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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments are moot in view of the amendments to the claims and the new grounds of rejection below.
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.
Claims 4-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Avetisian et al (US Publication No.: US 2015/0241602 A1 of record, “Avetisian”) in view of Yan et al (US Patent No.: US 8,358,467 of record, “Yan”) and Henky et al (US Publication No.: US 2019/0227197 A1, “Henky”).
Regarding Claim 4, Avetisian discloses a thin film optical lens (Figure 1), the lens comprising:
An optical substrate comprising a first surface and an opposing second surface (Figure 1; Chart 1; Paragraph 0044),
The first surface being operable to at least partially reflect infrared radiation, the second surface being operable to at least partially transmit ultraviolet light in the wavelength range between 300 to 400 nanometers (Paragraph 0041; Paragraph 0044); and
A low index dielectric material (Paragraph 0063; Chart 1); and
A high index dielectric material (Paragraph 0063; Chart 1), whereby
The dielectric materials are applied on the first surface of the optical substrate in the following order:
About 145.00 nanometers of the low index dielectric material (Paragraph 0068 discloses a range of 100nm to 150nm),
About 15.00 nanometers of the high index dielectric material (Paragraph 0024 discloses a range of 13nm to 15nm),
About 17.00 nanometers of the low index dielectric material (Paragraph 0024 discloses a range of 13nm to 15nm),
About 104.50 nanometers of the high index dielectric material (Paragraphs 0074-0076 disclose a thickness greater than 10nm),
About 153.00 nanometers of the low index dielectric material (Paragraph 0068; Paragraphs 0074-0076),
About 75.00 nanometers of the low index dielectric material (Paragraph 0076), wherein
The optical substrate reduces transmission of infrared radiation, blocks high-energy visible light transmission, and reduces backside reflection of ultraviolet light from the lens to enhance viewing characteristics of the optical substrate (Paragraph 0050 discloses minimization of reflections from the UVB through the IR-A band, including the visible light region in between), whereby
The applied dielectric materials enable the first surface to reflect up to 40 percent of the infrared radiation (Paragraph 0040 discloses 14% reflectance), whereby
The dielectric materials enable the second surface to transmit about 99 percent of the ultraviolet light in the wavelength range between 300 to 400 nanometers (Paragraphs 0022-0023 disclose a 95-98% transmission).
Avetisian fails to disclose a cleaner operable to clean the surfaces of the optical substrate.
However, Yan discloses a similar lens comprising a cleaner operable to clean the surfaces of the optical substrate (Yan, Column 6, l.53-65).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the substrate as disclosed by Avetisian to include a cleaner operable as disclosed by Yan. One would have been motivated to do so for the purpose of removing airborne dust or dirt (Yan, Column 6, l.53-65).
Avetisian also fails to explicitly disclose a thickness of about 103.00 nanometers of the high index dielectric material and a smaller thickness of the low index dielectric material.
However, Henky discloses a similar lens having a thickness of about 103.00 nanometers of the high index dielectric material and a smaller thickness of the low index dielectric material (Henky, Figure 1b discloses a 104nm thickness of the high index dielectric material and a 59nm thickness of the low index dielectric material).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the thicknesses of the high and low index dielectric layers as disclosed by Avetisian to have particular values as disclosed by Henky. One would have been motivated to do so for the purpose of optimizing light reflectance and light transmittance (Henky, Paragraph 0139).
Regarding Claim 5, Avetisian in view of Yan and Henky discloses the lens of claim 4, wherein the, wherein the optical substrate comprises a viewing lens (Paragraph 0040; Figure 1).
Regarding Claim 6, Avetisian in view of Yan and Henky discloses the lens of claim 4, wherein the optical substrate is configured to integrate into a device (Paragraph 0040; Figure 1).
Regarding Claim 7, Avetisian in view of Yan and Henky discloses the lens of claim 4, wherein the low index dielectric material comprises SiO2 having a refractive index of 1.46 (Avetisian, Paragraph 0063; Chart 1).
Regarding Claim 8, Avetisian in view of Yan and Henky discloses the lens of claim 4, wherein the high index dielectric material comprises ZrO2 having a refractive index of 2.06 (Avetisian, Paragraph 0063; Chart 1).
Regarding Claim 9, Avetisian in view of Yan and Henky discloses the lens of claim 4, wherein the high index dielectric material comprises Indium Zinc Oxide (IZO) having a refractive index of 2.03 (Avetisian, Paragraph 0072 discloses IZO, where it is known to have a refractive index of 2.03).
Regarding Claim 10, Avetisian in view of Yan and Henky discloses the lens of claim 4, wherein the dielectric materials are applied using a thin film deposition mechanism selected from a group consisting of an electron beam evaporation and a magnetron reactive sputtering (Avetisian, Paragraph 0082).
Regarding Claim 11, Avetisian discloses a thin film optical lens (Figure 1), the lens comprising:
An optical substrate comprising a first surface and an opposing second surface (Figure 1; Chart 1; Paragraph 0044),
The first surface being operable to at least partially reflect infrared radiation, the second surface being operable to at least partially transmit ultraviolet light in the wavelength range between 300 to 400 nanometers (Paragraph 0041; Paragraph 0044); and
A low index dielectric material comprising SiO2 (Paragraph 0063; Chart 1); and
A high index dielectric material comprising ZrO2 or Indium Zinc Oxide (Paragraph 0063; Chart 1), whereby
The dielectric materials are applied on at least one of the first surface and second surfaces of the optical substrate in the following order:
About 145.00 nanometers of the low index dielectric material (Paragraph 0068 discloses a range of 100nm to 150nm),
About 15.00 nanometers of the high index dielectric material (Paragraph 0024 discloses a range of 13nm to 15nm),
About 17.00 nanometers of the low index dielectric material (Paragraph 0024 discloses a range of 13nm to 15nm),
About 104.50 nanometers of the high index dielectric material (Paragraphs 0074-0076 disclose a thickness greater than 10nm),
About 153.00 nanometers of the low index dielectric material (Paragraph 0068; Paragraphs 0074-0076),
About 75.00 nanometers of the low index dielectric material (Paragraph 0076), wherein
The optical substrate reduces transmission of infrared radiation, blocks high-energy visible light transmission, and reduces backside reflection of ultraviolet light from the lens to enhance viewing characteristics of the optical substrate (Paragraph 0050 discloses minimization of reflections from the UVB through the IR-A band, including the visible light region in between), whereby
The applied dielectric materials enable the first surface to reflect up to 40 percent of the infrared radiation (Paragraph 0040 discloses 14% reflectance), whereby
The dielectric materials enable the second surface to transmit about 99 percent of the ultraviolet light in the wavelength range between 300 to 400 nanometers (Paragraphs 0022-0023 disclose a 95-98% transmission).
Avetisian fails to disclose a cleaner operable to clean the surfaces of the optical substrate.
However, Yan discloses a similar lens comprising a cleaner operable to clean the surfaces of the optical substrate (Yan, Column 6, l.53-65).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the substrate as disclosed by Avetisian to include a cleaner operable as disclosed by Yan. One would have been motivated to do so for the purpose of removing airborne dust or dirt (Yan, Column 6, l.53-65).
Avetisian also fails to explicitly disclose a thickness of about 103.00 nanometers of the high index dielectric material and a smaller thickness of the low index dielectric material.
However, Henky discloses a similar lens having a thickness of about 103.00 nanometers of the high index dielectric material and a smaller thickness of the low index dielectric material (Henky, Figure 1b discloses a 104nm thickness of the high index dielectric material and a 59nm thickness of the low index dielectric material).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the thicknesses of the high and low index dielectric layers as disclosed by Avetisian to have particular values as disclosed by Henky. One would have been motivated to do so for the purpose of optimizing light reflectance and light transmittance (Henky, Paragraph 0139).
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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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 mailing date of this final action.
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/MARIAM QURESHI/Examiner, Art Unit 2871
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