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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS’s) submitted on 3/15/2025 and 7/8/2025 were filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 11, 14-17, and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Dias (WO 2019/122841 A1).
In regard to claim 1, Dias discloses a device (page 8, lines 5-21, Figure 1) comprising: a head-mounted display (Figure 1, “101”); a rear unit that is adjustable to fit a user (Figure 1, “107, 111”); and a transition unit housing at least one electronic subsystem (page 9, 12-21, Figure 1, “103, 105, 107”), wherein: the transition unit extends between the head-mounted display and the rear unit so as to cover a top portion of a user’s head when worn by the user (Figure 1, “103, 105, 107”); and the transition unit comprises a front unit portion (Figure 1, “103”) and a rear portion (Figure 1, “105”) that is rotatable with respect to the front unit portion (page 9, line 32 – page 10, line 18, Figures 2, 5A,B, 6, “117”).
Regarding claim 2, the head-mounted display of Dias inherently comprises a thermal management system configured to cool the electronic subsystems passively, this being reasonably assumed from the disclosure of padded regions (page 9, lines 9-10, Figure 1, “113, 103, 105”), which maintain a separation of the subsystem that allows air flow.
Regarding claim 3, Dias discloses wherein the head-mounted display comprises a friction-type hinge joint enabling dynamic rotation of the head-mounted display relative to the transition unit (page 10, lines 12-18, Figures 5A,B, “117”).
Regarding claim 4, Dias discloses wherein the rear unit includes a fit adjustment mechanism that allows the rear unit to be variably adjusted (page 8, line 31 – page 9, line 2, Figure 1, “111”).
In regard to claim 11, Dias discloses a device (page 8, lines 5-21, Figure 1) comprising: a head-mounted display (Figure 1, “101”); and a rear unit that is adjustable (Figure 1, “105, 107, 111”) and linked to the head-mounted display to fit a user (Figure 1, “101”), the rear unit housing at least one electronic subsystem (page 9, 12-21, Figure 1, “103, 105, 107”), wherein: the rear unit extends from the head-mounted display (Figure 1, “101”) towards a back side of the user so as to cover a top portion of a user’s head when worn by the user (Figure 1, “105, 107, 111”); and the rear unit comprises a body that is be rotatable with respect to the head-mounted display (page 10, lines 12-18, Figures 5A,B, “117”).
Regarding claim 14, Dias discloses wherein the rear unit further comprises a compound hinge joint that allows the rear unit to rotate dynamically with respect to the head-mounted display (page 10, lines 12-18, Figures 5A,B, “117”).
Regarding claim 15, Dias discloses wherein the rear unit includes a fit adjustment mechanism that allows the rear unit to be variably adjusted to fit the user (page 8, line 31 – page 9, line 2, Figure 1, “111”).
Regarding claim 16, Dias discloses wherein the rear unit comprises electronic subsystems variably positioned along a y-axis and/or a z-axis of the rear unit to balance the device when worn by the user (page 9, lines 4-21).
In regard to claim 17, Dias discloses a method for a rotatable device (page 8, lines 5-21, Figure 1) comprising: adjusting a device to fit a user’s head by extending a rear unit of the device from a head-mounted display of the device towards a back portion of the user’s head (page 9, line 32 – page 10, line 31, Figure 1, “117, 103, 105, 107, 111”); and rotating the rear unit with respect to the head-mounted display to optimize the fit on the user’s head (page 10, lines 25-31).
Regarding claim 19, Dias discloses wherein the step of rotating the rear unit with respect to the head-mounted display includes using a compound hinge joint to enable the rotation (page 10, lines 12-18, Figures 5A,B, “117”).
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.
Claim(s) 5, 6, and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dias as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Snyder et al (US 2022/0187609 A1).
Regarding claim 5, Dias discloses as set forth above, but does not specifically disclose wherein the rear unit comprises an audio subsystem configured to project sound to the user through a rear pad.
Within the same field of endeavor, Snyder et al teaches that it is desirable in rear units of head mounted displays to comprise an audio subsystem configured to project sound to the user through a rear pad for the purpose of providing a user options for positioning loudspeakers (page 12, sections [0152]-[0153]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for the rear unit of Dias to comprise an audio subsystem configured to project sound to the user through a rear pad since Snyder et al teaches that it is desirable for the purpose of providing a user options for positioning loudspeakers.
Regarding claim 6, Snyder et al further teaches wherein the transition unit comprises a compound hinge configured to enable the rear portion and front portion to nest into each other when folded (page 3, section [0057]).
Regarding claim 12, Dias discloses as set forth above, but does not specifically disclose wherein the rear unit further comprises an audio subsystem configured to transmit sound to the user through vibrations transmitted by a rear pad.
Within the same field of endeavor, Snyder et al teaches that it is desirable in rear units of head mounted displays to comprise an audio subsystem configured to transmit sound to the user through vibrations transmitted by a rear pad for the purpose of providing a user options for positioning loudspeakers (page 12, sections [0152]-[0153]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for the rear unit of Dias to an audio subsystem configured to transmit sound to the user through vibrations transmitted by a rear pad since Snyder et al teaches that it is desirable for the purpose of providing a user options for positioning loudspeakers.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-10, 13, 18, and 20 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 a combination of all the claimed features as presented in claim 7: a device as claimed, specifically wherein the transition unit further comprises a sliding front module that is operable via a dial positioned on a surface of the head-mounted display, allowing the sliding front module to slide in and out relative to the head-mounted display.
The prior art fails to teach a combination of all the claimed features as presented in claims 8 and 9: a device as claimed, specifically wherein the transition unit further comprises a forced airflow system including an intake region configured to direct cool air into the device.
The prior art fails to teach a combination of all the claimed features as presented in claim 10: a device as claimed, specifically wherein the transition unit houses at least one antenna positioned along a z-axis of the transition unit.
The prior art fails to teach a combination of all the claimed features as presented in claim 13: a device as claimed, specifically wherein the rear unit further comprises an exhaust fan for actively cooling the electronic subsystems housed in the rear unit.
The prior art fails to teach a combination of all the claimed features as presented in claim 18: a method as claimed, specifically comprising rotating a transition unit of the device that extends between the head-mounted display and the rear unit such that a rear portion of the transition unit rotates with respect to a front portion of the transition unit to collapse the device into a more compact form.
The prior art fails to teach a combination of all the claimed features as presented in claim 20: a method as claimed, specifically wherein the step of adjusting the rear unit includes sliding the rear unit relative to the head-mounted display to variably adjust a fit for different users.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM C CHOI whose telephone number is (571)272-2324. The examiner can normally be reached Monday- Friday, 9:00 am - 6:00 pm.
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/WILLIAM CHOI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872 June 27, 2026
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