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 .
Drawings
The drawings were received on 12/10/2024. These drawings are acceptable.
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 1 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.
Claim 1 recites the limitation “a buffering angle being within a range from 20 degrees to 45 degrees relative to the central axis”, but does not disclose what structure or structures define a buffering angle. For purposes of examination, Examiner will interpret any structure that is equivalent to buffering segments as also satisfying the limitation regarding the buffering angle, and will further interpret any structures disposed over a range from 20 degrees to 45 degrees relative to the central axis as meeting the buffering angle limitation.
Claims 2-9 depend on claim 1, either directly or indirectly, and inherit at least the same deficiencies. Appropriate clarification and correction is required.
Claim 3 recites the limitation "the annular carrier has two stress adjustment slots" in the third line thereof. Unless these “stress adjustment slots” are the same as the stress blocking slots recited in claim 2, there is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claim 4 depends on claim 3 and inherits at least the same deficiencies. Appropriate clarification and correction is required.
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, 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 1-5, 7, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barrows et al. US PGPub 2015/0173602 A1 in view of Vasquez Quintero US PGPub 2019/0387619 A1 (of record, see IDS dated 04/16/2025).
Regarding independent claim 1, Barrows discloses a smart contact lens (Fig. 1, system 100 includes eye-mountable device 110 that is an ophthalmic electronics platform, pars. [0024-25]), comprising:
a lens body including an optical portion and an annular wearing portion that surrounds the optical portion, wherein the lens body defines a central axis that penetrates through a center of the optical portion (Fig. 1, polymeric material 120 can be shaped to provide a predetermined, vision-correcting optical power, such as provided by a contact lens, par. [0027], therefore device 110 must have an optical portion that can correct optical power and an annular portion surrounding the optical portion for the device 110 to be eye-mountable as intended, and Fig. 2A at least shows the ophthalmic device has a central axis that penetrates through a center of the optical portion); and
an embedded module encapsulated in the annular wearing portion (Figs. 3A-3D, eye-mountable electronic device 310, par. [0064], includes electronic structure 330 embedded in transparent polymer 320 in outer periphery 322, par. [0068]) and including:
an annular carrier (Fig. 1, substrate 130 is embedded in polymeric material 120 to provide a mounting surface, par. [0025], and Figs. 2A and 3A, electronic structure 330 can take the form of or be similar in form to the substrate 130 and/or the electronic structure 230, par. [0068]), wherein an outer contour of the annular carrier has a truncated cone shape (Fig. 3B shows electronic structure with a truncated cone shape), and the annular carrier has a C-shaped segment (Figs. 2A and 3A, conductive loops 272, par. [0056], and conductive loops 372, par. [0070], are C-shaped), two buffering segments respectively connected to two ends of the C-shaped segment (Fig. 2A depicts electronic structure 230 which may take the form of or be similar in form to the substrate 130, par. [0049], and electronics 240 and sensor 260 are disposed in a region that is between the two ends of the C-shaped segments defined by conductive loops 272, and Examiner understands a “buffering segment” to refer to a structure for reducing force or stress on a section of a structure, thus Barrows discloses elements that are structurally equivalent to buffering segments), and a chip-bonding segment that is connected in-between the two buffering segments (Fig. 2A, electronics 240 and 250 are disposed on electronic structure 230, par. [0049]);
an electronic chip mounted on the chip-bonding segment (Fig. 2A, electronic structure 230 includes electronics 240, electronics 250, sensor 260, and antenna 270, par. [0049]);
a plurality of metal circuits formed on the annular carrier, wherein at least one of the metal circuits is electrically coupled to the electronic chip through the annular carrier (Fig. 1, substrate 130 is the mounting platform for chip-based circuitry and/or as a platform for patterning conductive materials, e.g., gold, platinum, palladium, titanium, copper, aluminum, silver, metals, other conductive materials, combinations of these, etc., to create electrodes, interconnects, antennae, par. [0028]); and
an encapsulant formed on the chip-bonding segment, wherein the electronic chip is embedded in the encapsulant (Figs. 3C and 3D, electronic structure 330 is embedded in transparent polymer 320, par. [0068]);
wherein, in a transverse cross-section of the smart contact lens perpendicular to the central axis and passing through the electronic chip, the chip-bonding segment is straight-shaped (Figs. 3C and 3D, electronic structure 330 is depicted as straight), and the C-shaped segment is arced (Figs. 3A-3D, conductive loops 372, par. [0070], are C-shaped and arced)
Barrows does not disclose wherein an outer edge of the annular carrier has two stress blocking slots (Barrows is silent as to the inclusion of stress blocking structures), therefore Barrows does not teach or suggest the C-shaped segment and each of the two buffering segments are provided with one of the two stress blocking slots therebetween, and consequently Barrows does not disclose each of the two buffering segments is arced and has a first radius, a center of a circle that is not located at the central axis, and a buffering angle being within a range from 20 degrees to 45 degrees relative to the central axis, and the C-shaped segment has a second radius that is greater than the first radius.
In a related field of invention, Vasquez Quintero discloses methods for stress relief in non-flat devices transformed from flat devices (abstract), such as methods for fabricating smart contact lenses (par. [0033]). Fig. 2 shows an example of a flat device that may be used in a method wherein the non-flat device is to be made into a smart contact lens by deformation of the flat device 20 (par. [0089). Fig. 5 illustrates an example of a layout of a patterned stress relief layer 10 that may be used in an embodiment of a method where the example shown in Fig. 5 may be designed for being combined with, i.e., mechanically attached to, the flat device 20 shown in Fig. 2 (par. [0109]). Stress relief layer 10 comprises a first stress relief island 11 and a second stress relief island 12, where the first stress relief island 11 includes openings 51 with partial ring shape (par. [0110]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have applied the teachings of Vasquez Quintero to the disclosure of Barrows and included a stress relief pattern layer during the fabrication of eye-mountable device 110, including stress blocking structures, such as stress relief islands and partial ring-shaped openings, because Vasquez Quintero teaches such methods and arrangements disclosed provide an advantage of distributing stress more evenly such that the shape of the non-flat device may be better controlled (Vasquez Quintero par. [0032]) and the formation of wrinkles in or near the antenna may be substantially reduced or avoided (Vasquez Quintero par. [0033]).
With respect to the limitations reciting a buffering angle being within a range from 20 degrees to 45 degrees relative to the central axis, the combination of Barrows in view of Vasquez Quintero teaches and renders obvious the buffering angle being within a range from 20 degrees to 45 degrees relative to the central axis, because a partial ring-shaped opening, such as opening 51 shown in Vasquez Quintero Fig. 5, is depicted as more than 20 degrees and less than 45 degrees in arc, satisfying the limitation.
Regarding dependent claim 2, Barrows in view of Vasquez Quintero (hereinafter, “modified Barrows”) discloses the smart contact lens according to claim 1, and Barrows further discloses wherein, in a top view of the smart contact lens along the central axis, the smart contact lens defines a longitudinal axis passing through the central axis and the electronic chip, and a transverse axis is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and passes through the central axis, such that the top view is divided into a first quadrant, a second quadrant, a third quadrant, and a fourth quadrant through the longitudinal axis and the transverse axis (Barrows Figs. 2A is a top view of electronic structure 230 which can be divided up into four quadrants through longitudinal and transverse axes), and the two stress blocking slots are respectively located in the third quadrant and the fourth quadrant (the stress blocking structures of the Barrows-Vasquez Quintero combination can be placed in a quadrant that may be labeled third or fourth quadrant as desired).
Regarding dependent claim 3, modified Barrows discloses the smart contact lens according to claim 2, and Vasquez Quintero further discloses wherein the outer edge of the annular carrier has two stress adjustment slots (Vasquez Quintero Fig. 5, openings 51 are disposed on the outer edge of patterned stress relief layer 10, par. [0109]).
Barrows discloses the C-shaped segment (Barrows Figs. 2A and 3A, conductive loops 272, par. [0056], are C-shaped).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have applied the teachings of Vasquez Quintero to the disclosure of Barrows and disposed openings, such as openings 51, at the outer edges of the electronic structure 230 of Barrows, such that, in the top view, the two stress adjustment slots are respectively located in the first quadrant and the second quadrant (the stress adjustment structures of the Barrows-Vasquez Quintero combination can be placed in a quadrant that may be labeled first or second quadrant as desired), because Vasquez Quintero teaches such openings reduce stress in those configurations (Vasquez Quintero, par. [0111]).
Regarding dependent claim 4, modified Barrows discloses the smart contact lens according to claim 3, and Vasquez Quintero further discloses wherein, in the top view, each of the two stress blocking slots has a first angle relative to the central axis, and each of the two stress adjustment slots has a second angle relative to the central axis (Vasquez Quintero Fig. 5, openings 51 must have angles relative to the central axis), and wherein the first angle is less than the buffering angle and is within a range from 10 degrees to 30 degrees, and the second angle is within a range from 10 degrees to 80 degrees (opening 51 shown in Vasquez Quintero Fig. 5, is depicted as more than 20 degrees and less than 45 degrees in arc, satisfying the limitation).
Regarding dependent claim 5, modified Barrows discloses the smart contact lens according to claim 1, and Vasquez Quintero further discloses wherein the annular carrier has a plurality of arc holes each having a center of circle that is located at the central axis, and wherein each of the arc holes is arranged between two of the metal circuits adjacent to each other (Vasquez Quintero Fig. 5, openings 51 have a partial ring shape, par. [0110], equivalent to arcs, with the arcs having a center at the axis of the device 20, and Fig. 9, openings 51 are arranged between electrical interconnections 221, par. [0090]).
Regarding dependent claim 7, modified Barrows discloses the smart contact lens according to claim 1, and Barrows further discloses wherein the metal circuits include: an antenna arranged along an inner edge of the annular carrier (Barrows, Fig. 2A shows antenna 270 disposed along an inner edge of substrate 230, par. [0049]), wherein the antenna has two distal portions that are arranged on the chip-bonding segment and that are connected to the electronic chip (Barrows, Fig. 2A shows antenna 270 has two portions connected to electronics 250); and a sensing circuit arranged outside of the antenna and electrically coupled to the electronic chip (Barrows Fig. 2A sensor 260 is coupled to electronics 250, par. [0051]).
Barrows does not disclose an antenna being C-shaped (antenna 270 is a ring as shown in Fig. 2A) and Barrows does not disclose a plurality of sensing circuits (Barrows discloses sensor 260 only).
Vasquez Quintero discloses device 20 may have a plurality of sensors (par. [0083]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have applied the teachings of Vasquez Quintero to the disclosure of Barrows and included at least a second sensor, because Vasquez Quintero teaches the feasibility of including a plurality of sensors in an ophthalmic electronic device (Vasquez Quintero par. [0083]).
As to the limitation reciting an antenna being C-shaped, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have made antenna 270 to be C-shaped as a matter of design choice since applicant has not disclosed that the C-shaped antenna solves any stated problem or is for any particular purpose and it appears that the invention would perform equally well with antennas of any curvature.
Regarding independent claim 10, Barrows discloses an embedded module of a smart contact lens (Fig. 1, system 100 includes eye-mountable device 110 that is an ophthalmic electronics platform, pars. [0024-25]), comprising:
an annular carrier (Fig. 1, substrate 130 is embedded in polymeric material 120 to provide a mounting surface, par. [0025], and Figs. 2A and 3A, electronic structure 330 can take the form of or be similar in form to the substrate 130 and/or the electronic structure 230, par. [0068]) defining a central axis (Fig. 2A at least, the ophthalmic device has a central axis that penetrates through a center of the optical portion), wherein an outer contour of the annular carrier has a truncated cone shape (Fig. 3B shows electronic structure with a truncated cone shape), and the annular carrier has a C-shaped segment (Figs. 2A and 3A, conductive loops 272, par. [0056], and conductive loops 372, par. [0070], are C-shaped), two buffering segments respectively connected to two ends of the C-shaped segment (Fig. 2A depicts electronic structure 230 which may take the form of or be similar in form to the substrate 130, par. [0049], and electronics 240 and sensor 260 are disposed in a region that is between the two ends of the C-shaped segments defined by conductive loops 272, and Examiner understands a “buffering segment” to refer to a structure for reducing force or stress on a section of a structure, thus Barrows discloses elements that are structurally equivalent to buffering segments), and a chip-bonding segment that is connected in-between the two buffering segments (Fig. 2A, electronics 240 and 250 are disposed on electronic structure 230, par. [0049]);
an electronic chip mounted on the chip-bonding segment (Fig. 2A, electronic structure 230 includes electronics 240, electronics 250, sensor 260, and antenna 270, par. [0049]);
a plurality of metal circuits formed on the annular carrier, wherein at least one of the metal circuits is electrically coupled to the electronic chip through the annular carrier (Fig. 1, substrate 130 is the mounting platform for chip-based circuitry and/or as a platform for patterning conductive materials, e.g., gold, platinum, palladium, titanium, copper, aluminum, silver, metals, other conductive materials, combinations of these, etc., to create electrodes, interconnects, antennae, par. [0028]); and
an encapsulant formed on the chip-bonding segment, wherein the electronic chip is embedded in the encapsulant (Figs. 3C and 3D, electronic structure 330 is embedded in transparent polymer 320, par. [0068]);
wherein, in a transverse cross-section of the embedded module perpendicular to the central axis and passing through the electronic chip, the chip-bonding segment is straight-shaped (Figs. 3C and 3D, electronic structure 330 is depicted as straight), and the C-shaped segment is arced (Figs. 3A-3D, conductive loops 372, par. [0070], are C-shaped and arced).
Barrows does not disclose wherein an outer edge of the annular carrier has two stress blocking slots (Barrows is silent as to the inclusion of stress blocking structures), therefore Barrows does not teach or suggest the C-shaped segment and each of the two buffering segments are provided with one of the two stress blocking slots therebetween, and consequently Barrows does not disclose each of the two buffering segments is arced and has a first radius, a center of a circle that is not located at the central axis, and a buffering angle being within a range from 20 degrees to 45 degrees relative to the central axis, and the C-shaped segment has a second radius that is greater than the first radius.
In a related field of invention, Vasquez Quintero discloses methods for stress relief in non-flat devices transformed from flat devices (abstract), such as methods for fabricating smart contact lenses (par. [0033]). Fig. 2 shows an example of a flat device that may be used in a method wherein the non-flat device is to be made into a smart contact lens by deformation of the flat device 20 (par. [0089). Fig. 5 illustrates an example of a layout of a patterned stress relief layer 10 that may be used in an embodiment of a method where the example shown in Fig. 5 may be designed for being combined with, i.e., mechanically attached to, the flat device 20 shown in Fig. 2 (par. [0109]). Stress relief layer 10 comprises a first stress relief island 11 and a second stress relief island 12, where the first stress relief island 11 includes openings 51 with partial ring shape (par. [0110]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have applied the teachings of Vasquez Quintero to the disclosure of Barrows, and included a stress relief pattern layer during the fabrication of eye-mountable device 110, including stress blocking structures such as stress relief islands and partial ring-shaped openings because Vasquez Quintero teaches the methods disclosed provide an advantage of distributing stress more evenly such that the shape of the non-flat device may be better controlled (Vasquez Quintero par. [0032]) and the formation of wrinkles in or near the antenna may be substantially reduced or avoided (Vasquez Quintero par. [0033]).
With respect to the limitations reciting a buffering angle being within a range from 20 degrees to 45 degrees relative to the central axis, the combination of Barrows in view of Vasquez Quintero teaches and renders obvious the buffering angle being within a range from 20 degrees to 45 degrees relative to the central axis, because a partial ring-shaped opening, such as opening 51 shown in Vasquez Quintero Fig. 5, is depicted as more than 20 degrees and less than 45 degrees in arc, satisfying the limitation.
Claims 6 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barrows in view of Vasquez Quintero as applied to claim 5 above, and further in view of De Juan, JR. et al. US PGPub 2022/0390763 A1 (hereinafter, “de Juan”).
Regarding dependent claim 6, modified Barrows discloses the smart contact lens according to claim 5, and Vasquez Quintero further discloses wherein the arc holes are in an annular arrangement that has a center on the central axis (Vasquez Quintero Fig. 5 openings 51 are arranged annularly with a center on the central axis).
The prior art combination does not disclose wherein the annular carrier has a plurality of circular holes, and a width of each of arc holes is greater than or equal to a diameter of each of the circular holes nor that any two of the arc holes adjacent to each other are provided with one of the circular holes therebetween (Barrows does not disclose circular holes anywhere, and Vasquez Quintero does not disclose circular holes, and the combination does not teach or suggest such an arrangement of arc and circular holes).
In a related field of invention, de Juan discloses device 100 for vision correction (par. [0085]) with fenestrations 100F, shown in Figs. 1A1 and 1A2, extending through the thickness of device 100 (par. [0097]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have applied the teachings of de Juan to the disclosure of Barrows and included circular holes in eye-mountable device 110, because de Juan teaches that such fenestrations, e.g., circular holes, allow tear liquid to move through the device (de Juan par. [0097]) and thereby provide hydration and patient comfort (de Juan par. [0009]).
The combination of Barrows in view of Vasquez Quintero and de Juan teaches and renders obvious the limitation a width of each of arc holes is greater than or equal to a diameter of each of the circular holes because Vasquez Quintero teaches the different openings 51 may all have the same shape and size or they may have a different shape and/or a different size (par. [0110]), and de Juan teaches fenestrations may be any suitable shape and be situated in any suitable orientation with respect to the cross sectional profile of the lens, and fenestrations are characterized by a circular cross-section having a diameter from about 50 µm to about 300 µm, from about 80 µm to about 250 µm, and in certain embodiments, from about 100 µm to about 200 µm (par. [0358]), therefore a person of ordinary skill would find it obvious to make arc holes and circular holes of the same width, for simplification of manufacturing (de Juan, par. [0222]).
The combination of Barrows in view of Vasquez Quintero and de Juan does not specifically teach or suggest that any two of the arc holes adjacent to each other are provided with one of the circular holes therebetween. However, a person having ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to arrange circular holes taught by de Juan between openings taught by Vasquez Quintero because Vasquez Quintero teaches the shape and the size of the openings and the number of openings may affect the stress distribution throughout the structure during the thermoforming process, and specific designs and distributions may be optimized through simulations (Vasquez Quintero, par. [0110]).
Regarding dependent claim 8, modified Barrows discloses the smart contact lens according to claim 7, wherein the antenna has a main segment and two lateral segments that are connected to two ends of the main segment (Barrows teaches a single ring-shaped antenna 270, Fig. 2A, with connection to electronics 250), and wherein the annular carrier has: two arc holes arranged outside of and spaced apart from the main segment, wherein the two arc holes are in an annular arrangement (Vasquez Quintero Fig. 5, openings 51 have a partial ring shape, par. [0110], equivalent to arcs, and are in an annular arrangement).
The prior art combination does not disclose wherein a width of the main segment is less than a width of any one of the two lateral segments, and the two lateral segments respectively have the two distal portions and a plurality of circular holes arranged between the two arc holes, wherein a width of each of the two arc holes is greater than or equal to a diameter of each of the circular holes (Barrows and Vasquez Quintero are silent as to widths of antenna segments, Barrows does not disclose holes anywhere, and Vasquez Quintero does not disclose circular holes, and the combination does not teach or suggest such an arrangement of arc and circular holes).
In a related field of invention, de Juan discloses device 100 for vision correction (par. [0085]) with fenestrations 100F, shown in Figs. 1A1 and 1A2, extending through the thickness of device 100 (par. [0097]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have applied the teachings of de Juan to the disclosure of Barrows and included circular holes in eye-mountable device 110, because de Juan teaches that such fenestrations, e.g., circular holes, allow tear liquid to move through the device (de Juan par. [0097]) and thereby provide hydration and patient comfort (de Juan par. [0009]).
The combination of Barrows in view of Vasquez Quintero and de Juan teaches and renders obvious the limitation a width of each of arc holes is greater than or equal to a diameter of each of the circular holes because Vasquez Quintero teaches the different openings 51 may all have the same shape and size or they may have a different shape and/or a different size (par. [0110]), and de Juan teaches fenestrations may be any suitable shape and be situated in any suitable orientation with respect to the cross sectional profile of the lens, and fenestrations are characterized by a circular cross-section having a diameter from about 50 µm to about 300 µm, from about 80 µm to about 250 µm, and in certain embodiments, from about 100 µm to about 200 µm (par. [0358]), therefore a person of ordinary skill would find it obvious to make arc holes and circular holes of the same width, for simplification of manufacturing (de Juan, par. [0222]).
The combination of Barrows in view of Vasquez Quintero and de Juan does not specifically teach or suggest a width of the main segment is less than a width of any one of the two lateral segments, and the two lateral segments respectively have the two distal portions. However, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have selected widths of the segments as a matter of design choice since applicant has not disclosed that the main segment being less than a width of any one of the two lateral segments solves any stated problem or is for any particular purpose and it appears that the invention would perform equally well with antennas of any curvature.
Potentially Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 9 is 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.
Regarding dependent claim 9, Barrows in view of Vasquez Quintero and de Juan discloses the smart contact lens according to claim 8, but the prior art combination does not teach or suggest wherein the metal circuits include a plurality of structural reinforcement circuits, wherein the structural reinforcement circuits are arranged outside of and spaced apart from the two arc holes and are in an annular arrangement, and wherein the structural reinforcement circuits are provided without any electrical function.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Yoo et al. US PGPub 2025/0070457 A1 discloses a smart contact lens.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Justin W Hustoft whose telephone number is (571)272-4519. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Eastern Time.
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/JUSTIN W. HUSTOFT/Examiner, Art Unit 2872
/MARIN PICHLER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872
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