DETAILED ACTION
Claim Objections
Claim 10 is objected to because of the following informalities: the claim contains more than one periods. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The term “substantially” in claim 2 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “substantially” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
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 1-3 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by Rabut (US 2018/0252940).
Regarding claim 1, Rabut discloses a hinge assembly (“hinge for eyeglasses”, [0002]) for smart glasses (“eyeglasses equipped with electronic […] components, [0002]) comprising: a support plate (“first portion 2”, fig. 4) having a first face substantially flat intended to be applied to a front of a frame for glasses (see fig. 4), and a second face substantially flat opposite and parallel to said first face (see fig. 4 and 5, surface between the “knuckles 14” and “knuckles 13”), said support plate comprising a first cantilevered portion and a second cantilevered portion parallel and opposite to each other (“knuckles 14”, [0047]) extending from said second face in a direction substantially perpendicular to it (the “knuckles 14”, fig 5, protrude from a substantially flat surface), said support plate comprising an opening positioned along the vertical direction z between said first cantilevered portion and said second cantilevered portion (“conduit 8”, [0046], fig. 4), said support plate comprising a first side wall and a second side wall connecting said first cantilevered portion to said second cantilevered portion (see fig. 5, (19) and (20)); a support body intended to be applied to a temple for glasses (“second portion 3”, fig. 4), said support body being rotatably coupled to said support plate so as to be able to rotate between a first stable opening position of said hinge assembly for smart glasses and/or a second stable closing position of said hinge assembly for smart glasses (“the first portion 2 and second portion 3 […] rotate abound the articulation axis A between the closed position and open position”, [0053]); a masking and guide body (“hinge member 24”, [0007], fig. 4) for an electrical cable (“allows the passage of an electronic and/or electrical information transfer device such as a flexible cable through the hinge”, [0055]) extending along the axis z between a first end and a second end (fig. 4, (32’)) and is interposed between said cantilevered portions such that said first end faces said first cantilevered portion and said second end faces said second cantilevered portion (see fig. 2 and 4), said masking and guide body for the electrical cable comprising a first rest portion (fig. 7, (29)) and a second rest portion (fig. 7, (29)) spaced from each other extending in length between the first end and the second end (see fig. 7) and at least one bridge element connecting said rest portions to each other (see fig. 7, any of the end portions comprising the holes 28), said rest portions facing each other and defining a free gap between them (“port 31”, [0055] fig. 7), said at least one bridge element is in contact and in abutment with said first side wall of said support plate when said hinge assembly for smart glasses is in the first stable opening position (see fig. 10, fins 36 against surface 9), said at least one bridge element is in contact and in abutment with said second side wall of said support plate when said hinge assembly for smart glasses is in the second stable closing position (see fig. 12, fins 36 against surface 10), the distance between said side walls is such as to determine a first angular delay between the rotation of said support body and the rotation of said masking and guide body for the electrical cable and a second angular delay between the rotation of said support body and the rotation of said masking and guide body for the electrical cable (see the sequence of positions from open in fig. 10, intermediate in fig. 11 and closed in fig. 12 – the masking and guide body 24 remains in the same position between fig. 10 and fig. 11 although the support body 2 has already rotated; 24 only starts rotating when the fin 36 contact the surface 10).
Regarding claim 2, Rabut further discloses wherein said first angular delay is substantially equal to said second angular delay (considering the first angular delay that of the feature 2 with respect to feature 24 in fig. 10 to 12 of D1, and the second angular delay that of feature 3 with respect to feature 24, both are equal because the feature 24 is symmetrical).
Regarding claim 3, Rabut further discloses wherein said first angular delay is comprised between 1° and 45° and said second angular delay is comprised between 10 and 45° (see fig. 11, the angular delay is comprised between 1° and 45°).
Regarding claim 10, Rabut discloses smart glasses comprising a front adapted to carry two lenses and two temples, said temples adapted to allow a user to wear glasses, two hinge assemblies for smart glasses according to claim 1, each of which couples a respective temple to said front, an electrical cable adapted to electrically connect electrical and/or electronic devices to each other that are installed in said front and in said temples, said electrical cable coming from said front of said glasses crossing said opening of said support plate and the gap between said rest portions reaching the respective temple ([0003] and all the limitation recited in claim 1 above).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-9 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter. Regarding claim 4, the prior art fails to disclose a first arm element (140) and a second arm element (150) having respective first perforated end portions (141, 151) arranged respectively at said first through hole (115) and said second through hole (116) of said cantilevered portions (113, 114), and respective second perforated end portions (142, 152) housed in said support body (130) at said third through hole (132), a first coupling pin (136) crossing said third through hole (132) and said second perforated end portions (142, 152), a first coupling element (122) and a second coupling element (123) crossing at least partially respectively said first through hole (115) and said second through hole (116) and coupling respectively with said first perforated end portions (141, 151); - a third arm element (160) and a fourth arm element (170) having respective third perforated end portions (161, 171) rotatably coupled respectively to said first perforated end portions (141, 151) and respective fourth perforated end portions (162, 172) housed in said support body (130) at said slotted through hole (133), a second coupling pin (137) crossing said slotted through hole (133) and said fourth perforated end portions (162, 172);- at least one elastic element (139) housed in said at least one housing chamber (138) on one side, in contact with a bottom wall of said at least one housing chamber (138) on the other side, in contact with said second coupling pin (137), said at least one elastic element (139) being compressed by said second coupling pin (137) when the hinge assembly for smart glasses (100) passes from said first stable opening position to a third unstable extra- opening position, said at least one elastic element (139) pushing said second coupling pin (137) to return from the third unstable extra-opening position to the first stable opening position.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACK DINH whose telephone number is (571)272-2327. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9am-5pm.
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/JACK DINH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872 9/26/26
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