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 .
Response to Amendment
The Amendment filed 8/18/26 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the amended claims filed 8/18/26 have been considered as follows.
35 USC 102/103 Rejections of the claims:
Applicant’s arguments are moot in view of the new ground rejections.
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 of this title, 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(s) 1-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang (US 20180196323).
PNG
media_image1.png
248
250
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 1, Wang teaches (Figs. 1-22) An optical device (e.g., Fig. 5), comprising:
an electrochromic layer ([39], 124 or 128 in Fig. 1) including a single electrochromic region (210 region in Fig. 5);
one or more electronic drivers ([46], drivers for 541-544) arranged to electrically connect with and drive the single electrochromic region;
a controller (430 in Fig. 4) configured to control the one or more electronic drivers to address the single electrochromic region (through 541-544) to change a light transmission of the single electrochromic region over a range of light transmissions (light transmissions through 210 region in Fig. 5, as seen in Figs. 9-14);
a plurality of three or more electrodes (541-544) contacting one or more different regions of the single electrochromic region at different locations, the one or more electronic drivers (drivers for 541-544) electrically connected to the single electrochromic region via the plurality of electrodes,
wherein the controller is configured to control the one or more electronic drivers to cause the one or more electronic drivers to apply different voltages to different of the plurality of electrodes ([46], “The voltage supply terminals 541 to 544 can be controlled separately from one another”); and
a light intensity sensor ([44,52-53], “a set of light sensors”) arranged to detect light intensity of one or more regions of a two-dimensional scene (the sensor location being part of a two-dimensional scene in real world),
wherein the light intensity sensor is configured to provide a light intensity signal to the controller based on the detected light intensity of the one or more regions of the scene ([53], “The light level information from light sensors can be transmitted from the I/O unit 440 and received by the control device 430”);
and
wherein the controller is configured to control the one or more electronic drivers to cause the one or more electronic drivers to apply different voltages to different of the plurality of electrodes to set the light transmission of the regions of the single electrochromic region based on the light intensity signal ([53], “The light level information from light sensors can be transmitted from the I/O unit 440 and received by the control device 430... set the voltages of the voltage supply terminals...”).
Wang does not explicitly teach the regions of the scene respectively corresponding to the regions of the single electrochromic region.
Absent any showing of criticality and/or unpredictability, having the regions of the scene respectively corresponding to the regions of the single electrochromic region would have been known to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for the purposes of providing desired illumination inside the room (as the sensor is used to control the light transmission through the single electrochromic region, it is considered by default as the “corresponding” relationship between the region of the scene and the single electrochromic region, further not as part of the rejection, having the senor inside the room to sense the light passing through the single electrochromic region is considered well-known in the field).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching of Wang by having the regions of the scene respectively corresponding to the regions of the single electrochromic region for the purposes of providing desired illumination inside the room.
Regarding claim 2, Wang further teaches The optical device of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to control the one or more electronic drivers to cause the one or more electronic drivers to apply different voltages to different of the plurality of electrodes to set the light transmission to be lower for the regions of the single electrochromic region which correspond to the regions of the scene having a greater detected light intensity ([52-53,58,67,73], e.g., “…later in the morning, the top of the electrochromic device 210 may be at 70% of maximum tint level”).
Regarding claim 3, Wang further teaches The optical device of claim 2, wherein the light transmission is reduced without moving mechanical parts (as seen in Fig. 5).
Regarding claim 4, Wang further teaches The optical device of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to control the one or more electronic drivers to cause the one or more electronic drivers to apply time varying voltages to the plurality of electrodes (e.g., [73], “sunrise…later in the morning”).
Regarding claim 5, Wang further teaches The optical device of claim 4, wherein the time varying voltages applied have a different frequency for different of the plurality of electrodes (e.g., [73], “later in the morning, the top of the electrochromic device 210 may be at 70% of maximum tint level”, only the top changes, so the top and bottom have different frequencies).
Regarding claim 6, Wang further teaches The optical device of claim 1, wherein the optical device acts as a neutral density filter (the tint in the device appears to be a neutral density filter as no specific color is discussed).
Regarding claim 7, Wang further teaches The optical device of claim 1, wherein the optical device is a sunshade (e.g., [73], “later in the morning, the top of the electrochromic device 210 may be at 70% of maximum tint level”, more sunlight more tint level).
Regarding claim 8, Wang further teaches The optical device of claim 1, wherein the optical device has a rectangular shape (as seen in Fig. 5).
Regarding claim 9, the modified Wang teaches all the limitations as stated in claim 1, but does not explicitly teach The optical device of claim 1, wherein the optical device has a circular shape.
Absent any showing of criticality and/or unpredictability, having the optical device has a circular shape would have been known to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for the purposes of fitting to a circular window.
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching of Wang by having the optical device has a circular shape for the purposes of fitting to a circular window.
Regarding claim 10, Wang further teaches The optical device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of electrodes contact opposite sides of the single electrochromic region (Fig. 5, left vs right, top vs bottom for 541-544).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WEN HUANG whose telephone number is (571)270-0234. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F: 9:00AM-4:00PM.
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 on (571) 270-1284. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/WEN HUANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872
wen.huang2@uspto.gov
(571)270-0234
