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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the patent issued to Fujimoto (PN. 6,222,641).
Fujimoto teaches, with regard to claim 1, a holographic system (20, Figures 2, 3, 10A and 10B), that is comprised of a photosensitive film, serves as the holographic waveguide, wherein the holographic waveguide (20) is comprised of two main surfaces. Fujimoto teaches that the holographic waveguide with the photosensitive film comprises a first zone with a first volume phase hologram superimposed on the single layer of the photosensitive film (20, Figure 2) and a second zone with a second volume phase hologram superimposed on the single layer of the photosensitive film, (please see Figure 3). Fujimoto teaches that light incoming on one of the first zone and second zone of the holographic waveguide is at least partially guided toward the other of the first and second zones, (please see Figures 10A and 10B).
In a different embodiment, Fujimoto teaches that the holographic waveguide (20) may be provided to cover at least part of a substrate (110, Figures 12A and 12B) with at least one of the main surface of the holographic waveguide is conformed to a surface of the substrate (110). It would then have been obvious to one skilled in the art to apply the teachings to modify the holographic waveguide to be provided with a substrate for the benefit of allowing the combined holographic waveguide and the substrate to form an optical article that may be suitable for different application requirements.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AUDREY Y CHANG whose telephone number is (571)272-2309. The examiner can normally be reached M-TH 9:00AM-4:30PM.
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AUDREY Y. CHANG
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2872
/AUDREY Y CHANG/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872