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
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.
Claims 1-2, 5-6, 9, 11-12 and 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lien et al. (US 2021/0096373).
As to claim 1, Lien discloses in figures 1 and 21: a substrate layer 21; a plurality of light-guiding microstructures 1022 disposed on the substrate layer, wherein each of the light-guiding microstructures has at least one inclined surface, an included angle between the inclined surface and the substrate layer defines a first angle, and the light-guiding microstructures are arranged along a direction defined by a first axis and along a direction defined by a second axis (X and Y axis in figure 21); and a plurality of reflective layers 1020 disposed on the light-guiding microstructures, wherein an included angle between one side of an orthographic projection of each of the light-guiding microstructures on the substrate layer and the first axis defines a second angle, and the second angle is variable and ranges from -35° to +35° (figure 21, orientation direction of microstructures 1022 form a variable angle with the Y axis).
As to claim 2, Lien discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1. Lien further discloses in figure 21, wherein the second angle is gradually varying.
As to claim 5, Lien discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1. Lien further discloses in figure 11A, wherein the first angle is variable and ranges from -50° to +50°.
As to claim 6, Lien discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 5. Lien further discloses in figure 11A, wherein the first angle is gradually varying.
As to claim 9, Lien discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1. Lien further discloses in figure 21, wherein the light-guiding microstructures are correspondingly arranged along the direction defined by the first axis and along the direction defined by the second axis.
As to claim 11, Lien discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1. Lien further discloses in figure 1, wherein in a cross-sectional view, each of the light-guiding microstructures 1022 is a geometric shape that comprises at least one inclined surface.
As to claim 12, Lien discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 11. Lien further discloses in figure 1, wherein each of the reflective layers 1020 is disposed on the at least one inclined surface.
As to claim 16, Lien discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1. Lien further discloses in paragraph [0063], wherein the light-guiding microstructures 1022 comprise glass.
As to claim 17, Lien discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1. Lien further discloses in paragraph [0035], wherein the reflective layers 1020 may comprise a metal oxide such as titanium dioxide, zirconium dioxide or silicon dioxide.
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 10 and 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lien et al. (US 2021/0096373).
As to claim 10, Lien discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1, but does not disclose wherein the light-guiding microstructures are alternately arranged along the direction defined by the first axis and along the direction defined by the second axis. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Lien wherein the light-guiding microstructures are alternately arranged along the direction defined by the first axis and along the direction defined by the second axis, because the arrangement of the light-guiding microstructures was a matter of design choice.
As to claim 13, Lien discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1, but does not disclose wherein each of the light-guiding microstructures has a scattering surface, or the transparent projection film structure further comprises a plurality of scattering particles disposed on the reflective layers. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Lien wherein each of the light-guiding microstructures has a scattering surface, or the transparent projection film structure further comprises a plurality of scattering particles disposed on the reflective layers, in order to obtain improved light distribution.
As to claim 14-15, Lien discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claim 1, but does not disclose wherein each of the light-guiding microstructures has a height ranging from 5 micrometers to 10 micrometers and a width ranging from 5 micrometers to 20 micrometers. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Lien wherein each of the light-guiding microstructures has a height ranging from 5 micrometers to 10 micrometers and a width ranging from 5 micrometers to 20 micrometers, in order to ensure sufficient display resolution for the head mounted display.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-4 and 7-8 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: none of the prior art taught or fairly suggested a transparent projection film comprising the combination required by claim 3, wherein the second angle is equal to arctan((distance between each of the light-guiding microstructures and an image center of the transparent projection film structure ± Dy)/(distance between a user and the transparent projection film structure)), where Dy is a distance between adjacent two of the light-guiding microstructures in the direction defined by the second axis. Claim 4 is objected to by virtue of its dependency.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: none of the prior art taught or fairly suggested a transparent projection film comprising the combination required by claim 7, wherein the first angle is equal to arctan((distance between each of the light-guiding microstructures and an image center of the transparent projection film structure ± Dx)/(distance between a user and the transparent projection film structure)), where Dx is a distance between adjacent two of the light-guiding microstructures in the direction defined by the first axis. Claim 8 is objected to by virtue of its dependency.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to David Chung whose telephone number is (571)272-2288. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:30 am - 5:00 pm.
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/DAVID Y CHUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871
