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.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The examiner points out that while features of an apparatus may be recited either structurally or functionally, claims directed to an apparatus must be distinguished from the prior art in terms of structure rather than function. Limitations following "configured to," "adapted for," "designed to," "can be," and "capable of," or are statements of intended use are not positive limitations and thus are not given patentable weight. See MPEP 2111.04 and 2114.
Furthermore, it has been held that the recitation that an element is "adapted to" perform a function is not a positive limitation but only requires the ability to so perform. It does not constitute a limitation in any patentable sense. In re Hutchison, 69 USPQ 138. For purposes of expediting prosecution, the Examiner has addressed all limitations following the phrase "adapted to".
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 1-3, 5-7 and 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kararagyris et al. (US 2019/0090739) in view of Dyer et al. (US 2012/0257163).
Regarding claim 1, Kararagyris discloses, a wearable fundus examination device (Figs. 1, 3, 5 and 8-10) comprising:
a main body (150, 180) adapted to be mounted on a subject (Para. 0055, lines 1-7) and located corresponding to the subject's eyeball (112);
an imaging module (100) mounted on the main body and including electrically interconnected an illumination unit (152), an optical unit (156, 160), an image capture unit (162), and an external light blocking unit (Para. 0055, lines 1-7 and see 150), the illumination unit projecting a first light beam and a second light beam (Para. 0007 and 0076; note, discloses projecting light beams from visible and infrared light sources);
the optical unit (156) guiding the first light beam and the second light beam to a bottom of the subject's eyeball and generating a reflected light beam (Para. 0085);
the image capture unit (162) capturing the reflected light beam from the bottom of the subject's eyeball converged by the optical unit and form a fundus image (Para. 0080 and 0092), and
the external light blocking unit connected to the main body (see Figs. 1, 3, 5), a dark area being formed between the external light blocking unit and the main body (Para. 0054-0055, 0059 and 0069), where the dark area covers the subject's eyeball and blocks all visible light so as to prevent the subject's pupil from constricting due to exposure to visible light (Para. 0054-0055, 0059 and 0069).
Kararagyris does not explicitly disclose the main body adapted to be mounted on a subject's ear.
Dyer teaches, from the same field of endeavor that in a wearable fundus examination device that it would have been desirable to make the main body adapted to be mounted on a subject's ear (702 of Figs. 7A-B and associated text).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the main body adapted to be mounted on a subject's ear as taught by the wearable fundus examination device of Dyer in the wearable fundus examination device of Kararagyris since Dyer teaches it is known to include this feature in a wearable fundus examination device for the purpose of providing a wearable fundus examination device and effectively and efficiently examines a fundus.
Regarding claim 2, Kararagyris in view of Dyer discloses and teaches as set forth above, and Kararagyris further discloses, a transmission unit (see 12, 14, 20, 22), the transmission unit electrically connected to the image capture unit, and transmitting the fundus image from the image capture unit to a multimedia unit through the transmission unit, the multimedia unit including a mobile phone, a tablet, or a computer (Para. 0047, 0145 and 0168).
Regarding claim 3, Kararagyris in view of Dyer discloses and teaches as set forth above, and Kararagyris further discloses, the illumination unit has a first light source and a second light source, the first light source and the second light source project the first light beam and the second light beam respectively (Para. 0007 and 0076; note, discloses projecting light beams from visible and infrared light sources).
Regarding claim 5, Kararagyris in view of Dyer discloses and teaches as set forth above, and Kararagyris further discloses, the first light beam is a visible light, and the second light beam is an invisible light (Para. 0007 and 0076; note, discloses projecting light beams from visible and infrared light sources).
Regarding claim 6, Kararagyris in view of Dyer discloses and teaches as set forth above, and Kararagyris further discloses, the first light beam is an invisible light, and the second light beam is a visible light (Para. 0007 and 0076; note, discloses projecting light beams from visible and infrared light sources).
Regarding claim 7, Kararagyris in view of Dyer discloses and teaches as set forth above, and Kararagyris further discloses, the visible light is a white light (Para. 0002; note, discloses the visible light sources are RGB LEDs), and the invisible light is an infrared light (Para. 0007 and 0076; note, discloses projecting light beams from visible and infrared light sources).
Regarding claim 9, Kararagyris in view of Dyer discloses and teaches as set forth above, and Dyer further teaches, from the same field of endeavor that in a wearable fundus examination device that it would have been desirable to make the main body is be a pair of glasses (702 of Figs. 7A-B), the glasses have a frame assembly (see portion of 700 where 718 is disposed) and a lens assembly (718), the frame assembly positions the main body to the subject's ear (702 of Figs. 7A-B), the lens assembly is located corresponding to the subject's eyeball and provides for the mounting of the imaging module (Para. 0013 and see Figs. 7A-B).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the above mentioned limitations as taught by the wearable fundus examination device of Dyer in the wearable fundus examination device of Kararagyris since Dyer teaches it is known to include this feature in a wearable fundus examination device for the purpose of providing a wearable fundus examination device and effectively and efficiently examines a fundus.
Regarding claim 10, Kararagyris in view of Dyer discloses and teaches as set forth above, and Kararagyris further discloses, the optical unit is a combination of multiple mirrors and lenses (see 156, 160 of Figs. 3 and 5).
Claims 4 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kararagyris et al. (US 2019/0090739) in view of Dyer et al. (US 2012/0257163) as applied to claims 1 and 3 above, and further in view of Rabner (US 2009/0153796).
Kararagyris in view of Dyer remains as applied to claims 1 and 3 above.
Furthermore, Kararagyris discloses, the first light source and the second light source of the illumination unit are either a light-emitting diode or a liquid crystal display device (Para. 0076).
Kararagyris in view of Dyer does not explicitly disclose the first light source and the second light source of the illumination unit is an organic light-emitting diode or a liquid crystal display device.
Rabner teaches, from the same field of endeavor that in a wearable fundus examination device that it would have been desirable to make the first light source and the second light source of the illumination unit is an organic light-emitting diode or a liquid crystal display device (Para. 0016 and 0111).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the first light source and the second light source of the illumination unit is an organic light-emitting diode or a liquid crystal display device as taught by the wearable fundus examination device of Rabner in the combination of Kararagyris in view of Dyer since Rabner teaches it is known to include this feature in a wearable fundus examination device for the purpose of providing a wearable fundus examination device that provides improved image quality.
Regarding claim 8, Kararagyris, Dyer and Rabner discloses and teaches as set forth above, and Kararagyris further discloses, the optical unit is set between the illumination unit and the image capture unit (see Figs. 1, 3 and 5).
Rabner further teaches, from the same field of endeavor that in a wearable fundus examination device that it would have been desirable to make an illumination efficiency is increased by adjusting a distance between the illumination unit and an optical axis and the optical unit (Para. 0042, 0145 and 0147).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the above mentioned limitations as taught by the wearable fundus examination device of Rabner in the combination of Kararagyris in view of Dyer since Rabner teaches it is known to include this feature in a wearable fundus examination device for the purpose of providing a wearable fundus examination device that provides improved image quality.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Wang et al. (US 2012/0274899), Huang et al. (US 2016/0084949) and Tseng (US 2024/0293630) discloses a wearable fundus examination device comprising: a main body, an imaging module, an illumination unit, an optical unit, an image capture unit and an external light blocking unit.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAWAYNE A PINKNEY whose telephone number is (571)270-1305. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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, Pinping Sun can be reached at 571-270-1284. 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.
/DAWAYNE PINKNEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872 08/23/2026
Prosecution Insights