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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 2/28/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 8-11, 13, and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Li (11213429) hereafter Li.
Regarding claims 1, 10, and 11, Li discloses in figs 1-3 protective glasses and/or sunglasses, comprising: a frame (100) adapted to support a lens (300 and 400) assembly; a lens assembly (seen in fig. 2), at least partially surrounded by the frame (100) and comprising: at least one structural lens (300 and 400) made of plastic material (col. 4, lines 1-5); and at least one liquid crystal (LC) film of the guest-host (GH) type (col. 6, lines 20-25), arranged on an inner side of the at least one structural lens (300 and 400) and controlled by an electronic board powered by an energy source (col. 2, lines 45-55); wherein: the at least one structural lens (see fig. 2 and 5) comprises a free edge (fig. 2-5), extending beyond an outline of the at least one LC film (fig. 2-5, col. 3, line 44 – col. 4, line 40), at which the lens assembly is fixed to the frame (fig. 2-5); between the frame and the at least one LC film there is a free space (see fig. 2-5, col. 3, line 44 -col. 4, line 55); and the frame is provided with a vertically projecting rib (see fig. 2 and 5) covering said free edge of the at least one structural lens and said free space with the at least one LC film (fig. 2-5, col. 3, line 44 – col. 4, line 55 and col. 6).
Regarding claim 2, Li discloses the protective glasses and/or sunglasses of claim 1, wherein the electronic board controls activation of the at least one LC film (col. 3, lines 44-55), provided with a maximum transparency state (col. 3, lines 15-55), as a function of an ambient lighting level so that the at least one LC film remains in said maximum transparency state until reaching a lighting threshold, after which the at least one LC film begins to reduce transparency as ambient lighting increases (fig. 2-5, col. 3).
Regarding claim 8, Li discloses the protective glasses and/or sunglasses of claim 1, further comprising a pair of temples hinged to the frame, said pair of temples being made of a material having an elastic modulus lower than half of a material of which the frame is made (fig. 2-5, col. 3 and col. 4).
Regarding claim 9, Li discloses the protective glasses and/or sunglasses of claim 1, wherein said energy source consists of one or more photovoltaic cells (col. 3).
Regarding claim 13, Li discloses the protective glasses and/or sunglasses of claim 1, wherein the energy source is positioned behind the at least one structural lens and outside a perimeter of the at least one LC film (fig. 2-5, col. 3 and col. 4).
Regarding claim 14, Li discloses the protective glasses and/or sunglasses of claim 1, wherein the energy source is positioned outside a perimeter of the at least one LC film in an upper central part of the protective glasses and/or sunglasses (fig. 2-5, col. 3 and col. 4).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-7 and 12 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: with respect to claims 3-7 and 12 the prior art does not disclose the claimed combination of limitations to warrant rejection under 35 USC 102 or 103.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES JONES whose telephone number is (571)270-1278. The examiner can normally be reached 7:00 am - 4:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Pinping Sun can be reached at (571) 270-1284. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JAMES C. JONES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872
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