Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Drawing Objection
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, a coupling-out device in the form of a diffractive waveguide or an array waveguide (as recited in claim 9) must be shown or the features canceled from the claim. No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because line 1 recites "comprises" instead of "comprising".
Claim 1 is also objected to because line 9 recites "waveguide lenses" instead of "waveguides". Note that lenses are not mentioned elsewhere in the disclosure.
Claim 1 is also objected to because line 11 is missing "one or more" in front of "light waveguides".
Claim 2 is objected to because it recites "the" instead of "each". Note that parent claim 1 recites one or more self-luminous display chips.
Claim 6 is objected to because line 1 recites "the" instead of "each". Alternatively, "the coupling device is" could be replaced with "the one or more coupling devices are".
Claim 7 is objected to because line 1 recites "the" instead of "each". Alternatively, "the coupling device further comprises" could be replaced with "the one or more coupling devices further comprise".
Claim 8 is objected to because line 1 recites "the" instead of "each". Alternatively, "the coupling-out device is" could be replaced with "the one or more coupling-out devices are".
Claim 9 is objected to because line 1 recites "the" instead of "each". Alternatively, "the coupling-out device is" could be replaced with "the one or more coupling-out devices are".
Claim 10 is objected to because line 1 recites "the" instead of "each". Alternatively, "the light waveguide is" could be replaced with "the one or more light waveguides are".
Claim 11 is objected to because it recites "the light waveguide is" instead of "each light waveguide comprises". Alternatively, "the light waveguide is" could be replaced with "the one or more light waveguides comprise".
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 1 is indefinite because there is insufficient antecedent basis for "the light beams" in line 10. No light beams were mentioned earlier in the claim.
Claim 1 is also indefinite because there is insufficient antecedent basis for "the observer's pupils" in line 12. No observer's pupils were mentioned earlier in the claim.
Claim 1 is also indefinite because there is insufficient antecedent basis for "the coupling-in and/or coupling-out" in line 12. No coupling-in and/or coupling out per se were mentioned earlier in the claim.
Claim 1 is also indefinite because it appears to try to further limit an action ("coupling-in and/or coupling-out" in line 12) with an object ("one or more light combining devices" in line 13).
Claims 2-12 are indefinite by dependence from claim 1.
Claim 12 is further indefinite because there is insufficient antecedent basis for "the red, green, and blue light images" as recited in line 3. No such images were mentioned earlier in claim 12 or in parent claim 1.
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 1-2, 6, 8, and 10-12, as best understood, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 2020/0271932 A1.
Claim 1: '932 discloses an optical display system comprising:
1) one or more self-luminous display chips (MicroLED display panel 205 in fig. 2, contained in respective projectors 120a-120c of figs. 1B-1C and 3), wherein red, green, and blue pixels are respectively grouped together to form three or more red, green, and blue regions ([0033]-[0034], [0049]);
2) one or more optical display systems (fig. 2, [0047]) for imaging the light from the red, green, and blue regions;
3) one or more coupling devices (e.g. grating structures in respective input regions 140-a / 140-b / 140-c, [0040]-[0042], [0050]) for coupling the light from the red, green, and blue regions into one or more light waveguides;
4) one or more light waveguides 130;
5) one or more coupling-out devices 145 for coupling out [[the]] light beams that have propagated a certain distance through the one or more light waveguides, directing them into [[the]] an observer's pupils (contained within eyes 135); wherein the one or more coupling devices and/or one or more coupling-out devices further includes: one or more light combining devices for combining the light from the red, green, and blue regions at different positions to form a full-color image (the "final image" mentioned in at least [0039]-[0040], [0042], and [0051]).
Claim 2: Each self-luminous display chip is one of Micro LED and Micro OLED (Micro LED as mentioned throughout '932).
Claim 6: Each coupling device is one or more diffractive optical elements, whose period is designed to deflect the red, green, and blue light at different angles, so that the light forms a full-color image when coupled out ([0040]-[0042], [0052]).
Claim 8: Each coupling-out device 145 is one or more diffractive optical elements, whose period is designed to deflect the red, green, and blue light at different angles, so that the light forms a full-color image when coupled out ([0039], [0051], "out-coupling grating region" of claim 8).
Claim 10: Each light waveguide is a single layer light waveguide ("one or more optical waveguides 130" in [0033], "single optical waveguide" in [0037]).
Claim 11: The one or more light waveguides comprise [[is]] multiple light waveguides arranged parallel to each other and stacked together ("one or more optical waveguides 130" in [0033], "multiple optical waveguides or plates stacked on top of each other" in [0037]).
Claim 12: One or more of the optical display systems further comprise: an optical image processing device for pre-processing [[the]] red, green, and blue light images, so that the red, green, and blue images are finally coincident (fig. 6; [0052]-[0054], [0066]-[0071]).
Claims 1-4, 6, and 10-11, as best understood, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 2019/0227319 A1.
Claim 1: '319 discloses an optical display system comprising (see mainly figs. 3-7D)
1) one or more self-luminous display chips (contained in projector 310, exemplary embodiments shown in figs. 4A-4C), wherein red, green, and blue pixels are respectively grouped together to form three or more red, green, and blue regions (provided by emitter arrays 402A, 402B, 402C respectively, [0067]);
2) one or more optical display systems 406 for imaging the light from the red, green, and blue regions;
3) one or more coupling devices 712 for coupling the light from the red, green, and blue regions into one or more light waveguides;
4) one or more light waveguides 702A (or any of 702B-702D);
5) one or more coupling-out devices 706A for coupling out [[the]] light beams that have propagated a certain distance through the one or more light waveguides (see ray paths in figs. 7A-7D), directing them into [[the]] an observer's pupils; wherein the one or more coupling devices and/or one or more coupling-out devices further includes: one or more light combining devices for combining the light from the red, green, and blue regions at different positions to form a full-color image ([0088]).
Claim 2: Each self-luminous display chip is one of Micro LED and Micro OLED ([0072]).
Claim 3: The red, green, and blue display regions are on the same display chip (figs. 4A and 4C).
Claim 4: The red, green, and blue display regions are on different display chips, which are arranged side by side close enough to form a plane (fig. 4B).
Claim 6: Each coupling device 712 is one or more diffractive optical elements (gratings, [0086]), whose period is designed to deflect the red, green, and blue light at different angles, so that the light forms a full-color image when coupled out.
Claim 10: Each light waveguide is a single layer light waveguide (figs. 7A-7C).
Claim 11: The one or more light waveguides comprise [[is]] multiple light waveguides arranged parallel to each other and stacked together (fig. 7D).
Claims 1-2, 5-6, 8, and 10-11, as best understood, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN 110850669 A (already made of record via information disclosure statement). Paragraph numbers mentioned below are those of the EPO machine translation (citation "U" on attached 892 form).
Claim 1: '669 discloses an optical display system comprising (see mainly figs. 5-6B, 8-9):
1) one or more self-luminous display chips 11 / 12 / 13, wherein red, green, and blue pixels are respectively grouped together to form three or more red, green, and blue regions (provided by 13, 12, and 11 respectively);
2) one or more optical display systems 20 for imaging the light from the red, green, and blue regions;
3) one or more coupling devices 31 for coupling the light from the red, green, and blue regions into one or more light waveguides;
4) one or more light waveguides 32;
5) one or more coupling-out devices 33 for coupling out [[the]] light beams that have propagated a certain distance through the one or more light waveguides, directing them into [[the]] an observer's pupils; wherein the one or more coupling devices and/or one or more coupling-out devices further includes: one or more light combining devices for combining the light from the red, green, and blue regions at different positions to form a full-color image ([0098]).
Claim 2: Each self-luminous display chip is one of Micro LED and Micro OLED ([0098]).
Claim 5: The red, green, and blue display regions are on different display chips, which are arranged on three sides of a light combining prism 19.
Claim 6: Each coupling device 31 is one or more diffractive optical elements, whose period is designed to deflect the red, green, and blue light at different angles, so that the light forms a full-color image when coupled out ([0078]-[0079], [0081], [0084]).
Claim 8: Each coupling-out device 33 is one or more diffractive optical elements, whose period is designed to deflect the red, green, and blue light at different angles, so that the light forms a full-color image when coupled out ([0078], [0080]-[0081], [0086]).
Claim 10: Each light waveguide is a single layer light waveguide (fig. 5).
Claim 11: The one or more light waveguides comprise [[is]] multiple light waveguides 321 / 322 / 323 (figs. 8-9) arranged parallel to each other and stacked together.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
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 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN 110850669 A (applied above) in view of US 2022/0004003 A1.
'669 does not appear to disclose that (each) coupling device further comprises multiple dichroic mirrors, which deflect the red, green, and blue light at different angles, so that the light forms a full-color image when coupled out. However [0088] of '669 discloses that "coupling component 33 of the geometric waveguide can be an "optical combiner", which can generally be composed of a partially transmissive and partially reflective mirror array, embedded inside the conductive layer 32 and forming a specific angle with the transmitted beam in the waveguide", and wherein "each mirror is coated with an optical thin film with a corresponding reflectance-transmission ratio".
'003 discloses in fig. 6B a similar display system which includes a set of dichroic mirrors 630 as a coupling-in device for waveguide 610. A person of ordinary skill in the art could have used a set of dichroic mirrors as the coupling component 33 of the '669 display as suggested by '003 with predictable results. Thus it would have been obvious to such a person before the effective filing date of claim 7 to do so, since [0088] of '669 suggest that this type of structure would be suitable.
Conclusion
The additional references listed on the attached 892 form generally disclose other examples of display devices.
Contact Information
Examiner: 571-272-2360
Examiner's direct supervisor: 571-272-2397
Official correspondence by fax: 571-273-8300
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/Michael Stahl/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874
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