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 03/27/2024 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.
Claims 15-19 and 25-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Petiton et al. (2017/0021660).
Regarding claim 15, Petiton discloses a display element (at least Figure 9) having a substrate (90, banknote) having an upper side (top side of 90, banknote, which includes 91, security thread) and a lower side (bottom side of 90, banknote), wherein a plurality of optical elements is arranged in a surface region of the upper side (Figure 9; [0109]), wherein one portion of the optical elements is arranged in a first grid (Figure 6A, 61, first region) and another portion of the optical elements is arranged in a second grid (62, second region), wherein the first grid adjoins the second grid (Figure 6A), wherein the optical elements of the first grid consist of a first type of optical elements (63, concave cylindrical reflective elements) and the optical elements of the second grid consist of a second type of optical elements (64, convex cylindrical reflective elements), wherein the first type of optical elements is different from the second type of optical elements (63, concave cylindrical reflective elements, are concave, while 64, convex cylindrical reflective elements, are convex, therefore considered to be different elements).
Regarding claim 16, Petiton discloses the display element according to claim 15, wherein the optical elements of the first grid are at a first distance from the lower side of the substrate (63, concave cylindrical reflective elements, are concave, and thus the concave portions are a first distance from the bottom side of the banknote)and the optical elements of the second grid are at a second distance from the lower side of the substrate (64, convex cylindrical reflective elements, are convex and thus the convex portions are a first distance from the bottom side of the banknote), wherein the first distance is different from the second distance (Figure 6A, the peak of the convex distance is different than the valley of the concave distance from the bottom side of the banknote).
Regarding claim 17, Petiton discloses the display element according to claim 15, wherein the first type of optical elements is designed in a manner inverted or mirrored by around 170° to 190° and 180° about a transverse axis with respect to the second type of optical elements (Figure 6A).
Regarding claim 18, Petiton discloses the display element according to claim 15, wherein the optical elements comprise curved mirrors, concave mirrors or convex mirrors (at least [0095]).
Regarding claim 19, Petiton discloses the display element according to claim 18, wherein the curved mirrors are spherical, elliptical, rotationally symmetric aspheric, non-rotationally symmetric aspheric or trough-shaped, with the troughs running linearly or curvilinearly in the latter case (Figure 6A).
Regarding claim 25, Petiton discloses the display element according to claim 15, wherein the optical elements have no optically diffractive effect (the disclosure does not indicate that 63, concave cylindrical reflective elements, or 64, convex cylindrical reflective elements, are diffractive).
Regarding claim 26, Petiton discloses the display element according to claim 15, wherein the optical elements, in the lateral direction with respect to the upper side of the substrate, have an extent of up to around 5 mm ([0098] teaches 63, elements, have a width of 2 mm).
Regarding claim 27, Petiton discloses the display element according to claim 15, wherein the optical elements, in the vertical direction with respect to the upper side of the substrate, have an extent of up to around 200 μm (at least [0082] teaches the height of the facets is between 0.5 and 7 microns).
Regarding claim 28, Petiton discloses the display element according to claim 16, wherein the first distance differs from the second distance by up to around 200 μm (at least [0082] teaches the height of the facets is between 0.5 and 7 microns, thus the difference between the convex and concave portion would be below 200 micrometers).
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 20-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Petiton et al. (2017/0021660) in view of Fuhse (Examiner provided machine translation of WO 2012048847 A1).
Regarding claim 20, Petiton discloses the display element according to claim 18, but fails to teach wherein the curved mirrors are formed at least partially by Fresnel mirrors. Petiton and Fuhse are related because both teach a security element for a display element.
Fuhse teaches a display element wherein the curved mirrors are formed at least partially by Fresnel mirrors ([0017]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified Petiton to incorporate the teachings of Fuhse and provide wherein the curved mirrors are formed at least partially by Fresnel mirrors. Doing so would allow for a more compact display element by lowering the structural height.
Regarding claim 21, Petiton discloses the display element according to claim 15, but fails to teach wherein the optical elements comprise lenses, spherical, elliptical, rotationally symmetric aspheric, non-rotationally symmetric aspheric or cylindrical lenses. Petiton and Fuhse are related because both teach a security element for a display element.
Fuhse teaches a display element wherein the optical elements comprise lenses, spherical, elliptical, rotationally symmetric aspheric, non-rotationally symmetric aspheric or cylindrical lenses ([0017]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified Petiton to incorporate the teachings of Fuhse and provide wherein the optical elements comprise lenses, spherical, elliptical, rotationally symmetric aspheric, non-rotationally symmetric aspheric or cylindrical lenses. Doing so would allow for a more compact display element by lowering the structural height.
Regarding claim 22, the modified Petiton discloses the display element according to claim 21, wherein the lenses are formed at least partially by Fresnel lenses (Fuhse: [0017]).
Regarding claim 23, Petiton discloses the display element according to claim 15, but fails to teach wherein the optical elements of the first grid are formed by curved mirrors and the optical elements of the second grid are formed by lenses. Petiton and Fuhse are related because both teach a security element for a display element.
Fuhse teaches a display element wherein the optical elements of the first grid are formed by curved mirrors ([0017] teaches the optical elements can include curved mirrors) and the optical elements of the second grid are formed by lenses ([0017] teaches the optical elements can include lenses).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified Petiton to incorporate the teachings of Fuhse and provide wherein the optical elements of the first grid are formed by curved mirrors and the optical elements of the second grid are formed by lenses. Doing so would allow for high resolution light that can appear to float both above and below the substrate surface.
Regarding claim 24, Petiton discloses the display element according to claim 15, but fails to teach wherein the optical elements of the first grid are formed by concave Fresnel mirrors and the optical elements of the second grid are formed by convex Fresnel mirrors and/or convex Fresnel lenses. Petiton and Fuhse are related because both teach a security element for a display element.
Fuhse teaches a display element wherein the optical elements of the first grid are formed by concave Fresnel mirrors ([0017] teaches the optical elements can include Fresnel mirrors; [0068] teaches concave and convex mirrors can both be provided; Figure 7) and the optical elements of the second grid are formed by convex Fresnel mirrors and/or convex Fresnel lenses ([0017] teaches the optical elements can include Fresnel lenses; [0068] teaches concave and convex mirrors can both be provided; Figure 7).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified Petiton to incorporate the teachings of Fuhse and provide wherein the optical elements of the first grid are formed by concave Fresnel mirrors and the optical elements of the second grid are formed by convex Fresnel mirrors and/or convex Fresnel lenses. Doing so would allow for high resolution light that can appear to float both above and below the substrate surface.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Imhof (2020/0156398), Jolic (2019/0118571), Holmes (2017/0165997), Commander (2013/0044362), Fuhse (2012/0319395), Kaule (2011/0157183), Heim (2011/0007374), Kaule (2008/0160226), Steenblik (2008/0037131), Cho (7,261,417), Dona (6,381,071), Florczak (6,288,842), and Steenblik (5,568,313) disclose relevant display elements.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BALRAM T PARBADIA whose telephone number is (571)270-0602. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 am - 5:00 pm, Monday - Friday.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Bumsuk Won can be reached at (571) 272-2713. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BALRAM T PARBADIA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872