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 papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/09/2025,08/22/2024 have been 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-18-19,22, 26-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by Sasomoto et al. (JP 2020187345 A, machine translation, ids)(Sasomoto ,hereafter).
Regarding claim 18, Sasomoto discloses (Figures 1-15 and corresponding text) (Figures 1-2) s liquid crystal alignment member (100)for spatial light phase modulation comprising: a base portion including a silicon substrate (1), and pixel electrodes(2) arranged in a matrix with a period of 3 μm or less, disposed on a surface of the silicon substraten9(2)(π33-π34); a lattice-shaped wall (4) structure in which a plurality of linear convex part is combined, arranged on the base portion and configured by a dielectric material; a base layer configured by the dielectric material, connected to the lattice-shaped wall structure; and a plurality of liquid crystal-filling microspace for filling a liquid crystal, that is separated from each other by the lattice-shaped wall structure, and is disposed on the base layer, wherein the lattice-shaped wall structure is arranged at least between pixel regions where adjacent the pixel electrodes (2) are formed; when a first axis and a second axis are designed so as to orthogonal to each other in a plane parallel to the base portion, the liquid crystal-filling microspace includes shape anisotropy in a first axial direction and a second axial direction (π34); (Figure 1)when W.sub.A is a space width of the first axial direction and W.sub.B is a space width of the second axial direction, the W.sub.A is a smaller value than the W.sub.B; and the base layer is a base layer with a groove, in which a base groove extending to the second axial direction of the liquid crystal-filling microspace is formed (See Figures 1and 2, π33-π34,π52, π63-π64, π67)
Regarding claim 19, Sasomoto discloses wherein (Figures 1-2) two or more of the base groove are arranged in the base layer corresponding to the liquid crystal-filling microspace (5).
Regarding claim 22, Sasomoto discloses wherein the W.sub.A is 3 μm or less.(π37-π38)
Regarding claim 26, Sasomoto discloses an spatial light modulation element(Figure 10 and π77) that is a reflecting type spatial light phase modulation element controlling a phase of incident light and reflected light while reflecting an incident light, the spatial light modulation element comprising(Figure 10): a transparent substrate (8) , a common electrode (9) arranged on one surface of the transparent substrate (10), the liquid crystal alignment member for spatial light phase modulation according to claim 18 (100, see rejection claim 1) arranged on a surface of the common electrode(9) that is opposite side to the transparent substrate (8), and a liquid crystal layer(7) filled in the liquid crystal-filling microspace (5) of the liquid crystal alignment member(100) for spatial light phase modulation(π72-π76’
Regarding claim 27, Sasomoto discloses wherein an alignment film (10)is arranged between the common electrode(9) and the liquid crystal alignment member(100) for spatial light phase modulation.
Regarding claim 28, Sasomoto discloses a stereoscopic display device comprising the spatial light modulation element according to claim 26 (see rejection, claim 25), and a driving measure for driving the pixel electrodes.(π0081).
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.
Claim 24 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sasomoto et al. (JP 2020187345 A, machine translation, ids)(Sasomoto ,hereafter).
Sasomoto discloses the device set forth above(see rejection claim 18). Sasomoto fails to explicitly disclose wherein a ratio of the W.sub.B with respect to the W.sub.A, which is W.sub.B/W.sub.A, is 2 or more.
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective4 filing date to modify the device of Sasomoto, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 20 , 21, 23, 25 and 29-36 are allowed.
Regarding claim 20, the prior art of record fails to teach or suggest the combination of limitations set forth in claim 20 specifically, the prior art fails to teach or suggest liquid crystal alignment member “wherein the liquid crystal-filling microspace includes shape anisotropy in a first axial direction and a second axial direction; when WA is a space width of the first axial direction and WB is a space width of the second axial direction, the WA is a smaller value than the WB; and the base layer is an uneven thickness base layer of which thickness differs in one end and in the other end, in the second axial direction of the liquid crystal-filling microspace” in combination with other features of the present claimed invention.
Regarding claims 21,23,25, these claims are allowable for the reasons given for claim 20 and because of their dependency status on claim 20
Regarding claim 29, the prior art of record fails to teach or suggest the combination of limitations set forth in claim 29 ;specifically, the prior art fails to teach or suggest liquid crystal alignment member “wherein the liquid crystal-filling microspace includes shape anisotropy in a first axial direction and a second axial direction; when WA is a space width of the first axial direction and WB is a space width of the second axial direction, the WA is a smaller value than the WB; and the base layer is an uneven thickness base layer of which thickness differs in one end and in the other end, in the second axial direction of the liquid crystal-filling microspace” in combination with other features of the present claimed invention.
Regarding claims 30-39, these claims are allowable for the reasons given for claim 29 and because of their dependency status on 29
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Can be found in the 892 provided with this office action and below:
US 11061290 B1-General state of the art: relates to the 3D display technology field and, more particularly, to a liquid crystal module, a spatial light modulator, a holographic 3D display device,
US 10901289 B2-General-state of the art- “REFLECTIVE SPATIAL LIGHT MODULATOR WITH HIGH SPATIAL FREQUENCY BORDER:
US 20160091726 A1-General state of the art- a polarization control unit which is capable of preventing moire, and a 2D and 3D image display device having the same.
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/TRACIE Y GREEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875
