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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1-29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Jang (WO 2020/040601 A1).
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Regarding claim 1, Jang teaches a contact lens case (display 100) comprising: a main body (lamp body 110) defining at least two lens bays (120) on one side of the main body (110) and a compartment on an opposite side of the main body (180) ; at least two caps (multiple caps 130), one removably attached to one of the at least two lens bays (120) and another removably attached to another of the at least two lens bays (120); and a lighting circuit (170) housed in the compartment, the lighting circuit including a power source (within the body 110), at least one light source (LED; figure 5), and a control input to change an illumination state of the at least one light source (see abstract of Jang where various pieces of information regarding the contact lens product is displayed and provided to the user)..
Regarding claim 2, Jang teaches the contact lens case of claim 1 wherein the at least one light source includes at least one light emitting diode (LED, figure 5).
Regarding claim 3, Jang teaches the contact lens case of claim 1 wherein the main body is translucent (window 130 made of translucent material).
Regarding claim 4, Jang teaches the contact lens case of claim 2 wherein the at least two caps are translucent (multiple caps 130).
Regarding claim 5, Jang teaches the contact lens case of claim 1 further comprising a bottom (129) attached to the main body (110) and forming a watertight seal therebetween to close the compartment (121; figure 5).
Regarding claim 6, Jang teaches teaches the contact lens case of claim 1 wherein the control input (170) enables changing a brightness level of the at least one light source (within lamp body 110).
Regarding claim 7, Jang teaches the contact lens case of claim 1 wherein the at least one light source (LED) is configured to emit light in a plurality of different colors (controlled by circuitry 170).
Regarding claim 8, Jang teaches the contact lens case of claim 1 wherein the lighting circuit includes a timer (see abstract of Jang) that causes the at least one light source to be changed to an off state after a predetermined amount of time in an on state (see abstract of Jang where various pieces of information regarding the contact lens product is displayed and provided to the user).
Regarding claim 9, Jang teaches the contact lens case of claim 1 further comprising a solar panel (figure 5) that provides energy for powering the lighting circuit (170) and/or charging the power source.
Regarding claim 10, Jang teaches the contact lens case of claim 1 further comprising a generator (switch 140) electrically connected to the lighting circuit (170) to provide energy for the lighting circuit (170) and/or the power source.
Regarding claim 11, Jang teaches the contact lens case of claim 1 wherein at least one of the main body (110) and one of the at least two caps (multiple caps 130) includes material that glows naturally.
Regarding claim 12, Jang teaches the contact lens case of claim 1 wherein the at least two lens bays (120) include a first lens bay and a second lens bay (see figure 5 where multiple bays shown), wherein the at least one light source (within body 110) includes a first light source and a second light source, the first light source being beneath the first lens bay (one of multiple bays 120) and the second light source being beneath the second lens bay (one of multiple bays 120).
Regarding claim 13, Jang teaches the contact lens case of claim 1 wherein the lighting circuit (170) includes a timer and a controller (150), the controller configured to control the at least one light source (LED; see figure 5) based on the timer to indicate to a user when to replace contact lenses (see abstract of Jang where various pieces of information regarding the contact lens product is displayed and provided to the user).
Regarding claim 14, Jang teaches the contact lens case of claim 1 wherein the at least one light source includes a light array (LED; figure 5), wherein the lighting circuit (170) includes a controller (150) configured to: track when contact lenses are due for replacement; and upon receiving input to turn the at least on light source on, control the light array to provide a visual indication with the light array of a time remaining on the timer (see abstract of Jang where various pieces of information regarding the contact lens product is displayed and provided to the user).
Regarding claim 15, Jang teaches the contact lens case of claim 14 wherein the light array includes a plurality of light sources arranged in a circle (see arrangement of light sources in figure 5), wherein to control the light array to provide the visual indication includes progressively changing a lighting characteristic of each light source of the plurality of light sources over time (see abstract of Jang where various pieces of information regarding the contact lens product is displayed and provided to the user).
Regarding claim 16, Jang teaches the contact lens case of claim 1 wherein the control input (170) includes a touch sensor to detect user engagement with an input portion of the main body (see abstract of Jang where various pieces of information regarding the contact lens product is displayed and provided to the user).
Regarding claim 17, Jang teaches the contact lens case of claim 16 wherein the touch sensor includes a sensing conductor at the input portion of the main body (110) and one or more blocking conductors adjacent the sensing conductor, the blocking conductors shielding the sensing conductor from electrical and/or magnetic interference (see abstract of Jang).
Regarding claim 18, Jang teaches the contact lens case of claim 1 wherein the lighting circuit (170) includes communication circuitry operable to communicate with a remote computing device (140), the lighting circuit using the communication circuitry (170) to at least one of: send data to the remote computing device; or receive input from the remote computing device see abstract of Jang where various pieces of information regarding the contact lens product is displayed and provided to the user).
Regarding claim 19, Jang teaches The contact lens case of claim 18 in combination with the remote computing device (150), the remote computing device configured to run an application associated with the contact lens case (120), the application configured to prompt the user to take out or discard their contact lenses (see abstract of Jang where various pieces of information regarding the contact lens product is displayed and provided to the user.)
Regarding claim 20, Jang teaches a lighting device for a contact lens case comprising:
a body (see figure 5) sized and shaped to attach to a contact lens case (120); a lighting circuit (170) attached to the body, the lighting circuit including: at least one light source (180) to illuminate the contact lens case;
a battery disposed in a sealed compartment of the body to power the at least one light source (within case 120); and a user input to change an illumination state of the at least one light source (see abstract of Jang where various pieces of information regarding the contact lens product is displayed and provided to the user.)
Regarding claim 21, Jang teaches an illumination container for a contact lenses comprising: a main body (110) defining a compartment sized to receive a contact lens case (120) and/or one or more packaged contact lenses (see figure 1 and 5), the main body (110) have a bottom surface at the compartment (see figure 5); a cover (121) movable relative to the main body between an open position to provide access to the compartment and a closed position to close off access to the compartment (see figure 5); and a lighting circuit (170) at the main body (110), the lighting circuit including a power source and at least one light source operable to emit light from the main body.
Regarding claim 22, Jang teaches the illumination container of claim 21 wherein the cover (121) is removed from the body in the open position (see figure 1 and 5), and wherein the at least one light source is turned ON when the cover (121) is removed from the main body.
Regarding claim 23, Jang teaches the illumination container of claim 21 wherein the cover (121) is attached to the main body with a hinge and pivotable about the hinge between the open position and closed position (see figure 5), wherein and the light source is turned on when the cover (121) is pivoted to the open position.
Regarding claim 24, Jang teaches a computing device for contact lens management, the computing device comprising: memory storing an application for contact lens management (see abstract of Jang where various pieces of information regarding the contact lens product is displayed and provided to the user); communication circuitry (170) operable to communicate with an electronic contact lens case for storing one or more contact lenses (figure 1, 5; abstract of Jang);
a processor operably coupled to the memory and the communication circuitry (170), the processor configured to run the application including to: receive, via the communication circuitry (170), contact lens usage data pertaining to one or more contact lenses from the electronic contact lens case (see page lines where inputting data and storing data is disclosed); and based on the contact lens usage data, send a signal to the electronic contact lens case to cause the electronic contact lens case to notify the user to replace the one or more contact lenses (see abstract of Jang where various pieces of information regarding the contact lens product is displayed and provided to the user)..
Regarding claim 25, Jang teaches the computing device of claim 24 further comprising a user interface operably coupled to the processor, wherein the processor is further configured to output a notification via the user interface reminding the user to take out the one or more contact lenses (see abstract of Jang where various pieces of information regarding the contact lens product is displayed and provided to the user)..
Regarding claim 26, Jang teaches the computing device of claim 24 wherein the processor (170) is further configured to detect when the computing device is connected to a power source, wherein the processor outputs the notification reminding the user to take out the one or more contact lenses is in response to detecting the user has connected the user device to a power source (see abstract of Jang where various pieces of information regarding the contact lens product is displayed and provided to the user).
Regarding claim 27, Jang teaches the computing device of claim 24 wherein the processor (170) is further configured to send a signal to the electronic contact case to cause the electronic contact lens case to notify the user to replace the electronic contact case (see abstract of Jang where various pieces of information regarding the contact lens product is displayed and provided to the user).
Regarding claim 28, Jang teaches a contact lens case (display apparatus 100, Fig. 1, [0072]) comprising: a main body (lamp 180) defining at least two lens bays (120) on one side of the main body (lamp 180) and a compartment on an opposite side of the main body (180) ;
at least two caps (multiple caps 130; figure 5) , one removably attached to one of the at least two lens bays (120) and another removably attached to another of the at least two lens bays (120);
a lighting circuit housed in the compartment, the lighting circuit including a light array (LED; page, lines) ,
a control input (170) to change an illumination state of the light array, and a controller (150); and the controller (150) configured to: track when contact lenses are due for replacement; and upon receiving input to turn on the light array (see abstract of Jang), control the light array to provide a visual indication with the light array of a time remaining on the timer (see abstract of Jang).
Regarding claim 29, Jang teaches a contact lens case (display apparatus 100, Fig. 1, [0072]) comprising:
a main body (lamp 180) defining at least two lens bays (120, fig. 1 and 5) on one side of the main body (lamp 180) and a compartment on an opposite side of the main body (180);
at least two caps (multiple caps 130, Figure 5), one removably attached to one of the at least two lens bays (120) and another removably attached to another of the at least two lens bays (120); communication circuitry (communication unit 170) disposed in the compartment and operably to communicate with a remote computing device (see abstract of Jang) ; and
a controller (150) disposed in the compartment (bay 120) and operably coupled to the communication circuitry (communication unit 170), the controller configured to use the communication circuitry (170) to at least one of: send data of the contact lens case (display apparatus 100, figure 1) to the remote computing device; or receive input from the remote computing device to change a setting of the contact lens case (see abstract of Jang).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JESSICA MCMILLAN APENTENG whose telephone number is (571)272-5510. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00 am-5:00 pm.
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/J.M.A/ Examiner, Art Unit 2875
/ABDULMAJEED AZIZ/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2875
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