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 .
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, 16 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chiu (TWI698697B).
Re claim 1, Chiu discloses a device comprising: a light source (10) providing an initial incident light along a first optical path; an optical film (12) disposed on the first optical path, wherein the optical film is configured to generate a first incident light with a first polarization direction; a beam splitter (14) disposed on the first optical path, wherein the beam splitter is configured to receive the first incident light from the optical film and generate a first reflected light along a second optical path; a liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) module (15) configured to, upon receiving the first reflected light with a first polarization direction, generate a second incident light with a second polarization direction along the second optical path and passing through the beam splitter; and an optical lens group (16) collimated to the LCOS module along the second optical path, wherein the optical lens group is configured to focus the second incident light from the beam splitter to generate an outgoing light (Fig. 1).
Re claim 16, Chiu et al. discloses a device comprising: a liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) module (15) configured to generate primary incident light; and an optical lens group (16) having a fold light path architecture, wherein the optical lens group is used to focus the primary incident light to produce an outgoing light (Fig. 1), wherein the optical lens group sequentially includes a first lens, a second lens, and a third lens from a light-receive side to a light-emitting side (Fig. 1, ref. 16).
Re claim 17, Chiu et al. discloses the device wherein the LCOS module (15) is a reflective LCOS module, including a light source (10) providing an initial incident light; a polarization element (12) configured to receive the initial incident light and generate a first incident light with a first polarization direction; a beam splitter (14) receiving the first incident light from the polarization element and generating a first reflected light along a first optical path (Fig. 1); and an LCOS panel (15) configured to, upon receiving the first reflected light with a first polarization direction, generate a second incident light with a second polarization direction along the second optical path and passing through the beam splitter (Fig. 1).
Claim(s) 9 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mochizuki (US 2021/0072516 A1).
Re claim 9, Mochizuki disclose a device wherein the optical lens group sequentially includes a cemented lens (B31) and a light-receiving lens (L11) along an optical axis from a light receiving side to a light-emitting side, the light-receiving lens has negative refractive power (paragraph 0040), and the cemented lens (B31) includes at least two materials with different refractive indices (Fig. 2) and has positive refractive power (paragraph 0045). Materials with different refractive indices would include at least two materials
Re claim 10, Mochizuki discloses the device wherein the light receiving lens (L11) and the cemented lens (B31) each have a light-receiving side surface facing the light receiving side and a light-emitting side surface facing the light-emitting side, the light-receiving side surface of the light receiving lens (L11) is provided with a first convex portion, the light-emitting side surface of the light-receiving lens is provided with a first concave portion adjacent to the optical axis (Fig. 1(a)), the light-receiving side surface of the cemented lens (B31) is provided with a first planar portion (G3LS), and the light emitting-side surface of the cemented lens is provided with a second convex portion.
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) 2 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chiu in view of Chuang et al. (US 2023/0049696).
Re claim 2, Chiu does not disclose the device wherein the optical lens group sequentially includes a cemented lens and a light-receiving lens along an optical axis from a light receiving side to a light-emitting side, the light-receiving lens has negative refractive power, and the cemented lens includes at least two materials with different refractive indices and has positive refractive power.
Chuang et al. disclose a device wherein the optical lens group sequentially includes a cemented lens (3, 4) and a light-receiving lens (2) along an optical axis from a light receiving side to a light-emitting side, the light-receiving lens has negative refractive power (paragraph 0023), and the cemented lens includes at least two materials with different refractive indices (TAB1, 1) and has positive refractive power (Fig. 1, ref. 3, 4). Materials with different refractive indices would include at least two materials
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to employ the device wherein the optical lens group sequentially includes a cemented lens and a light-receiving lens along an optical axis from a light receiving side to a light-emitting side, the light-receiving lens has negative refractive power, and the cemented lens includes at least two materials with different refractive indices and has positive refractive power since one would be motivated by high image quality.
Re claim 18, Chiu et al. does not disclose the device wherein the first lens is an aspheric lens, the second lens and the third lens are spherical lenses, the first lens has positive refractive power, and the second and third lens have negative refractive power.
Chuang et al. discloses the device wherein a first lens (5) is an aspheric lens (paragraph 024), the second (2) and third lens (1), the first lens has positive refractive power, and the second and third lens have negative refractive power (Fig. 1).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to employ the device wherein the first lens is an aspheric lens, the second lens and the third lens are spherical lenses, the first lens has positive refractive power, and the second and third lens have negative refractive power since one would be motivated by high image quality.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-8, 11-15 and 19-20 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RICHARD H KIM whose telephone number is (571)272-2294. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 10 am-6:30 pm.
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, Michael Caley can be reached at 571-272-2286. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/RICHARD H KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871
Prosecution Insights