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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The IDS filed on 07/15/2025 has been considered and made of record.
Oath/Declaration
The oath/declaration filed on 10/21/2025 is acceptable.
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.
Claims 1-3, 7-14, 16 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lin et al. [US 2019/0331928].
Regarding claim 1, Lin et al., disclose a head-wearable device (100, figures 1-7), comprising:
a housing (108, figures 1-7) including:
one or more electronics components (figure 1, paragraph 0029), and
a user-facing surface (120, figures 1-4); and
a passive cooling surface cover (122 & 124, figures 1-7) coupled to the user-facing surface of the housing such that, when the head-wearable device is worn, the passive-cooling surface cover contacts a portion of a user's body (122, figures 1-7), wherein the passive cooling surface cover is configured to:
absorb heat generated by the one or more electronics components and transferred to the user-facing contact surface (124, figures 1-7, paragraph 0046); and
evaporate a stored moisture using the heat generated by the one or more electronics components to decrease the temperature of the one or more electronics components and/or the passive cooling surface cover (122, figure 1-7, paragraph 0040).
Regarding claim 2, Lin et al., disclose wherein the passive cooling surface cover is further configured to absorb moisture from an environment and accumulate absorbed moisture with the stored moisture (120/126, figure 1-7, paragraph 0037).
Regarding claim 3, Lin et al., disclose wherein the passive cooling surface cover includes at least two states, wherein the at least two states include a collapsed state (figure 3B) and a swollen state (figure 3A).
Regarding claim 7, Lin et al., disclose wherein the passive cooling surface cover is disposed over one or more predetermined portions of the user-facing surface (122, figures 1-7), the one or more predetermined portions of the user-facing surface corresponding to placement of one or more heat-dissipating components (124, figures 1-7).
Regarding claim 8, Lin et al., disclose wherein the passive cooling surface cover includes one or more layers including a cooling material layer and an adhesive layer (126, figures 1-7).
Regarding claim 9, Lin et al., disclose wherein the adhesive layer is configured to couple with the user-facing surface and has a predetermined thermal conductivity (figures 6-7, paragraph 0056).
Regarding claim 10, Lin et al., disclose wherein the cooling material layer includes a plurality of sublayers (122 & 124, figures 1-7).
Regarding claim 11, Lin et al., disclose wherein the one or more layers includes a moisture-wicking layer, the cooling material layer disposed between the thermal interface layer and the moisture-wicking layer, wherein the moisture-wicking layer is configured to contact the portion of the user's body (paragraphs 0008-0010).
Regarding claim 12, Lin et al., disclose wherein the passive cooling surface cover includes: a device coupling portion (116, figures 1-7) configured to couple to the user-facing surface of the housing; a user coupling portion (124, figures 1-7) configured to contact the portion of the user's body; and a ventilation portion (118, figures 1-7) configured to be exposed to an open environment.
Regarding claim 13, Lin et al., further disclose wherein the user coupling portion and/or the ventilation portion are non-smooth or non-continuous surfaces with different topological or micro-structures (106, figures 1-2; 302, figures 3A-3B).
Regarding claim 14, Lin et al., further disclose wherein the passive cooling surface cover is detachable from the housing or permanently affixed to the housing (paragraph 0024).
Regarding claim 16, Lin et al., disclose a non-transitory computer readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by a computing device including one or more processors (figures 1-7, paragraph 0005), cause the computing device to:
generate, by one or more electronics components (figure 1, paragraph 0029), heat;
transfer the heat to a user-facing contact surface (120, figures 1-4);
absorb, at a passive cooling surface cover (122 & 124, figures 1-7), the heat generated by the one or more electronics components and transferred to the user-facing contact surface, wherein the passive cooling surface cover is coupled to the user-facing surface of a housing of a head wearable device such that, when the head-wearable device is worn, the passive-cooling surface cover contacts a portion of a user's body; and
evaporate a stored moisture using the heat generated by the one or more electronics components to decrease the temperature of the one or more electronics components and/or the passive cooling surface cover (122, figure 1-7, paragraph 0040).
Regarding claim 20, Lin et al., disclose a method, comprising:
providing a housing (108, figures 1-7) including one or more electronic components (figure 1, paragraph 0029) and a user-facing surface (120, figures 1-4), the one or more electronic components generating heat and transferring the heat to the user-facing surface;
provide a passive cooling surface cover (122 & 124, figures 1-7) coupled to the user-facing surface of the housing such that, when the housing is worn, the passive-cooling surface cover contracts a portion of a user's body (122, figures 1-7);
absorbing the heat by the passive cooling surface cover (124, figures 1-7, paragraph 0046); and
evaporating a stored moisture using the heat generated by the one or more electronics components to decrease the temperature of the one or more electronics components and/or the passive cooling surface cover (122, figure 1-7, paragraph 0040).
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 should not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 4-5 and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin et al., in view of Osterhout et al. [US 2020/0249733].
Regarding claims 4 and 17, Lin et al., disclose the claimed invention except for wherein the passive cooling surface cover includes one or more sensors, the one or more sensors including one or more of a temperature sensor, a moisture sensor, and a chemical sensor.
Osterhout et al., disclose a head-wearable device (102, figures 1-10) comprising a passive cooling surface cover (figures 3A-3B and 10) includes one or more sensors (paragraphs 0022-0026), the one or more sensors including one or more of a temperature sensor (paragraph 0025), a moisture sensor, and a chemical sensor.
It would have been to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to add temperature sensors in a passive cooling surface cover of a head-wearable device of Lin et al., as suggested by Osterhout et al., to observe skin temperature and control active cooling in real time.
Regarding claims 5 and 18, Lin et al., disclose the claimed invention except for wherein the one or more electronics components includes one or more processors configured to execute one or more programs stored in memory communicatively coupled with the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for: monitoring sensor data provided by the one or more sensors; and in accordance with a determination that the sensor data indicates that thermal management criteria are not satisfied, adjusting performance of at least one electronics component of the one or more electronics components.
Osterhout et al., further disclose wherein the one or more electronics components includes one or more processors (paragraphs 0025-0026) configured to execute one or more programs stored in memory communicatively coupled with the one or more processors (figures 3A-3C and 10; paragraphs 0049-0050), the one or more programs including instructions for monitoring sensor data provided by the one or more sensors (paragraphs 0025-0026); and in accordance with a determination that the sensor data indicates that thermal management criteria (paragraphs 0048 and 0050) are not satisfied, adjusting performance of at least one electronics component of the one or more electronics components.
It would have been to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to add a thermal management in a head-wearable device of Lin et al., as suggested by Osterhout et al., to prevent overheating in a head-wearable device.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin et al., in view of Wang et al. [US 11,402,644].
Regarding claim 15, Lin et al., disclose the claimed invention except for wherein the housing includes an exposed surface opposite the user-facing surface, and the head-wearable device comprises an additional passive cooling surface cover coupled to the exposed surface.
Wang et al., disclose a head-wearable device (10, figures 1-13) comprising a housing (200, figures 1-5) including an exposed surface opposite the user-facing surface, and the head-wearable device comprises an additional passive cooling surface cover (100, figure 5) coupled to the exposed surface.
It would have been to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to add additional passive cooling surface cover coupled to an exposed surface of a head-wearable device of Lin et al., as suggested by Wang et al., in order to dissipate more heat from a housing component.
Claims 6 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin et al., in view of Osterhout et al., as applied to claims 5 and 18 above, and further in view of Lee et al. [US 2018/0167878].
Regarding claims 6 and 19, Lin et al., in view of Osterhout et al., disclose the claimed invention except for wherein the thermal management criteria include one or more of a head-wearable device thermal threshold, passive cooling surface cover thermal threshold, a passive cooling surface cover volume threshold, an electronics components specific thermal threshold, and a user skin temperature threshold.
Lee et al., disclose a head-wearable device (200, figures 1-10) comprising a thermal management (118, figure 1, paragraph 0032) therein, wherein the thermal management criteria include one or more of a head-wearable device thermal threshold, passive cooling surface cover thermal threshold, a passive cooling surface cover volume threshold, an electronics components specific thermal threshold, and a user skin temperature threshold (paragraphs 0034 and 0040).
It would have been to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to use a thermal management including a user skin temperature threshold in a head-wearable device of Lin et al., in view of Osterhout et al., as suggested by Lee et al., in order to determine human thermal sensation from a head-wearable device.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Jo [US 11,733,526] discloses head-mountable device with convertible light seal element; and
Jackson et al. [US 2020/0093362] disclose method and apparatus for guiding a test subject through an ophthalmic test.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Hung S. Bui whose telephone number is (571)272-2102. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F: 8am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Allen L. Parker can be reached on (303) 297-4722. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/HUNG S. BUI/Primary Patent Examiner, 2841/2800
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