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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/11/2024 has been considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 1-19, 21 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Dykaar (US 2020/0170504; already of record).
Regarding claim 1, Dykaar discloses, a device (Figs. 1-10A and 11) comprising:
a frame (100, 102, 104) to mount the device to a head of a user (Para. 0002 and 0047; note, discloses a wearable heads-up display such as glasses (or eyeglasses));
a light source (124), coupled to the frame, to generate light (Para. 0002 and 0050, lines 3-4; note, discloses a light source and illumination of an eye with infrared light);
a waveguide (132, 172), optically coupled to the light source (Para. 0050, lines 1-2), to redirect the light to emit in a first direction from a plurality of leakage points (136), wherein, when the device is mounted to the head of the user, the light is emitted in the first direction towards an eye (248) of the user to illuminate the eye of the user (Para. 0002 and 0004; note, discloses illumination of an eye and delivering light to the eye).
Regarding claim 2, Dykaar discloses, the light source is to generate infrared light (Para. 0049, lines 6-7, 0066, lines 1-24 and see 124).
Regarding claim 3, Dykaar discloses, the light source is to generate visible light (Para. 0066, lines 1-4).
Regarding claim 4, Dykaar discloses, the light source (Para. 0050, lines 3-4 and 124) is optically coupled to a first end of the waveguide (140) and a second end of the waveguide (144).
Regarding claim 5, Dykaar discloses, the waveguide is positioned in the first direction from the frame (see Figs. 3A-B; note, the Examiner interprets the waveguide is spaced apart in the horizontal direction from the frame).
Regarding claim 6, Dykaar discloses, a lens surrounded by the frame (Para. 0047 and 100, 102, 104).
Regarding claim 7, Dykaar discloses, the waveguide is positioned in the first direction from the lens (see 132, 172 of Fig. 3A).
Regarding claim 8, Dykaar discloses, a display (Para. 0047, lines 15-18) surrounded by the frame (Para. 0065, lines 21-25 and see Figs. 3A and 10A).
Regarding claim 9, Dykaar discloses, the waveguide is positioned in the first direction from the display (Para. 0047, lines 15-18; note, the Examiner interprets the waveguide is spaced apart in both the vertical and horizontal directions from the display).
Regarding claim 10, Dykaar discloses, the waveguide includes a plurality of grooves respectively corresponding to the plurality of leakage points (Para. 0053, lines 12-24 and see Figs. 4A and 8A).
Regarding claim 11, Dykaar discloses, the waveguide includes a plurality of bubbles respectively corresponding to the plurality of leakage points (Para. 0053, lines 12-24 and see Fig. 4B).
Regarding claim 12, Dykaar discloses, the waveguide includes a plurality of fibers (Para. 0055-0056 and see 188, 192).
Regarding claim 13, Dykaar discloses, each of the plurality of fibers terminates (188, 192) in a respective terminator (136, 200) corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of leakage points (see Figs. 6A-B and 7A-B).
Regarding claim 14, Dykaar discloses, a detector (276) to detect an intensity of light (Para. 0061), wherein the light source is optically coupled to a first end of the waveguide and the detector is optically coupled to a second end of the waveguide (Para. 0061 and see Fig. 3B).
Regarding claim 15, Dykaar discloses, a camera (276) to capture a reflection of the light emitted in the first direction (Para. 0061).
Regarding claim 16, Dykaar discloses, a method (Figs. 1-10A and 11) comprising:
at a device (100, 102, 104) including a frame (100, 102, 104), a light source (Para. 0050, lines 3-4 and 124), and a waveguide (132, 172);
mounting, using the frame, the device to a head of a user (Para. 0002 and 0047; note, discloses a wearable heads-up display such as glasses (or eyeglasses));
injecting light from the light source (Para. 0002 and 0050, lines 3-4; note, discloses a light source and illumination of an eye with infrared light) into the waveguide (Para. 0050); and
illuminating an eye (248) of the user via emission of the light (Para. 0002 and 0004; note, discloses illumination of an eye and delivering light to the eye) from a plurality of leakage points (136) of the waveguide.
Regarding claim 17, Dykaar discloses, mounting the device to the head of the user (Para. 0002 and 0047; note, discloses a wearable heads-up display such as glasses (or eyeglasses)) includes resting temples (112, 114) of the frame on ears of the user.
Regarding claim 18, Dykaar discloses, mounting the device to the head of the user includes resting a bridge of the frame on a nose of the user (see annotated Figs. 1-2 below).
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Regarding claim 19, Dykaar discloses, mounting the device to the head of the user includes positioning an eyepiece of the frame in front of the eye of the user (Para. 0047, 0049 and see 102, 104, 116, 118 and 120).
Regarding claim 21, Dykaar discloses, capturing an image of the eye of the user (276) illuminated via the emission of the light from the plurality of leakage points (Para. 0061).
Regarding claim 23, Dykaar discloses, determining a gaze direction of the user based on the image of the eye of the user (Para. 0059, 0063-0064 and see 244; note, discloses using an eye tracker to track gaze position at an eye 248 and computing gaze position).
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 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dykaar (US 2020/0170504; already of record) as applied to claim 16 above, in view of Wei et al. (US 2021/0103087; already of record).
Dykaar remains as applied to claim 16 above.
Furthermore, Dykaar discloses, detecting an intensity of the emission of the light from the plurality of leakage points (Para. 0061 and see 276).
Dykaar does not explicitly disclose adjusting an intensity of the light injected from the light source based on the detected intensity of the emission of the light from the plurality of leakage points.
Wei teaches, from the same field of endeavor that in a method that it would have been desirable to include adjusting an intensity of the light injected from the light source based on the detected intensity of the emission of the light from the plurality of leakage points (Para. 0046).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include adjusting an intensity of the light injected from the light source based on the detected intensity of the emission of the light from the plurality of leakage points as taught by the method of Wei in the method of Dykaar since Wei teaches it is known to include these features in a method for the purpose of providing a method with reduced diffusion effects and increased optical efficiency.
Claim 22 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dykaar (US 2020/0170504; already of record) as applied to claim 21 above, in view of Sinay et al. (US 2019/0086674).
Dykaar remains as applied to claim 21 above.
Dykaar does not disclose determining an identity of the user based on the image of the eye of the user.
Sinay teaches, from the same field of endeavor that in a method that it would have been desirable to include determining an identity of the user based on the image of the eye of the user (Para. 0222, 0225 and 0399).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include determining an identity of the user based on the image of the eye of the user as taught by the method of Sinay in the method of Dykaar since Sinay teaches it is known to include this feature in a method for the purpose of providing a secure and robust method that is customized to a user to provide more accurate user interactions.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Miller et al. (US 2014/0306866) and Chen et al. (US 2014/0354953) discloses a frame to mount the device to a head of a user; a light source, coupled to the frame; and a waveguide, optically coupled to the light source, to redirect the light to emit in a first direction from a plurality of leakage points, wherein, when the device is mounted to the head of the user.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAWAYNE A PINKNEY whose telephone number is (571)270-1305. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00-5:00 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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/DAWAYNE PINKNEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872 01/14/2026