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 03/15/2024 and 01/27/2026 have 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 1-3, 6-9 and 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yosha et al. (US 2006/0215244; already of record).
Regarding claim 1, Yosha discloses, an apparatus (Figs. 3 and 6), comprising:
at least one light guide (200, 210) comprising at least; a diffractive in-coupler (206, 212) configured to in-couple one or more input beams of light (216A, 220A) into the light guide from a light engine (192, 194), an expander (202, 204) configured to expand the one or more input beams of light (Para. 0067 and 0069), and a diffractive out-coupler (208, 214) configured to out-couple the one or more expanded beams of light from the light guide (Para. 0068);
wherein the at least one light guide is configured to provide a first virtual image (216C) in a first location for a head-up display (Para. 0068-0069) and is configured to provide a second virtual image (220C) in a second location for a control panel (Para. 0068-0069; note, the light beams 220C provide information to a user that displays control panels the user needs to look at while they control the vehicle).
Regarding claim 2, Yosha discloses, the at least one light guide comprises a first portion (see annotated Fig. 3 below) configured to provide the first virtual images (216C) for the head-up display and a second portion (see annotated Fig. 3 below) configured to provide the second virtual images for the control panel (220C).
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Regarding claim 3, Yosha discloses, the first portion (see annotated Fig. 3 above) of the at least one light guide (200) comprises a first expander (204) and a first diffractive out-coupler (208) and the second portion (see annotated Fig. 3 above) of the at least one light guide (210) comprises a second expander (202) and a second diffractive out-coupler (214).
Regarding claim 6, Yosha discloses, the apparatus comprises one or more moveable components configured to enable a position of at least one of the first virtual image or the second virtual image provided with the apparatus to be adjusted (Para. 0075; note, discloses using a scanner to scan a modulated laser beam, horizontally and vertically).
Regarding claim 7, Yosha discloses, a plurality of light guides (200, 210) arranged in a stacked configuration (see Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 8, Yosha discloses, at least two reflectors where a first reflector (see annotated Fig. 3 below) is configured to reflect images from the light guide to provide images for the head-up display (Para. 0067-0069 and see 216C) and a second reflector (see annotated Fig. 3 below) is configured to reflect images from the light guide to provide images for the control panel (Para. 0067-0069 and see 200C).
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Regarding claim 9, Yosha discloses, the apparatus is configured to enable a windshield (222) to be used as a first reflector (Para. 0069).
Regarding claim 11, Yosha discloses, the second virtual image and the first virtual image comprise a shared region of an image (Para. 0067-0069 and see 216C and 220C).
Regarding claim 12, Yosha discloses, a module, a device, a vehicle, or a cab for a vehicle (Para. 0069) comprising an apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1 above).
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.
Claims 4-5 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yosha et al. (US 2006/0215244; already of record) as applied to claims 1-2 above, in view of Zimmerman et al. (US 2016/0377862; already of record).
Yosha remains as applied to claims 1-2 above.
Yosha does not disclose the at least part of the at least one light guide is transparent and is provided overlaying at least part of a control panel.
Zimmerman teaches, from the same field of endeavor that in an apparatus that it would have been desirable to make the at least part of the at least one light guide (24, 28, 82, 84) is transparent and is provided overlaying at least part of a control panel (Para. 0025 and see 24, 28 of Figs. 3-4A).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make at least part of the at least one light guide is transparent and is provided overlaying at least part of a control panel as taught by the apparatus of Zimmerman in the apparatus of Yosha since Zimmerman teaches it is known to include this feature in an apparatus for the purpose of providing an apparatus that offers a continuous view of an image with the environment with reduced view blocking effects and increased field of view.
Regarding claim 5, Yosha in view of Zimmerman discloses and teaches as set forth above, and Yosha further discloses, at least one light guide is configured to display virtual images at a longer focal distance (220C) than at least one of the focal distance of images on the control panel or a focal distance to the control panel (216C; note, the Examiner interprets that the virtual images 220C are at longer focal distances than virtual images 216C because 220C are further away from the users eyes 218).
Regarding claim 10, Yosha in view of Zimmerman discloses and teaches as set forth above, and Zimmerman further teaches, from the same field of endeavor that in an apparatus that it would have been desirable to make the apparatus comprises a light engine (150 of Figs. 2 and 4A) and the apparatus (82, 84 of Figs. 2 and 4A) is configured so that the light engine provides images both for the head-up display and the control panel (Para. 0042-0043 and 42, 56, 58, 71, 150 of Figs. 2 and 4A).
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 the above mentioned limitations as taught by the apparatus of Zimmerman in the apparatus of Yosha since Zimmerman teaches it is known to include this feature in an apparatus for the purpose of providing an apparatus that offers a continuous view of an image with the environment with reduced view blocking effects and increased field of view.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Jarvenpaa et al. (US 12,546,995), Kearns et al. (US 2002/0075200) and Glik et al. (US 2018/0252857) discloses an apparatus that includes at least one light guide, a diffractive in-coupler, and a diffractive out-coupler.
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.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
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
02/10/2026