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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in EUROPE on 6/26/2024. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the EP 24184576.7 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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, 6-15, and 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by de Lamberterie et al. (2014/0003071).
with respect to claim 1, de Lamberterie teaches an optical element (10) for a vehicle headlamp (paragraphs 79-80), wherein the optical element comprises: one or more entry portions (13) for receiving light rays from one or more light sources (11); one or more total internal reflection (TIR) surfaces (14 and/or 16i) configured to receive light rays from the one or more entry portions and to focus, by TIR, the light rays received from the one or more entry portions in a vertical direction (y) and in a horizontal direction (x) (Figs. 4 and/or 6 and/or 7); and one or more exit portions (18i) comprising one or more exit lenses, wherein the one or more exit lenses comprise a plurality of Fresnel structures (paragraph 75) configured to collimate and/or spread (Figs. 4 and/or 6 and/or 7), in the horizontal direction and/or in the vertical direction (Figs. 4 and/or 6 and/or 7), light rays exiting the optical element, wherein the optical element is formed as a monolithic body (paragraph 70).
As for claim 2, de Lamberterie teaches wherein the optical element comprises one or more light cutters (“hood” in paragraph 99) configured to form, by TIR, a cutoff profile for light rays passing from the one or more entry portions to the one or more exit lenses (paragraph 99).
As for claim 6, de Lamberterie teaches wherein the plurality of Fresnel structures (18i) comprise: ring-shaped Fresnel structures, and/or horizontally and/or vertically stacked rectangular Fresnel structures (Fig. 4).
As for claim 7, de Lamberterie wherein the one or more exit portions (18i and 20) comprise one or more exit lenses devoid of Fresnel structures (Fig. 7).
As for claim 8, de Lamberterie teaches wherein the plurality of Fresnel structures comprise Fresnel structures of at least two different types (Fig. 6).
As for claim 9, de Lamberterie teaches wherein at least one TIR surface (16i) of the one or more TIR surfaces has a first focal point and a second focal point for focusing the light rays received from the one or more entry portions, wherein the first focal point and the second focal point are substantially coincident, or wherein the first focal point and the second focal point are noncoincident (Figs. 4 and/or 6 and/or 7), and optionally wherein one of the first focal point and the second focal point is positioned further from the at least one TIR surface than the other one of the first focal point and the second focal point and/or the first focal point and the second focal point are in different positions in the horizontal direction (Figs. 4 and/or 6 and/or 7).
As for claim 10, de Lamberterie teaches wherein the one or more exit lenses comprise a plurality of exit lenses (18i) comprising a plurality of the Fresnel structures (Fig. 4).
As for claim 11, de Lamberterie teaches wherein the optical element comprises a plurality of entry portions (13 and 19) for receiving light rays from the one or more light sources (Fig. 7), and a plurality of TIR surfaces (14 and/or 16i) configured to receive light rays from the plurality of entry portions and to focus, by TIR, the light rays received from the plurality of entry portions in the vertical direction (y) and in the horizontal direction (x) (Fig. 7).
As for claim 12, de Lamberterie teaches wherein the plurality of TIR surfaces (16i) comprise substantially parallel optical axes for focusing the light rays (Fig. 7).
As for claim 13, de Lamberterie teaches wherein the plurality of TIR surfaces (14 and 16i) comprise substantially nonparallel optical axes for focusing the light rays (Fig. 7).
As for claim 14, de Lamberterie teaches wherein the one or more exit lenses (18i and 20) comprise a plurality of exit lenses (Fig. 7), wherein: the plurality of exit lenses include at least one exit lens for each of the plurality of TIR surfaces (Fig. 7), and/or a plurality of horizontally and/or vertically adjacent exit lenses.
As for claim 15, de Lamberterie teaches wherein at least one of the one or more exit portions comprises only one of the one or more exit lenses (Fig. 4; *note the use of “comprising” language rather “consisting” language only requires a single one of the items 18i to be interpreted as the “exit portions” of the claim).
As for claim 17, de Lamberterie teaches wherein the plurality of Fresnel structures of at least one of the one or more exit lenses are configured to spread light rays exiting the optical element at two or more different spread angles (Fig. 6).
As for claim 18, de Lamberterie teaches all of the claimed elements, as is discussed above, as well as further teaching a lighting unit (paragraphs 79-87).
As for claim 19, de Lamberterie teaches all of the claimed elements, as is discussed above, as well as further teaching a vehicle (paragraphs 79-87).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5 and 16 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.
With respect to claims 3-5, the prior art does not teach or suggest wherein the optical element comprises one or more light collector surfaces configured to receive light rays reflected by the one or more light cutters, and to reflect, by TIR, the light rays received from the one or more light cutters towards the one or more exit lenses, and optionally wherein:at least one of the one or more light collector surfaces is configured to collimate the light rays received from the one or more light cutters towards the one or more exit lenses, and/or at least one of the one or more light collector surfaces is configured to focus the light rays received from the one or more light cutters in the vertical direction and in the horizontal direction; along with the other limiting elements of claims 1-3.
As for claim 16, the prior art does not teach or suggest wherein the plurality of Fresnel structures of at least one of the one or more exit lenses comprise first Fresnel structures configured to collimate light rays exiting the optical element and second Fresnel structures configured to spread light rays exiting the optical element; along with the other limiting elements of claims 1 and 16.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM JOSEPH CARTER whose telephone number is (571)272-0959. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5pm.
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/WILLIAM J CARTER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875 12/23/2025