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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 2/19/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
REQUIREMENT FOR UNITY OF INVENTION
As provided in 37 CFR 1.475(a), a national stage application shall relate to one invention only or to a group of inventions so linked as to form a single general inventive concept (“requirement of unity of invention”). Where a group of inventions is claimed in a national stage application, the requirement of unity of invention shall be fulfilled only when there is a technical relationship among those inventions involving one or more of the same or corresponding special technical features. The expression “special technical features” shall mean those technical features that define a contribution which each of the claimed inventions, considered as a whole, makes over the prior art.
The determination whether a group of inventions is so linked as to form a single general inventive concept shall be made without regard to whether the inventions are claimed in separate claims or as alternatives within a single claim. See 37 CFR 1.475(e).
When Claims Are Directed to Multiple Categories of Inventions:
As provided in 37 CFR 1.475 (b), a national stage application containing claims to different categories of invention will be considered to have unity of invention if the claims are drawn only to one of the following combinations of categories:
(1) A product and a process specially adapted for the manufacture of said product; or
(2) A product and a process of use of said product; or
(3) A product, a process specially adapted for the manufacture of the said product, and a use of the said product; or
(4) A process and an apparatus or means specifically designed for carrying out the said process; or
(5) A product, a process specially adapted for the manufacture of the said product, and an apparatus or means specifically designed for carrying out the said process.
Otherwise, unity of invention might not be present. See 37 CFR 1.475 (c).
Restriction is required under 35 U.S.C. 121 and 372.
This application contains the following inventions or groups of inventions which are not so linked as to form a single general inventive concept under PCT Rule 13.1.
In accordance with 37 CFR 1.499, applicant is required, in reply to this action, to elect a single invention to which the claims must be restricted.
Group 1, claim(s) 68-80, drawn to a substrate for.
The special technical features of Group 1 include at least second input waveguides; optical processing module transforms the focused light into phase shifted light.
Group 2, claim(s) 81-92, drawn to a substrate for.
The special technical features of Group 2 include couplers; wherein the optical processing module transforms the phase shifted light into focused light; a plurality of output waveguides captures an in-focused light; a plurality of detectors
The groups of inventions listed above do not relate to a single general inventive concept under PCT Rule 13.1 because, under PCT Rule 13.2, they lack the same or corresponding special technical features for the following reasons:
Groups 1 and 2 lack unity of invention because even though the inventions of these groups require the technical feature of a mounted substrate to capture a scene having (i) a plurality of first couplers that capture incident light on the substrate from the scene; (ii) a plurality of input waveguides receives the incident light, wherein each of the plurality of the first couplers guide the light into one of the plurality of input waveguides; (iii) a plurality of first optical phase shifter elements shift the phase of the light to produce phase shifted light; wherein the phase shift compensates for the variation in light path length from a point on the object or the scene to the plurality of the first couplers and through the first waveguides; (iv) an optical processing module having input waveguides, output waveguides (v) a plurality of output waveguides captures an in focused light; and (Vi) a plurality of detectors captures the focused light to form an image, this technical feature is not a special technical feature as it does not make a contribution over the prior art in view of Nicolaescu (US 2019/0391243 A1).
Nicolaescu discloses a mounted substrate to capture a scene having (i) a plurality of first couplers that capture incident light on the substrate from the scene (cell has grating coupler that receive optical signals; [0117]); (ii) a plurality of input waveguides receives the incident light, wherein each of the plurality of the first couplers guide the light into one of the plurality of input waveguides (input ports waveguides; [0117]); (iii) a plurality of first optical phase shifter elements shift the phase of the light to produce phase shifted light; wherein the phase shift compensates for the variation in light path length from a point on the object or the scene to the plurality of the first couplers and through the first waveguides (detection modules includes modulator containing a phase shifter to adjust input signal; [0148]); (iv) an optical processing module having input waveguides, output waveguides (the cell contains input and output waveguide and is an optical processor as part of a detection module for creating a 3D image; [0117] & [0148]);(v) a plurality of output waveguides captures an in focused light (waveguides guide optical signal through the detection module; [0117-0118]); and (vi) a plurality of detectors captures the focused light to form an image (detectors create a 3D image; [0004] & [0117]).
Since the common technical features are previously disclosed by the Nicolaescu reference, these common features are not special and so Groups I-II lack unity.
A telephone call was made to Mr. Brain Rupp on September 18, 2026 to request an oral election to the above restriction requirement, but did not result in an election being made. During a email correspondence from Mr. Brain Rupp on September a provisional election was made without traverse to prosecute the invention of Group 1, claims 68-80. Affirmation of this election must be made by applicant in replying to this Office action. Claims 81-92 are withdrawn from further consideration by the examiner, 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a non-elected invention.
Applicant is advised that the reply to this requirement to be complete must include (i) an election of a species or invention to be examined even though the requirement may be traversed (37 CFR 1.143) and (ii) identification of the claims encompassing the elected invention.
The election of an invention or species may be made with or without traverse. To preserve a right to petition, the election must be made with traverse. If the reply does not distinctly and specifically point out supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election shall be treated as an election without traverse. Traversal must be presented at the time of election in order to be considered timely. Failure to timely traverse the requirement will result in the loss of right to petition under 37 CFR 1.144. If claims are added after the election, applicant must indicate which of these claims are readable on the elected invention or species.
Should applicant traverse on the ground that the inventions have unity of invention (37 CFR 1.475(a)), applicant must provide reasons in support thereof. Applicant may submit evidence or identify such evidence now of record showing the inventions to be obvious variants or clearly admit on the record that this is the case. Where such evidence or admission is provided by applicant, if the examiner finds one of the inventions unpatentable over the prior art, the evidence or admission may be used in a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) of the other invention.
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I (claims 68-80) in the reply filed on 9/21/2026 is acknowledged.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 68 and 73-75 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Uhlendorf et. al. (United States Patent Application Publication US 2024/0333890 A1) in view of Nicolaescu (United States Patent Application Publication US 2019/0391243 A1).
Regarding claim 68, Uhlendorf et. al. discloses a substrate for projecting an image on a target plane, the substrate comprising (Uhlendorf et. al. Abstract: the image projection system includes an illumination source, a linear polarizer, and an eyepiece waveguide including a plurality of diffractive in-coupling optical elements. [0005]: methods and systems related to projection display systems including wearable displays. [0006]: The image projection system includes an illumination source, a linear polarizer, and an eyepiece waveguide including a plurality of diffractive in-coupling optical elements.): a plurality of light sources configured to generate image light, wherein the image light generated by each respective light source corresponds to a respective point in the image (Uhlendorf et. al. [0008]: The method includes generating illumination light, transmitting the illumination light through an eyepiece waveguide, and propagating the illumination light through a polarizing beamsplitter.); a plurality of input waveguides, each respective input waveguide configured to receive the image light from a respective light source (Uhlendorf et. al. [0008]: the method further includes reflecting the encoded light from the reflective structure and coupling the encoded light into the eyepiece waveguide.).
However, Uhlendorf et. al. fails to disclose a plurality of output waveguides; an optical processing module optically coupled to the plurality of input waveguides and the plurality of output waveguides, wherein the optical processing module is configured to transform the image light received by the plurality of input waveguides into output light at the plurality of output waveguides; a plurality of phase shifters, each respective phase shifter optically coupled to a respective output waveguide and configured to apply a respective phase shift to the output light received by the respective output waveguide; and a plurality of couplers spatially arranged as an array of couplers, each respective coupler optically coupled to a respective output waveguide, wherein the respective phase shift applied to the output light received by the respective output waveguide is a function of a respective distance of the corresponding coupler from a reference point of the array of couplers, and wherein the plurality of couplers projects the output light, after being phase shifted by the plurality of phase shifters, to form the image on the target plane.
Nicolaescu teaches a plurality of output waveguides; an optical processing module optically coupled to the plurality of input waveguides and the plurality of output waveguides, wherein the optical processing module is configured to transform the image light received by the plurality of input waveguides into output light at the plurality of output waveguides (Nicolaescu [0103]: the signal can be coupled into the PIC through a grating coupler and can be guided to an array of 1x2 multimode interference (MMI) waveguides which split the input signal into a plurality of signals travelling in multiple waveguides. The signal in each of the waveguides which collect the output of the MMI can be split into a first and a second optical signal travelling in waveguides 206 and 207. [0117]: The second signal can be guided through waveguide to the input of the 1x2 MMI coupler and split equally by the coupler. The 2x2 MMI coupler serves to mix the scattered from the target first signal and the second signal into the two output waveguides of the 2x2 MMI coupler.); a plurality of phase shifters, each respective phase shifter optically coupled to a respective output waveguide and configured to apply a respective phase shift to the output light received by the respective output waveguide (Nicolaescu [0167]: The second optical signal can be directed from the distribution tree and to phase shifters on each waveguide and then further to the array of optical antennas which can radiate the light orthogonal to the surface of the array in the direction of the target.); and a plurality of couplers spatially arranged as an array of couplers, each respective coupler optically coupled to a respective output waveguide, wherein the respective phase shift applied to the output light received by the respective output waveguide is a function of a respective distance of the corresponding coupler from a reference point of the array of couplers, and wherein the plurality of couplers projects the output light, after being phase shifted by the plurality of phase shifters, to form the image on the target plane (Nicolaescu [0167]: the signal from the optical signal generation source can be coupled through coupler 3601 in the plane of the chip and in the star coupler and waveguides.).
This substrate that enables projection is important to the claimed invention because it enables imaging of a virtual environment directly into a user’s eye in a compact manner. Thus, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have combined the teachings of Uhlendorf et. al. and Nicolaescu so that the substrate for projecting an image is equipped with the features of Nicolaescu to arrive at the solution of the claimed invention.
Regarding claim 73, Nicolaescu further discloses the substrate of claim 68, wherein the plurality of couplers, the plurality of input waveguides, the plurality of phase shifters, the plurality of output waveguides, and the optical processing module are formed on a planar surface of the substrate (Nicolaescu [0011]: the method can also include coupling the light beam to a planar waveguide and diving the light beam into a first portion and a second portion. The method can also include providing a phase shift of the combined light beam, such as to adjust a phase of the frequency chirped light beam. Fig. 18: photonic integrated circuit, Fig. 36 example system).
Regarding claim 74, Nicolaescu further discloses the substrate of claim 73, wherein the substrate is an integrated photonic chip (Nicolaescu [0142]: a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) can be integrated with the chip).
Regarding claim 75, Nicolaescu further discloses the substrate of claim 73, wherein the plurality of detectors is butt- coupled next to the planar surface of the substrate (Nicolaescu [0008]: The distributed elements are linked to the central element through fiber optic and electrical connections).
Regarding claim 79, Nicolaescu further discloses the substrate of claim 76, wherein the optical processing module comprises internal waveguides, internal phase shifters, and internal beamsplitters ([0031]: The semiconductor photonic circuit can also include one or more beam splitters that can be configured to split the light beam into N light beams. The semiconductor photonic circuit can also include a plurality of evanescent vertical couplers where each coupler can be configured to couple the light beam to a vertically adjacent waveguide layer. [0034]: The semiconductor photonic circuit can also include a plurality of phase shifters, wherein an individual one of the plurality of phase shifters can be configured to adjust a phase of a corresponding frequency chirped light beam prior to recombination.).
Regarding claim 80, Nicolaescu further discloses the substrate of claim 76, wherein the optical processing module comprises internal multimode interference devices (Nicolaescu [0103]: the signal can be coupled into the PIC through a grating coupler and can be guided to an array of 1x2 multimode interference (MMI) waveguides which split the input signal into a plurality of signals travelling in multiple waveguides.).
Claim(s) 69, 72 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Uhlendorf et. al. (United States Patent Application Publication US 2024/0333890 A1) in view of Nicolaescu (United States Patent Application Publication US 2019/0391243 A1) as applied to claim 68 above, and further in view of Gothoskar et. al. (United States Patent Application Publication US 2005/0189591 A1).
Regarding claim 69, Uhlendorf et. al. and Nicolaescu disclose the substrate of claim 68. However, Uhlendorf et. al. and Nicolaescu fail to disclose wherein the respective phase shift applied to the output light received by the respective output waveguide is further a function of a distance between the array of couplers and the target plane.
Gothoskar et. al. teaches wherein the respective phase shift applied to the output light received by the respective output waveguide is further a function of a distance between the array of couplers and the target plane (Gothoskar et. al. [0027]-[0028]).
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This is important to the claimed invention because this equation for the phase shift precisely quantifies the horizontal displacement of a wave and allows for greater control of the behavior of the output light. Thus, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have combined the teachings of Uhlendorf et. al., Nicolaescu and Gothoskar et. al. so that the phase shift equation is defined.
Regarding claim 72, Uhlendorf et. al. and Nicolaescu disclose the substrate of claim 68. However, Uhlendorf et. al. and Nicolaescu fail to disclose wherein the respective phase shift applied to the incident light received by the respective input waveguide is a non-quadratic function of the respective distance of the corresponding coupler from the reference point of the array of couplers, wherein the non-quadratic function counteracts aberrations and distortions.
Gothoskar et. al. teaches wherein the respective phase shift applied to the incident light received by the respective input waveguide is a non-quadratic function of the respective distance of the corresponding coupler from the reference point of the array of couplers, wherein the non-quadratic function counteracts aberrations and distortions (Gothoskar et. al. [0027]-[0028]).
This is important to the claimed invention because this equation for the phase shift precisely quantifies the horizontal displacement of a wave and allows for greater control of the behavior of the output light. Thus, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have combined the teachings of Uhlendorf et. al., Nicolaescu and Gothoskar et. al. so that the phase shift equation is defined.
Claim(s) 76-80 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Uhlendorf et. al. (United States Patent Application Publication US 2024/0333890 A1) in view of Nicolaescu (United States Patent Application Publication US 2019/0391243 A1) as applied to claim 68 above, and further in view of Mendlovic et. al. (United States Patent Application Publication US 2005/0149598 A1).
Regarding claim 76, Uhlendorf et. al. and Nicolaescu disclose the substrate of claim 68. However, Uhlendorf et. al. and Nicolaescu fail to disclose wherein the optical processing module performs a discrete Fourier transform on the image light received by the plurality of input waveguides.
Mendlovic et. al. teaches wherein the optical processing module performs a discrete Fourier transform on the image light received by the plurality of input waveguides (Mendlovic et. al. Abstract, [0023]: a method of performing a DFT (discrete Fourier transform) or a DFT derived transform on data).
This is important to the claimed invention because the DFT provides a direct mathematical link between the spatial domain and the frequency domain. Thus, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have combined the teachings of Uhlendorf et. al., Nicolaescu and Mendlovic et. al. so that the DFT is included as part of the solution of the claimed invention.
Regarding claim 77, Mendlovic et. al. further discloses the substrate of claim 76, wherein the Fourier transform is a one-dimensional Fourier transform (Mendlovic et. al. Abstract, [0023]). Here, in its standard form, the DFT is defined for a one-dimensional finite sequence for optical processing.
Regarding claim 78, Mendlovic et. al. further discloses the substrate of claim 76, wherein the Fourier transform is a two- dimensional Fourier transform (Mendlovic et. al. Abstract, [0023]). Here, the DFT can be generalized to higher dimensions and is well known and obvious in the art.
Regarding claim 79, Nicolaescu further discloses the substrate of claim 76, wherein the optical processing module comprises internal waveguides, internal phase shifters, and internal beamsplitters ([0031]: The semiconductor photonic circuit can also include one or more beam splitters that can be configured to split the light beam into N light beams. The semiconductor photonic circuit can also include a plurality of evanescent vertical couplers where each coupler can be configured to couple the light beam to a vertically adjacent waveguide layer. [0034]: The semiconductor photonic circuit can also include a plurality of phase shifters, wherein an individual one of the plurality of phase shifters can be configured to adjust a phase of a corresponding frequency chirped light beam prior to recombination.).
Regarding claim 80, Nicolaescu further discloses the substrate of claim 76, wherein the optical processing module comprises internal multimode interference devices (Nicolaescu [0103]: the signal can be coupled into the PIC through a grating coupler and can be guided to an array of 1x2 multimode interference (MMI) waveguides which split the input signal into a plurality of signals travelling in multiple waveguides.).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 70-71 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.
No prior art was found to disclose a phase shift applied as a quadratic function.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JESSICA YIFANG LIN whose telephone number is (571)272-6435. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:00am-6:15pm, with optional day off.
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/JESSICA YIFANG LIN/Examiner, Art Unit 2668 September 28, 2026
/ANAND P BHATNAGAR/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2668
September 29, 2026
