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 .
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 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.
Disposition of the Claims
Claims 1-11 are pending. Claims 6, 9, and 10 were amended to eliminate multiple dependency.
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-3 and 6-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (US 20190033599 A1).
Regarding claim 1 and 11, directed to device and corresponding method, Li discloses a lens unit to be used in a display system configured to display an image (1) to a user (Fig. 4, ¶62-88), the lens unit comprising:
a reflecting portion (6) including a reflection-type polarizing member and an absorption-type polarizing member arranged on a front side of the reflection-type polarizing member (“the reflective polarizing plate 6 and the absorptive type polarizing plate can be arranged to adhere to each other successively”), the reflecting portion being configured to reflect light (Fig. 4), which has been emitted to the front side from a display surface of a display element (1) configured to display the image, and has passed through a polarizing member (2) and a first lambda/4 member (2);
a first lens portion (3) arranged on an optical path between the display element and the reflecting portion (Fig. 4);
a half mirror (“In the two sides of the imaging lens 4, the side adjacent to the first phase delay plate 2 is the first optical surface, and the side adjacent to the second phase delay plate 5 is the second optical surface, wherein the first optical surface is a transflective optical surface, by which a certain ratio of light may be reflected, and the remaining ratio of light may be transmitted.”) arranged between the display element and the first lens portion (id.), the half mirror being configured to transmit the light emitted from the display element and to reflect the light reflected by the reflecting portion toward the reflecting portion (id.); and
a second lambda/4 member (5) arranged on an optical path between the half mirror and the reflecting portion (Fig. 4).
Li wherein a reflection axis transmittance when polarized light in a reflection axis direction of the reflection-type polarizing member is caused to enter a laminate of the reflection-type polarizing member and the absorption-type polarizing member from a reflection-type polarizing member side is 0.5% or less.
However, it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art, In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233 (C.C.P.A. 1955). Benefit of minimizing the reflection axis transmittance includes improving brightness of the image and preventing image degradation due to stray light.
The general conditions of the lens unit having been disclosed by Li, It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have optimized the reflection axis transmittance by minimizing it for the purpose of improving brightness of the display while preventing image degradation due to stray light, thereby achieving the claimed range.
Regarding claim 2, the modified Li teaches the lens unit according to claim 1, and further discloses wherein a reflection axis of the reflection-type polarizing member and an absorption axis of the absorption-type polarizing member are arranged parallel to each other (sequitur lest the device be inoperable for its claimed purpose of displaying an image i.e. in the disclosed configuration, opposing axes would block the image).
Regarding claim 3, the modified Li teaches the lens unit according to claim 1, and further discloses wherein the first lens portion and the half mirror are integrated (as discussed supra).
Regarding claim 6, the modified Li teaches a laminate to be used in the reflecting portion of the lens unit of claim 1, and further discloses a laminate comprising: the reflection-type polarizing member; and the absorption-type polarizing member (¶14, ¶79, Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 7, the modified Li teaches the laminate according to claim 6, wherein the reflection-type polarizing member and the absorption-type polarizing member are laminated via an adhesion layer (¶79).
Regarding claim 8, the modified Li teaches the laminate according to claim 6, and further discloses wherein a reflection axis of the reflection-type polarizing member and an absorption axis of the absorption-type polarizing member are arranged parallel to each other (sequitur lest the device be inoperable for its intended purpose).
Regarding claim 9, the modified Li teaches a display body, comprising the lens unit of claim 1 (Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 10, the modified Li teaches the method of producing a display body including the lens unit of claim 1 (Fig. 4).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the modified Li as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Kobayashi (US 20020057498 A1).
Regarding claim 4, the modified Li teaches the lens unit according to claim 1, but does not explicitly show further comprising a second lens portion arranged on the front side of the reflecting portion.
Kobayashi drawn to reflective polarizer based display devices explicitly shows a second lens portion arranged on the front side of the reflecting portion (26, Fig. 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have integrated Li’s reflective polarizing components with the lens units according to the teachings of Kobayashi for the purpose of image correction.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the modified Li as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Song (CN 113448101 A, of record).
Regarding claim 5, the modified Li teaches the lens unit according to claim 1, but does not explicitly show wherein an angle formed by an absorption axis of the polarizing member in the display element and a slow axis of the first lambda/4 member is from 40 to 50 degrees, and wherein an angle formed by the absorption axis of the polarizing member in the display element and a slow axis of the second lambda/4 member is from 40 to 50 degrees.
Song drawn to reflective polarizer based display devices explicitly shows “the first phase delayer 20 and the first polarizer 30 along the propagation direction of the light 110 are orderly arranged, the first polarizer 30 has a transmission shaft, the included angle between the transmission shaft of the first polarizer 30 and the first phase delayer 20 of the fast shaft is 45 degrees; the included angle can be positive 45 degrees, also can be negative 45 degrees. The first phase retarder 20 has a fast axis and a slow axis. wherein the first linear polarizer 30 through the same direction can be transmitted through the first linear polarizer, orthogonal to the transmission axis direction of the first linear polarizer, cannot be transmitted through the first linear polarizer.” Therefore a +/- 45 degree difference between polarizer and quarter wave plate’s fast axis is known in the art. Since the difference between fast and slow axis in a waveplate is necessarily 90 degrees, a -/+ 45 degree difference between polarizer and the slow axis is necessarily disclosed.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for the modified Li to have chosen orientation angles between polarizer and quarter waveplate according to the similar operation of the device of Song and thus obtained a predictable polarization result with a high expectation of success.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to COLLIN X BEATTY whose telephone number is (571)270-1255. The examiner can normally be reached M - F, 10am - 6pm.
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/COLLIN X BEATTY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872
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