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 .
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 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.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on January 14, 2025, is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and have been considered by the Examiner.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 1-4 and 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Nicholson (US Pub. 2020/0249483).
In regard to claim 1, Nicholson discloses a projection system (200, Fig 2A) comprising: a first laser device (red laser diode 221) configured to emit electromagnetic radiation having a first polarization state : a second laser device (green laser light diode 222) configured to emit electromagnetic radiation having a second polarization state; a coupling device (beam combiner 224) configured to superimpose the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the first laser device (221) with the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the second laser device (222);an imaging device (225) comprising an array of a plurality of individually controllable digital micromirrors (two digital micromirrors in directions 226 and 227, see [0054], [0003]), wherein the imaging device (225) is configured to modulate the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the first laser device (221) and the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the second laser device (222), wherein first modulated radiation and second modulated radiation are generated, and a birefringent plate (split mirror 240) configured to spatially separate the first modulated radiation and the second modulated radiation, further comprising a control device (See [0095]) that actuates the first laser device (221) and the second laser device (222) and is configured to operate the second laser device with a temporal offset from the first laser device within an image frame (160, see [0046], [0051] and [0059]).
In regard to claim 2, Nicholson discloses the projection system (wearable heads-up display 200) according to claim 1, further comprising a screen (160 in Fig 1 or 260 in Fig 2A) on which an image generated by the first and the second modulated radiation is displayable (See [0042]-[0043]).
In regard to claim 3, Nicholson discloses Nicholson discloses the projection system (wearable heads-up display 200) according to claim 2, further comprising a reflective beam shaping element (Optical splitter 250) between the birefringent plate (240) and the screen (260) as shown in Fig 2A.
In regard to claim 4, Nicholson discloses the projection system (wearable heads-up display 200) according to claim 3, wherein the reflective beam shaping element (250) is configured to enlarge or reduce a synthesized image resulting from a superimposition of the image generated by the first modulated radiation and the image generated by the second modulated radiation (see [0057]).
In regard to claim 11, Nicholson discloses an electronic device comprising the projection system (200) according to claim 1.
In regard to claim 12, Nicholson discloses the electronic device according to claim 11, which is configured as AR or VR data glasses as shown in Fig 1.
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.
Claim 5-6 and 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nicholson (US Pub. 2020/0249483) in view of Sheng et al. (US Pub. 2025/0147310).
In regard to claim 5, Nicholson discloses the projection system (wearable heads-up display 200) according to claim 1, wherein the first laser device (221) and the second laser device (222); more or less laser diodes could be used, and /or the order of laser diodes could be changed (See [0054]).
However, it fails to explicitly disclose each of laser devices include a plurality of laser elements (diodes)
In analogous art, Sheng discloses projection system includes one or more light devices (150, see [0088] and Figs 14-15B), each of light devices includes a plurality of laser elements (may by a mini light emitting diode (LED) array, or a laser diode array, see [0092])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the primary reference Nicholson such that wherein the first laser device and the second laser device each include a plurality of laser elements configured to emit electromagnetic radiation having different wavelengths corresponding to different colors, respectively, in order to have a flexible ability to adjust light sources intensity.
In regard to claim 6, Nicholson and Sheng disclose the projection system according to claim 5, where- in the laser elements (laser diode array) are configured as edge emitters and a plurality of laser elements are arranged along a first arrangement direction (See Sheng’s Fig 4-5B and [0092]).
In regard to claim 8, Nicholson and Sheng disclose the projection system according to claim 5, herein the first laser device and the second laser each include a plurality of laser elements configured to emit electromagnetic radiation having different wavelengths corresponding to same colors, respectively (See Nicholson See [0054]).
In regard to claim 9, Nicholson and Sheng disclose the projection system according to claim 5, wherein the first laser device and the second laser device, each include a plurality of laser elements configured to emit electromagnetic radiation having same color and different intensity ((See Nicholson See [0054] and Sheng’s Fig 4-5B and [0092]).
In regard to claim 10, Nicholson and Sheng disclose the projection system according to claim 5, wherein the coupling device is configured to superimpose electromagnetic radiation emitted by the first laser device with electromagnetic radiation emitted by the second laser device respectively, the superimposed radiation having the same wavelength (Sheng’s Fig 4-5B and [0092]).
.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nicholson (US Pub. 2020/0249483) and Sheng et al. (US Pub. 2025/0147310) in view of Bates et al. (US Pub. 2022/0279151).
In regard to claim 7, Nicholson and Sheng disclose the projection system according to claim 6, they fail to explicitly disclose wherein further laser elements are arranged along a second arrangement direction perpendicular to the first arrangement direction (e.g. in different directions).
In analogous art, Bates discloses laser elements are arranged along a second arrangement direction perpendicular to the first arrangement direction (e.g. arrange in different directions, see Fig 8A, [0062]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the primary reference Nicholson such that laser elements are arranged along a second arrangement direction perpendicular to the first arrangement direction (e.g. in different directions), in order to have pursued the known potential options with a reasonable expectation of arrangement of laser elements.
Conclusion
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/LIN YE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2638
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