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 .
Response to Amendment
The amendments, filed 7/7/2026, have been entered and made of record. Claims 1, 10, 13 and 14 have been amended. Claims 1-20 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments in the Remarks filed on 7/7/2026 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
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.
Meursing in view of Bedard
Claims 1-7, 9 and 12-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Meursing et al.(USPubN 2024/0061252; hereinafter Meursing) in view of Bedard et al.(USPN 11,301,036; hereinafter Bedard).
Ljunggren et al.(USPubN 2020/0386990; hereinafter Ljunggren) .
As per claim 1, Meursing teaches a head mounted device comprising: a housing; a display disposed inside the housing(“head-mounted devices such as electronic device 10 may have head-mounted support structures such as housing 12. Housing 12 may include portions (e.g., support structures 12T) to allow device 10 to be worn on a user's head. Support structures 12T may be formed from fabric, polymer, metal, and/or other material. Support structures 12T may form a strap or other head-mounted support structures to help support device 10 on a user's head. A main support structure (e.g., main housing portion 12M) of housing 12 may support electronic components such as displays 14. Main housing portion 12M may include housing structures formed from metal, polymer, glass, ceramic, and/or other material. For example, housing portion 12M may have housing walls on front face F and housing walls on adjacent top, bottom, left, and right side faces that are formed from rigid polymer or other rigid support structures and these rigid walls may optionally be covered with electrical components, fabric, leather, or other soft materials, etc. The walls of housing portion 12M may enclose internal components 38 in interior region 34 of device 10 and may separate interior region 34 from the environment surrounding device 10 (exterior region 36). Internal components 38 may include integrated circuits, actuators, batteries, sensors, and/or other circuits and structures for device 10.” In Para.[0017]);
at least one lens including a front side and a rear side opposite the front side, the at least one lens being configured so that a user wearing the head mounted device is able to see the display through the at least one lens(“Device 10 may have left and right optical modules 40. Each optical module may include a respective display 14, lens 30, and support structure 32. Support structures 32, which may sometimes be referred to as lens barrels or optical module support structures, may include hollow cylindrical structures with open ends or other supporting structures to house displays 14 and lenses 30. Support structures 32 may, for example, include a left lens barrel that supports a left display 14 and left lens 30 and a right lens barrel that supports a right display 14 and right lens 30” in Para.[0019], “Lenses 30 may include one or more lens elements for providing image light from displays 14 to respective eyes boxes 13. Lenses may be implemented using refractive glass lens elements, using mirror lens structures (catadioptric lenses), using Fresnel lenses, using holographic lenses, and/or other lens systems” in Para.[0021], Lens 30 has front side and rear side and eye box 13 is located in a rear side of lens 30 so a user is able to see the display 14 through the lens 30.);
a light emitting unit comprising light emitting circuitry disposed to the front side of the at least one lens and configured to emit light,; a camera disposed to the front side of the at least one lens and configured to obtain an image of at least part of an eyeball of the user; and configured so that the eyeball of the user is positioned to the rear side of at least one lens, when the user wears the head mounted device(“Displays 14 may include arrays of pixels or other display devices to produce images. Displays 14 may, for example, include organic light-emitting diode pixels formed on substrates with thin-film circuitry and/or formed on semiconductor substrates, pixels formed from crystalline semiconductor dies, liquid crystal display pixels, scanning display devices, and/or other display devices for producing images.” in Para.[0020], “monitor the user's eyes while the user's eyes are located in eye boxes 13. For example, it may be desirable to use a camera to capture images of the user's irises (or other portions of the user's eyes) for user authentication. It may also be desirable to monitor the direction of the user's gaze. Gaze tracking information may be used as a form of user input and/or may be used to determine where, within an image, image content resolution should be locally enhanced in a foveated imaging system. To ensure that device 10 can capture satisfactory eye images while a user's eyes are located in eye boxes 13, each optical module 40 may be provided with a camera such as camera 42 and one or more light sources such as light-emitting diodes 44 (e.g., lasers, lamps, etc.). Multiple cameras 42 may be provided in each optical module 40, if desired” in Para.[0023], “Cameras 42 and light-emitting diodes 44 may operate at any suitable wavelengths (visible, infrared, and/or ultraviolet). With an illustrative configuration, which may sometimes be described herein as an example, diodes 44 emit infrared light that is invisible (or nearly invisible) to the user. This allows eye monitoring operations to be performed continuously without interfering with the user's ability to view images on displays 14” in Para.[0024], The camera 44 is located the front side of the lens 30 and the eye box 13 is positioned to the rear side of the lens 30. );
wherein the head mounted device is configured so that the light emitted from the light emitting unit is refracted facing the eyeball of the user when the user wears the head mounted device(“It is possible that light from light-emitting diodes 44 can exhibit undesired reflections from the surface of lens 30 facing display 14. For example, if a light-emitting diode is located adjacent to camera 42, there is a possibility that an emitted light ray will follow path 50 to lens 30 and, upon directly reflecting from the surface of lens 30, will follow path 52 to camera 42. This direct reflection of the output of the light-emitting diode from the inner surface of lens 30 to camera 42 may be too strong and may overwhelm camera 42 and/or may otherwise interfere with the ability of camera 42 to capture a clear image of the glints on the user's eye and/or the user's pupil shape. To prevent this possibility, it may be desirable to mount light-emitting diodes 44 on flexible printed circuit 46 only in areas of barrel 32 such as region 64 that are located away from camera 42 and not in areas of barrel 32 such as region 62 that are adjacent to camera 42 (e.g., within 5 mm of camera 42, within 1 cm of camera 42, within 2 cm of camera 42, or within other suitable close distance to camera 42 that creates direct lens reflections detected by camera 42 )” in Para.[0042], Fig. 4).
Meursing is silent about a refractive element comprising a refractive material disposed between the front side of the at least one lens and the light emitting unit; and an auxiliary lens disposed between the front side of the at least on lens and the camera and configured to correct distortion of light reflected from the eyeball of the user and passing through the at least one lens, wherein the light emitted from the light emitting unit is refracted by the refractive element facing the eyeball of the user.
Bedard teaches a refractive element comprising a refractive material disposed between the front side of the at least one lens and the light emitting unit; and an auxiliary lens disposed between the front side of the at least on lens and the camera and configured to correct distortion of light reflected from the eyeball of the user and passing through the at least one lens, wherein the light emitted from the light emitting unit is refracted by the refractive element facing the eyeball of the user(“FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of a head-mounted device 700 having a catadioptric eyepiece 730 in accordance with some implementations. The head-mounted device 700 of FIG. 7 is substantially similar to the head-mounted device 600 of FIG. 6, except that, in the head-mounted device 700 of FIG. 7, the eyepiece 730 includes a selectively distortive catadioptric lens that reflects and refracts light in the first wavelength range while passing, without substantial distortion, light in the second wavelength range and, in the head-mounted device 700 of FIG. 7, the size of the housing 701 is reduced, with the display 410 (and the eye tracking system) closer to the eyepiece 730.” in Col. 9 lines 63-67 and Col. 10 lines 1-13, Fig. 7).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings Meursing with the above teachings of Bedard in order to improve the quality of an image recognized by the user.
As per claim 2, Meursing and Bedard teach all of limitation of claim 1.
Meursing teaches wherein the first direction is a direction corresponding to a direction parallel to an optical axis of the at least one lens; and wherein the second direction is a direction corresponding to a direction inclined toward the optical axis(“It is possible that light from light-emitting diodes 44 can exhibit undesired reflections from the surface of lens 30 facing display 14. For example, if a light-emitting diode is located adjacent to camera 42, there is a possibility that an emitted light ray will follow path 50 to lens 30 and, upon directly reflecting from the surface of lens 30, will follow path 52 to camera 42. This direct reflection of the output of the light-emitting diode from the inner surface of lens 30 to camera 42 may be too strong and may overwhelm camera 42 and/or may otherwise interfere with the ability of camera 42 to capture a clear image of the glints on the user's eye and/or the user's pupil shape. To prevent this possibility, it may be desirable to mount light-emitting diodes 44 on flexible printed circuit 46 only in areas of barrel 32 such as region 64 that are located away from camera 42 and not in areas of barrel 32 such as region 62 that are adjacent to camera 42 (e.g., within 5 mm of camera 42, within 1 cm of camera 42, within 2 cm of camera 42, or within other suitable close distance to camera 42 that creates direct lens reflections detected by camera 42 )” in Para.[0042], Fig. 4).
As per claim 3, Meursing and Bedard teach all of limitation of claim 1.
Meursing teaches further comprising: a printed circuit board accommodated in the housing and disposed between the display and the at least one lens; and a cover disposed to cover the printed circuit board, wherein the light emitting unit is disposed on at least part of the printed circuit board(“Displays 14 may include arrays of pixels or other display devices to produce images. Displays 14 may, for example, include organic light-emitting diode pixels formed on substrates with thin-film circuitry and/or formed on semiconductor substrates, pixels formed from crystalline semiconductor dies, liquid crystal display pixels, scanning display devices, and/or other display devices for producing images” in Para.[0020], “Electronic components in module 40 such as display 14, camera 42, and light-emitting diodes 44 may be coupled to flexible printed circuits or other substrates containing metal traces. The metal traces may form interconnect paths that carry power signals, data signals, and control signals. As shown in FIG. 4, for example, light-emitting diodes 44 may be mounted on a ring-shaped substrate such as flexible printed circuit 46. Printed circuit 46 and light-emitting diodes 44 may extend around some or all of the inner periphery of lens barrel 32 (and therefore around some or all of the outer periphery of display 14)” in Para.[0035], “It is possible that light from light-emitting diodes 44 can exhibit undesired reflections from the surface of lens 30 facing display 14. For example, if a light-emitting diode is located adjacent to camera 42, there is a possibility that an emitted light ray will follow path 50 to lens 30 and, upon directly reflecting from the surface of lens 30, will follow path 52 to camera 42. This direct reflection of the output of the light-emitting diode from the inner surface of lens 30 to camera 42 may be too strong and may overwhelm camera 42 and/or may otherwise interfere with the ability of camera 42 to capture a clear image of the glints on the user's eye and/or the user's pupil shape. To prevent this possibility, it may be desirable to mount light-emitting diodes 44 on flexible printed circuit 46 only in areas of barrel 32 such as region 64 that are located away from camera 42 and not in areas of barrel 32 such as region 62 that are adjacent to camera 42 (e.g., within 5 mm of camera 42, within 1 cm of camera 42, within 2 cm of camera 42, or within other suitable close distance to camera 42 that creates direct lens reflections detected by camera 42).” in Para.[0042], Para.[0043], Fig. 4).
Meursing is silent about wherein the refractive element is formed at a location corresponding to a location of the light emitting unit on the cover.
Bedard teaches a refractive element comprising a refractive material disposed between the at least one lens and the light emitting unit, wherein the light emitted from the light emitting unit is refracted by the refractive element in a second direction facing the eyeball of the user(in Col. 9 lines 63-67 and Col. 10 lines 1-13, Fig. 7).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings Meursing with the above teachings of Bedard in order to improve the quality of an image recognized by the user.
As per claim 4, Meursing and Bedard teach all of limitation of claim 3.
Meursing is silent about wherein the cover and the refractive element are formed integrally.
Bedard teaches wherein the cover and the refractive element are formed integrally(in Col. 9 lines 63-67 and Col. 10 lines 1-13, Fig. 7).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings Meursing with the above teachings of Bedard in order to improve the quality of an image recognized by the user.
As per claim 5, Meursing and Bedard teach all of limitation of claim 4.
Meursing teaches wherein the cover includes a material capable of passing light of a specified wavelength band(“Stiffener 68 may have a strip shape (e.g., a full or partial ring-shaped flat elongated member with a width larger than its thickness T1) and may have openings such as illustrative opening 86. Each light-emitting diode die on flexible printed circuit 46 may be received within a respective opening in stiffener 68 such as opening 86. Encapsulant 82 may cover diode 44 and fill opening 86. Encapsulant 82 may be a cured liquid polymer that is transparent at the wavelengths of light emitted by diode 44 (e.g., encapsulant 82 may be infrared transparent). To reduce the visibility of light-emitting diodes 44 and to prevent stray light reflections, encapsulant 82 may be opaque at visible light wavelengths (e.g., encapsulant 82 may be visible-light-blocking-and-infrared-light-transmitting encapsulant). Encapsulant 82 may, as an example, exhibit a transmission of at least 75% or at least 90% at infrared wavelengths associated with diode 44 while exhibiting a transmission of less than 25% or less than 10% at visible light wavelengths (e.g., from 380-780 nm)” in Para.[0049]).
As per claim 6, Meursing and Bedard teach all of limitation of claim 5.
Meursing teaches wherein the specified wavelength band includes light of an infrared wavelength band (“Stiffener 68 may have a strip shape (e.g., a full or partial ring-shaped flat elongated member with a width larger than its thickness T1) and may have openings such as illustrative opening 86. Each light-emitting diode die on flexible printed circuit 46 may be received within a respective opening in stiffener 68 such as opening 86. Encapsulant 82 may cover diode 44 and fill opening 86. Encapsulant 82 may be a cured liquid polymer that is transparent at the wavelengths of light emitted by diode 44 (e.g., encapsulant 82 may be infrared transparent). To reduce the visibility of light-emitting diodes 44 and to prevent stray light reflections, encapsulant 82 may be opaque at visible light wavelengths (e.g., encapsulant 82 may be visible-light-blocking-and-infrared-light-transmitting encapsulant). Encapsulant 82 may, as an example, exhibit a transmission of at least 75% or at least 90% at infrared wavelengths associated with diode 44 while exhibiting a transmission of less than 25% or less than 10% at visible light wavelengths (e.g., from 380-780 nm)” in Para.[0049]).
As per claim 7, Meursing and Bedard teach all of limitation of claim 6.
Meursing teaches wherein the cover includes a black material which blocks light of a visible light band(“Surfaces in the interior of optical modules 40 such as the surfaces of lens barrel 32, circuit 46, and stiffener 68 may be covered with coatings that absorb visible and infrared light. Such coatings, which may sometimes be referred to as dark coatings, low-reflectance coatings, opaque coatings, stray-light suppression coatings, or black coatings may be configured to reflect a low amount of light. For example, a black coating on lens barrel 32, printed circuit 46, or stiffener 68 may exhibit a reflectance at visible and/or infrared wavelengths of less than 25%, less than 15%, less than 10%, or less than 5%. Low-reflectance coatings may include black paint (e.g., polymer containing black dye and/or black pigment such as carbon black), black physical vapor deposition (PVD) coatings (e.g., a chromium carbide coating deposited by PVD, sometimes referred to as black PVD), and/or black anodized coatings” in Para.[0050]).
As per claim 9, Meursing and Bedard teach all of limitation of claim 4.
Meursing is silent about wherein the refractive element includes a prism shape.
Bedard teaches wherein the refractive element includes a prism shape (in Col. 9 lines 63-67 and Col. 10 lines 1-13, Fig. 7).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings Meursing with the above teachings of Bedard in order to improve the quality of an image recognized by the user.
As per claim 12, Meursing and Bedard teach all of limitation of claim 3.
Meursing teaches wherein the housing includes an accommodating portion in which the display is accommodated, and wherein the printed circuit board is disposed along an edge of the accommodating portion(“Device 10 may include input-output devices such as devices 24. Input-output devices 24 may be used in gathering user input, in gathering information on the environment surrounding the user, and/or in providing a user with output. Devices 24 may include one or more displays such as display(s) 14. Display(s) 14 may include one or more display devices such as organic light-emitting diode display panels (panels with organic light-emitting diode pixels formed on polymer substrates or silicon substrates that contain pixel control circuitry), liquid crystal display panels, microelectromechanical systems displays (e.g., two-dimensional mirror arrays or scanning mirror display devices), display panels having pixel arrays formed from crystalline semiconductor light-emitting diode dies (sometimes referred to as microLEDs), and/or other display devices” in Para.[0030], “During operation, light from light-emitting diodes 44 that are mounted along the edge of display 14 may travel to eye box 13 through lens 30. Light-emitting diodes 44 are generally out of the user's field of view or nearly out of the user's field of view as the user is viewing images presented by the array of pixels P on display 14. Some of light-emitting diodes 44 (e.g., N light-emitting diodes 44, where N is at least 3, at least 4, at least 5, at least 6, 3-9, less than 15, less than 10, less than 7, less than 6, or other suitable number) may create reflections off of the surface of the user's eye in eye box 13. These reflections, which may sometimes be referred to as glints, can be captured by camera 42. Device 10 can process glint information obtained by cameras 24 to track the user's gaze. For example, control circuitry 20 can analyze the positions of the glints to determine the shape of the user's eye (e.g., the user's cornea). From this information, control circuitry 20 can determine the direction of the user's gaze.” in Para.[0036]).
As per claim 13, Meursing and Bedard teach all of limitation of claim 1.
Meursing teaches wherein the head mounted device further comprises: at least one processor comprising processing circuitry; and a memory storing instructions, the instructions, when executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor, causing the head mounted device to identify a location of an iris of the eyeball, based on information obtained through the camera(“a head-mounted device such as device 10 may include control circuitry 20. Control circuitry 20 may include storage and processing circuitry for supporting the operation of device 10. The storage and processing circuitry may include storage such as nonvolatile memory (e.g., flash memory or other electrically-programmable-read-only memory configured to form a solid state drive), volatile memory (e.g., static or dynamic random-access-memory), etc. Processing circuitry in control circuitry 20 may be used to gather input from sensors and other input devices and may be used to control output devices. The processing circuitry may be based on one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, baseband processors and other wireless communications circuits, power management units, audio chips, application specific integrated circuits, etc. During operation, control circuitry 20 may use display(s) 14 and other output devices in providing a user with visual output and other output.” in Para.[0028], “It may be desirable to monitor the user's eyes while the user's eyes are located in eye boxes 13. For example, it may be desirable to use a camera to capture images of the user's irises (or other portions of the user's eyes) for user authentication. It may also be desirable to monitor the direction of the user's gaze. Gaze tracking information may be used as a form of user input and/or may be used to determine where, within an image, image content resolution should be locally enhanced in a foveated imaging system. To ensure that device 10 can capture satisfactory eye images while a user's eyes are located in eye boxes 13, each optical module 40 may be provided with a camera such as camera 42 and one or more light sources such as light-emitting diodes 44 (e.g., lasers, lamps, etc.). Multiple cameras 42 may be provided in each optical module 40, if desired.” in Para.[0023]).
As per claim 14, the limitations in the claim 14 has been discussed in the rejection claim 1 and rejected under the same rationale.
As per claim 15, the limitations in the claim 15 has been discussed in the rejection claim 3 and rejected under the same rationale.
As per claim 16, the limitations in the claim 16 has been discussed in the rejection claim 4 and rejected under the same rationale.
As per claim 17, the limitations in the claim 17 has been discussed in the rejection claim 5 and rejected under the same rationale.
As per claim 18, the limitations in the claim 18 has been discussed in the rejection claim 6 and rejected under the same rationale.
As per claim 19, the limitations in the claim 19 has been discussed in the rejection claim 7 and rejected under the same rationale.
As per claim 20, the limitations in the claim 20 has been discussed in the rejection claim 9 and rejected under the same rationale.
Meursing in view of Bedard and Zhang
Claims 10 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Meursing et al.(USPubN 2024/0061252; hereinafter Meursing) in view of Bedard et al.(USPN 11,301,036; hereinafter Bedard) further in view of Zhang et al.(USPubN 2024/0295751; hereinafter Zhang).
As per claim 10, Meursing and Bedard teach all of limitation of claim 3.
Meursing and Bedard are silent about wherein the auxiliary lens is configured to correct the second light passing through the at least one lens from outside of the head mounted device so that the second light is received in the camera.
Zhang teaches wherein the auxiliary lens is configured to correct the second light passing through the at least one lens from outside of the head mounted device so that the second light is received in the camera (“The wearable devices disclosed herein may also have at least one optical component, such as an eye tracking system, that may include a camera to track movements of a user's eye. The at least one optical component may also include a light source to emit light onto or around the user's eye to enable the camera to capture video images of, for instance, an interference pattern, on a user's eye. The camera and/or the light source may include operational zones, e.g., field of view, area of illumination, and/or the like, that may be directed to the user's eye. The camera and/or the light source may be positioned as close to a front of the user's eye as possible to increase the accuracy at which the user's eye may be tracked. This may require that the camera and/or the light source be positioned immediately adjacent to the corrective lens. The camera and/or the light source may be considered as being positioned immediately adjacent to the corrective lens when the camera and/or the light source is positioned as close as possible to the edge of the corrective lens without the edge of the corrective lens occluding or otherwise interfering with the operations of the camera and/or the light source.” in Para.[0025]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings Meursing and Bedard with the above teachings of Zhang in order to improve user experience.
As per claim 11, Meursing and Bedard teach all of limitation of claim 10.
Meursing is silent about wherein the auxiliary lens is formed integrally with the cover.
Bedard teaches wherein the auxiliary lens is formed integrally with the cover ().
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings Meursing, Ljuggren and Yi with the above teachings of Zhang in order to improve user experience(in Col. 9 lines 63-67 and Col. 10 lines 1-13, Fig. 7).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings Meursing with the above teachings of Bedard in order to improve the quality of an image recognized by the user.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 8 is 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
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/SUNGHYOUN PARK/Examiner, Art Unit 2484
Prosecution Insights