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 certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 04/11/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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.
Claims 1-4, 11, and 13-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hurbi et al. (2018/0376626) in view of Sakaguchi et al. (2019/0390025).
Regarding claim 1, Hurbi discloses a housing of a smart head mount device (at least Figure 3, 300, thermal dissipation system; Abstract teaches a thermal dissipation system for wearable electronic devices; [0005]), comprises: a weight-reducing frame which is formed by at least a part of the housing (at least 302, flexible straps; [0039] teaches 302, flexible straps, include 308(1), flexible insulation, which is made of aerogel insulation, chosen because it is a lightweight material).
Hurbi fails to teach wherein the weight-reducing frame comprises an organic aerogel material and has a density of 0.4 g/cm.sup.3 to 1.3 g/cm.sup.3 and a bending modulus greater than 2.5 GPa. Hurbi and Sakaguchi are related because both teach a housing containing a weight-reducing aerogel material.
Sakaguchi teaches a housing [0022] teaches an article that may be a wafer or substrate for radiofrequency antenna), wherein the weight-reducing frame comprises an organic aerogel material ([0108] teaches an organic polymer aerogel) and has a density of 0.4 g/cm.sup.3 to 1.3 g/cm.sup.3 (at least [0015] teaches the aerogel may have a density of 0.40 g/cm.sup.3) and a bending modulus greater than 2.5 GPa ([0110] teaches the flexural strength to be between 0.05 Mpa and 5 GPa, thus including 2.6 Gpa to 5 GPa).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified Hurbi to incorporate the teachings of Sakaguchi and provide wherein the weight-reducing frame comprises an organic aerogel material and has a density of 0.4 g/cm.sup.3 to 1.3 g/cm.sup.3 and a bending modulus greater than 2.5 GPa. Doing so would allow for improved mechanical durability while maintaining conformation to irregular surfaces.
Regarding claim 2, the modified Hurbi discloses the housing of a smart head mount device according to claim 1, wherein the weight-reducing frame is formed by the housing as a whole (at least Figure 3).
Regarding claim 3, the modified Hurbi discloses the housing of a smart head mount device according to claim 1, wherein the housing further comprises an auxiliary supporting part, bonded with the weight-reducing frame or integrally formed with the weight-reducing frame to form the housing (310, flexible heat sink; [0040]).
Regarding claim 4, the modified Hurbi discloses the housing of a smart head mount device according to claim 3, wherein the auxiliary supporting part comprises at least one of engineering plastics, stainless steel, or lightweight alloys ([0040] teaches 310, flexible heat sink, comprises one or more highly conductive metals, plastics, and/or graphite based materials).
Regarding claim 11, the modified Hurbi discloses the housing of a smart head mount device according to claim 1, wherein the weight-reducing frame further comprises a thermal conductive filler therein, which comprises at least one of a metal filler and an inorganic non-metal filler (Sakaguchi: [0068-0069]).
Regarding claim 13, the modified Hurbi discloses the housing of a smart head mount device according to claim 1, but fails to teach wherein the weight-reducing frame has a loss factor greater than 0.01.
However, Examiner notes that it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to adjust the parameter of a loss factor to be greater than 0.01, since 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). Doing so would allow for improved durability of the frame.
Regarding claim 14, the modified Hurbi discloses the housing of a smart head mount device according to claim 1, wherein the organic aerogel material comprises at least one of polyimides, polyamides, polyesters, aldehydes, polyolefins, and polysaccharides (Sakaguchi: at least [0012]).
Regarding claim 15, the modified Hurbi discloses the housing of a smart head mount device according to claim 1, wherein the weight-reducing frame comprises a non-transparent material piece (Examiner notes that 302, flexible straps are interpreted to be opaque).
Regarding claim 16, the modified Hurbi discloses the housing of a smart head mount device according to claim 1, further comprises: a housing main body provided with a wearing part suitable for wearing (102, HMD device, provided with 302, flexible straps); and a front shell connected with the housing main body and cooperating with the housing main body to define an accommodating space (front portion of 102, HMD device; for exemplary purposes because the elements are depicted in a more convenient fashion, Figure 4 depicts an accommodating space made by 104, housing, which accommodates 402, electronic device), wherein the front shell and at least a part of the housing main body are formed as the weight-reducing frame (Figure 3, 302, flexible straps).
Regarding claim 17, the modified Hurbi discloses a wearable device (102, HMD device), comprises: a housing of a smart head mount device according to claim 1 (for exemplary purposes because the elements are labeled, Figure 4, 104, housing; alternatively at least 202B, bridge); and an optical lens provided in the housing (402, electronic device; Examiner interprets the electronic device to include an optical lens; alternatively 110, display component, is viewed to include an optical lens).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-10 and 12 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: the prior art fails to teach or suggest the limitations of claims 5, 10, and 12, along with the structural limitations positively recited from the claim(s) they depend from in a manner that would be appropriate under 35 U.S.C. 102 or 103. Claims 6-9 are dependent on claim 5 and are therefore objected to for at least the same reasons.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Komoto (2025/0172741), Yang (2025/0056744), Wardle (2024/0391220), Smyth (11,614,570), Ishizuya (2022/0131110), Travers (2021/0103146), Kamakura (2021/0068316), Ralston (2021/0059344), Cooke (10,698,224), Suter (2019/0278102), and Ellwood (2018/0122143) disclose relevant head mounted devices or lightweight aerogel materials.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BALRAM T PARBADIA whose telephone number is (571)270-0602. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 am - 5:00 pm, Monday - Friday.
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, Bumsuk Won can be reached at (571) 272-2713. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BALRAM T PARBADIA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872
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