CTNF 19/235,714 CTNF 86510 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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 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. Claim Status This action is in response to application filed on June 12, 2025. Claims 1-11 are pending for examination. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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 of this title, 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. 07-23-aia AIA The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co. , 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Setlak et al. (Setlak: US 20190095602) in view of Sato et al. (Sato: US 2020/0142213) . Regarding Claim 1, Setlak teaches an imaging module that is included in a wearable electronic device ( Fig. 1-2, biosensor system 116 in watch 100 and par 39, biosensor system 116 may be configured to image a forearm of a user near a wrist of the user ), the imaging module comprising: a light emitting element that is provided to face a measurement target side in a worn state and that emits light to a measurement target ( Par [0046] The biosensor system 116 may include a light emitter (or set of light emitters) positioned to emit light into the dorsal side of the forearm 300 near the wrist. And Fig. 3-4 and Fig. 7, 602 ); a light field camera that is provided to face the measurement target side in a worn state and that images the light emitted from the light emitting element to the measurement target ( Par 39, The biosensor system 116 may include a light field camera positioned adjacent the cover 114 to receive light and Par 46, The biosensor system 116 may also include a light field camera positioned within the watch body 102 , adjacent a second or interior surface of the cover 114 (i.e., a surface interior to the watch body 102 ). The light field camera may receive, from the dorsal side of the forearm 300 near the wrist, remissions of the light emitted by the light emitter(s). The remissions of light may include reflections and refractions of the light by features on or within the forearm 300 of the user near the user's wrist ); and a processor configured to process an image obtained by imaging the light emitted from the light emitting element to the measurement target using the light field camera ( Par [0047] A processor (e.g., a processor within the watch body 102 ) may be configured to operate the light emitter(s) and light field camera to obtain a light field image from the light field camera ), wherein the light field camera includes a lens array ( Par 48, array of light-transmissive elements such as microlenses and Fig. 10, 1002 and Par 63 ) and an image sensor array in order from the measurement target side ( Par 48, array of micro-cameras and Fig. 7 and Fig. 10, 608 and Par 63 ). Setlak does not explicitly disclose the lens array is liquid crystal. However, Sato teaches a wearable device ( Par 2 ) having optical element (21) and further teaches lens array can be formed by liquid crystal ( Par 109, the optically-anisotropic layer 23 of the optical element 21 is formed of a composition including a liquid crystal compound. Therefore, as compared to the lenticular lens, the lens array, and the like, the thickness can be significantly reduced and Fig. 3, 24 and Par 84 ). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Sato in order to reduce the thickness (Sato; Par 109 ). Regarding Claim 2, the combination of Setlak and Sato teaches the imaging module according to The imaging module according to wherein the image sensor array included in the light field camera is arranged in accordance with the liquid crystal lens array (Setlak: Fig. 10, 608 and 1002 ), and the processor is configured to extract one feature from at least one captured image and determine whether or not the feature matches a reference feature ( Setlak: par [0050] The processor may be configured to extract a set of features from the image(s) constructed during the synthetic focusing operation. …, the processor may compare the set of features to a reference set of features, to determine whether the set of features matches the reference set of features ). Regarding Claim 3, the combination of Setlak and Sato teaches the imaging module according to claim 1,bio wherein the imaging module has a biometric authentication function ( Setlak: par 50, When the biosensor system 116 is operated as a part of a bioauthentication enrollment operation, the processor may store the set of features identified from the image(s) constructed during the synthetic focusing operation, so that the set of features may be accessed at a later time as a reference set of features (e.g., as a set of features associated with an authorized user, ). Regarding Claim 4, the combination of Setlak and Sato teaches the imaging module according to The imaging module according to wherein a circularly polarizing plate is disposed between the liquid crystal lens array and the measurement target side (Sato: Fig. 2 and Par 82, lights incident on circularly polarizing plate 31 before optical element 21 and Par 23). Regarding Claim 5, the combination of Setlak and Sato teaches the imaging module according to The imaging module according to wherein the processor is configured to determine an inclination of the light field camera and compensate for the determined inclination (Setlak; Fig. 13 and Par 68-69, The tilt sensor 1300 may be configured to detect the tilt described with reference to FIG. 12, so that a processor associated with the biosensor system 116 may compensate for the tilt .). Claim 6 is rejected for the same reason in claim 3 above. Claims 7 and 9 are rejected for the same reason in claim 4 above. Claims 8, 10 and 11 are rejected for the same reason in claim 5 above . Conclusion 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Prior arts cited for the record but not used in Office Action, are listed in attached PTO-892. Contact Information Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Nay Tun whose telephone number is (571)270-7939. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Thurs from 9:00-5:00. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's Supervisor, Steven Lim can be reached on (571) 270-1210. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). /Nay Tun/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2688 Application/Control Number: 19/235,714 Page 2 Art Unit: 2688 Application/Control Number: 19/235,714 Page 4 Art Unit: 2688 Application/Control Number: 19/235,714 Page 5 Art Unit: 2688 Application/Control Number: 19/235,714 Page 6 Art Unit: 2688
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