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) 1-4 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Gruben (US 10609486 B1, hereinafter “Gruben”).
Regarding claim 1, Gruben teaches a headset comprising: an ear cap connected to both ends of the head band and the head band through a connection unit; (see [0050]-[0056]: earpieces 102 which are connected to a second headband 602 through rotatable members 104 located at both distal ends of the second headband 602)
a display unit mounted on a display band connected from the connection unit; and the display band is rotatable from a first position where the display unit overlaps with the head band around the connection unit to a second position where the display band is positioned in front of a user's eye. (see [0054]-[0057], Fig. 6a-6c: a display mechanism 106 which is mounted on a first head band 601 extending from the rotatable members 104, wherein the second headband 601 is rotatable about the rotatable members 104 as an axis from a first position where the display mechanism 106 overlaps the second head band 602 to a second position where the display mechanism is positioned in front of the eyes of a user)
Regarding claim 2, Gruben teaches the connection unit comprises a click module, and the rotation is semi-automatically performed by pressing a button of the click module positioned at the connection unit. (see [0046]: actuator or button positioned where pressing the button positioned on the rotatable member 105)
Regarding claim 3, Gruben teaches the connection unit further comprises mainspring, and the rotation is by using a force that rotates by unwinding the mainspring. (see [0046]: connection unit, locking mechanisms using a spring to perform functionalities which include using a rotating force by unwinding the spring)
Regarding claim 4, Gruben teaches the display band is manually driven from the second position to the first position. (see [0048]: headband 101 which rotates about an axis of the left earpiece 104 from either the headphone position or a VE position)
Regarding claim 12, Gruben teaches a display unit, the headset comprising: an ear cap connected to both ends of a head band and the head band through a connection unit; (see [0056]-[0061]: a second headband 602 and earpieces 102 which are connected to both distal ends of the headband 602)
and a display unit mounted on a display band connected to the connection unit, wherein when a user wants to view an image through the display unit, when a button positioned at the connection unit is pressed, the display band rotates from a first position where the display unit overlaps with the head band along the connection unit to a second position where the display unit is positioned in front of a user's eye. (see [0056]-[0061]: rotatable members 104 which are located on the surfaces of the earpieces 102; and a display mechanism 106 which is mounted on a first head band 601 extending from the rotatable members 104, wherein when the rotatable members 104 are rotated, the second headband 601 is rotatable from a first position where the display mechanism 106 overlaps the second head band 602 to a second position where the display mechanism is positioned in front of the eyes of a user)
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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gruben (US 10609486 B1, hereinafter “Gruben”) in view of Manda (JP 6052755 B1, hereinafter “Manda”).
Regarding claim 5, Gruben does not explicitly teach the connection unit includes at least one of an axis extending in a third direction vertically to the button from the center of the button; a pinion gear mounted at one end of the extended axis; a mainspring mounted together at the extended axis adjacent to the pinion gear; and a spring provided in the third direction to be compressed along the axis between the button and the pinion gear.
However, Manda teaches the connection unit includes at least one of an axis extending in a third direction vertically to the button from the center of the button; a pinion gear mounted at one end of the extended axis; a mainspring mounted together at the extended axis adjacent to the pinion gear; and a spring provided in the third direction to be compressed along the axis between the button and the pinion gear. (see [0036]-[0042]: a release button 38H is mounted on one end of a second regulation cam 57 so that the release button 38 is used to implement a release operation of pressing down the second regulation cam 57; a moving cam 56, to which a downward force is applied through a first regulation cam 55 by a pressing force from a first coil spring 54, resists an upward pressing force from the second coil spring 58 and presses down the second regulation cam 57 to the lower side so as to be decoupled from the second regulation cam 57 and to rotate in the rotation direction C1 independently of the second regulation cam 57 so that saw-toothed engagement teeth 56a formed on the lower surface of the moving cam 56 are decoupled from saw-toothed engagement teeth 57a formed on the upper surface of the second regulation cam 57 and pass over the engagement teeth 57a, whereby the moving cam 56 decoupled from the second regulation cam 57 rotates in the rotation direction C1; and the torque generated in the torsional coil spring 59 is released in a closed state in fig. 10, and a pressing force acting in a direction opposite to the torque is used to rotate a movable support member 40 in a rotation direction (C2; an opening direction) and to implement an open state)
Gruben and Manda are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because both are in the field of a device having a display unit with supporting elements to mount the display to the device. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have chosen to apply the broad teachings of a connection using the mechanics of a pinion gear and spring from Manda to Gruben in order to safely and efficiently mount the display unit to the device and operate using the well-known mechanics of a pinion gear and spring.
Regarding claim 6, Gruben does not explicitly teach the connection unit further comprises a reduction unit that decelerates when the display band approaches the second position after the rotation starts, and the reduction unit is engaged with the pinion gear.
However, official notice is taken that it is well-known in the art that a reduction unit is implemented which decelerates when the display band and therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill to have included a reduction unit since it is just one of the many well-known ways that a designer can use to safely and smoothly operate the display unit for the user’s safety.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gruben (US 10609486 B1, hereinafter “Gruben”).
Regarding claim 7, Gruben does not explicitly teach the rotation is performed according that the display band extends away from the head of the user.
However, it would have been obvious that the designer/a person of ordinary skill could have chosen such arrangement for the rotation to be performed according that the display band extends away from the head of the user based on the users' needs/preferences and no unexpected result is produced.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-11 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANNABELLE KANG whose telephone number is (571)270-3403. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 8:00-5:00.
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, Vivian Chin can be reached at 571-272-7848. 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.
/ANNABELLE KANG/Examiner, Art Unit 2695
/VIVIAN C CHIN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2695
Prosecution Insights