reason for doing so would have been to use a high quality and well-known light source type with excellent wavelength control, as taught by Tortora ‘155. A reason for doing so would have been to emit the original source in non-visible UV light so that only the downstream element(s) intended to be illuminated are so illuminated, taught by Tortora ‘155. Another reason for doing so would have been to achieve a unique visual aesthetic through illumination as taught by Tortora ‘155.
With regard to claim 14 (depends from claim 1) Tortora ‘691 does not teach the claimed: wherein said at least one light source (200) is positioned under said dial (300) in the vicinity of a bottom side (302) of said dial (300) facing away from said crystal (400) relative to said dial (300), or is embedded in said dial (300), or is positioned on a PCB (201) positioned under said dial (300) in the vicinity of said bottom side (302) of said dial (300).
Tortora ‘155 teaches a light source 30 below the dial – paragraphs 30-31; figure 1.
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Before the earliest effective filing date it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to configure Tortora’ 691 with said at least one light source is positioned under said dial in the vicinity of a bottom side of said dial facing away from said crystal relative to said dial, or is embedded in said dial, or is positioned on a PCB positioned under said dial in the vicinity of said bottom side of said dial, as taught by Tortora ‘155. The reason for doing so would have been to locate the light source near the power source, to provide a larger more powerful light source, to mount the light source on the PCB for simplified electrical and circuit design, and to provide improved structural support to the elements, as taught by Tortora ‘155.
With regard to claim 15 (depends from claim 14) Tortora ‘691 does not teach the claimed:
wherein said at least one light source (200) is a stationary source of illumination which includes light-emitting diodes and/or organic light-emitting diodes and/or miniature laser sources of the VCSEL type which are distributed around said axis of rotation (D).
Tortora ‘155 teaches a light source 30 below the dial – paragraphs 30-31; figure 1 – comprising diodes – claim 11; paragraphs 24, 30, 31.
Before the earliest effective filing date it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to configure Tortora’ 691 with at least one light source is a stationary source of illumination which includes light-emitting diodes and/or organic light-emitting diodes and/or miniature laser sources of the VCSEL type which are distributed around said axis of rotation (D), as taught by Tortora ‘155. The reason for doing so would have been to locate the light source near the power source, to provide a larger more powerful light source, to mount the light source on the PCB for simplified electrical and circuit design, and to provide improved structural support to the elements, as taught by Tortora ‘155. A reason for doing so would have been to use a high quality and well known light source type with excellent wavelength control, as taught by Tortora ‘155.
With regard to claim 16 Tortora and Tortora teach the display device (abstract, figure 1) according to claim 1, wherein at least one luminous indicator included in said coaxial set of hands (1, 2 figure 1).
Tortora ‘691 does not disclose the claimed: includes at least one luminous indicator whose light guide includes fluorescent material, and wherein said light source (200) is a stationary source of illumination arranged to illuminate, from below, all of the heads of the indicators included in said coaxial set of hands (10) by means of a luminous flux substantially parallel to said axis of rotation (D) and having a wavelength shorter than the wavelength re-emitted by said fluorescent material.
Tortora ‘155 teaches a light source 30 below the dial – paragraphs 30-31; figure 1 – comprising diodes – claim 11; paragraphs 24, 30, 31 – and fluorescent material – paragraphs 36, 38, claims 1, 9, 10, 12.
Before the earliest effective filing date it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to configure Tortora’ 691 with includes at least one luminous indicator whose light guide includes fluorescent material, and wherein said light source is a stationary source of illumination arranged to illuminate, from below, all of the heads of the indicators included in said coaxial set of hands (10) by means of a luminous flux substantially parallel to said axis of rotation (D) and having a wavelength shorter than the wavelength re-emitted by said fluorescent material, as taught by Tortora ‘155. The reason for doing so would have been to locate the light source near the power source, to provide a larger more powerful light source, to mount the light source on the PCB for simplified electrical and circuit design, and to provide improved structural support to the elements, as taught by Tortora ‘155. A reason for doing so would have been to use a high quality and well-known light source type with excellent wavelength control, as taught by Tortora ‘155. A reason for doing so would have been to emit the original source in non-visible UV light so that only the downstream element(s) intended to be illuminated are so illuminated, taught by Tortora ‘155. Another reason for doing so would have been to achieve a unique visual aesthetic through illumination as taught by Tortora ‘155.
With regard to claim 18 Tortora and Tortora teach a watch (title) including the display device according to claim 1, wherein at least one indicator included in said coaxial set of hands, is a luminous hand (title, figure 1).
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tortora US 20150346691 in view of Tortora 2021/0200155 in further view of Rowe (US 872200) and Wang (US 20060028921).
With regard to claim 17 Tortora ‘691 and Tortora ‘155 teach the display device (100) according to claim 1, wherein at least one luminous indicator included in said coaxial set of hands (1, 2 figure 1; abstract), includes at least two luminous indicators (1, 2 figure 1).
Tortora ‘691 does not disclose the claimed: luminous indicators whose light guides include fluorescent material, emitting in different colours.
Tortora ‘155 teaches a light source 30 below the dial – paragraphs 30-31; figure 1 – comprising diodes – claim 11; paragraphs 24, 30, 31 – and fluorescent material – paragraphs 36, 38, claims 1, 9, 10, 12.
Rowe teaches a tower clock with different colors for each unit of time.
Wang teaches a clock with different colored hands so they can be easily identified – paragraph 23, figures 2, 4.
Before the earliest effective filing date it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to configure Tortora’ 691 with whose light guides include fluorescent material, emitting in different colours, as taught by Tortora ‘155, Rowe, and Wang. A reason for doing so would have been to configure the system to indicate different intervals or hands with different colors to improve the visibility, readability, operability, and function of the hands while achieving a unique visual aesthetic as taught by Tortora, Wang, and Rowe.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tortora US 20150346691 in view of Tortora 2021/0200155 in further view of Pan 2009/0189172, Kim US 2011/0233589.
With regard to claim 10 (depends from claim 9) Tortora ‘691 does not disclose the claimed wherein said optical insulation layer (40) has a thickness in the range 5 µm to 15 µm.
Before the earliest effective filing date it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to configure the insulation layer between 5um and 15um. These are common thickness ranges required to insulate or reflect the light.
See Pan paragraph 26 which states the layer must be at least 5um.
See Kim paragraph 94 which states - fourth layer (not shown) may have a thickness of 2.ANG. to 10 um.
These are normal thickness and constitute common overlapping ranges for elements such as that disclosed by the Tortora.
Conclusion
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/SEAN KAYES/Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2831
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