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 amendment filed on 11/15/2025 has been entered. Claims 1-15 are pending in the Application.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-9, 11-13, 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Quaranta et al., US 2024/0045114 A1.
Regarding claim 1, Quaranta discloses “A multi-lens optical element (Fig. 1-2) comprising: a plurality of optical channels (C1-C4, Fig. 1-2),wherein each optical channel (202) is defined by a corresponding field lens (20 and 21, Fig. 2) and a corresponding imaging lens (40 and 41, Fig. 2); a structured layer (30, Fig. 2) configured to define for each optical channel a partial projection to be projected via the optical channel to obtain a resulting projection via a superposition of the partial projections from the plurality of optical channels (patterns on S, Fig. 2); and a light coloring layer (50 and 51a, Fig. 2, 2a, 6; ¶ [0047] “a nanostructured layer 50 having a polarizing effect allows to modulate the colour of the corresponding object O.sub.1 when modifying the polarization of the incident light L. It is thus understood that the micro-lens based module according to the present disclosure allows independently to switch on or off a projected object or to modulate or change its colour, using the appropriate polarizing effects of the nanostructured layer 50”) disposed in at least one optical channel of the plurality of optical channels ,wherein the light coloring layer is disposed to cover a first portion of the structured layer (seen in Fig. 2, 2a) in correspondence of the at least one optical channel and leave a remaining portion of the structured layer in correspondence of the at least one optical channel free of the light coloring layer (portions without 51, Fig. 2a,2b, also Fig. 7), and wherein the light coloring layer is configured to impose a predefined color on light passing through the light coloring layer (¶ [0047-0048, 0052-0053]).”
Regarding claim 2, Quaranta discloses the invention of claim 1, as cited above, and further discloses “the structured layer in correspondence of the at least one optical channel comprises a plurality of structured features configured to define the partial projection (seen in Fig. 2b and 7, the pattern of 30 has structured features),, and wherein the light coloring layer is disposed to cover one or more structured features of the plurality of structured features while leaving one or more other structured features of the plurality of structured features free of the light coloring layer (seen in Fig. 2b, and 7, there are portions of 30 that don’t have the filter portion from one of the layers).
Regarding claim 3, Quaranta discloses the invention of claim 1, as cited above, and further discloses “the structured layer in correspondence of the at least one optical channel comprises one or more structured features configured to define the partial projection (seen in Fig. 2b and 7, the pattern of 30 has structured features), and wherein the light coloring layer is disposed to overlap a portion of one of the structured features while leaving another portion of the structured feature free of the light coloring layer (seen in Fig. 2b, and 7, there are portions of 30 that don’t have the filter portion from one of the layers)).
Regarding claim 4, Quaranta discloses the invention of claim 1, as cited above, and further discloses “the light coloring layer is a color filter configured allow light with wavelength in a predefined wavelength range to pass through the light coloring layer while blocking light with wavelength outside of the predefined wavelength range (¶ [0052-0053] “colour filters properties”).
Regarding claim 5, Quaranta discloses the invention of claim 1, as cited above, and further discloses “a second light coloring layer disposed in the at least one optical channel ,wherein the second light coloring layer is disposed to cover a second portion of the structured layer in correspondence of the at least one optical channel (51b, Fig. 2b).
Regarding claim 6, Quaranta discloses the invention of claim 5, as cited above, and further discloses “a second predefined color on light passing through the second light coloring layer different from the predefined color defined by the light coloring layer ; or wherein the second light coloring layer is configured to impose a second predefined color on light passing through the second light coloring layer equal to the predefined color defined by the light coloring layer (¶ [0061] “they can each be used as a different colour filter”) .
Regarding claim 7, Quaranta discloses the invention of claim 1, as cited above, and further discloses “a further light coloring layer disposed in at least one further optical channel of the plurality of optical channels (seen in Fig. 2, color layer 50’ extends to the other channels),wherein the further light coloring layer is disposed to cover a further first portion of the structured in correspondence of the at least one further optical channel and leave a further remaining portion of the structured layer in correspondence of the at least one further optical channel free of the further light coloring layer (seen in Fig. 2b, the color filter portions 51ab covers a portion of the channel) ,wherein the further light coloring layer is configured to impose a further predefined color on light passing through the further light coloring layer (¶ [0052-0053] “colour filters properties”) .
Regarding claim 8, Quaranta discloses the invention of claim 7, as cited above, and further discloses “the predefined color imposed by the light coloring layer is the same as the further predefined color imposed by the further light coloring layer ; or wherein the predefined color imposed by the light coloring layer is different from the further predefined color imposed by the further light coloring layer (¶ [0045] each layer can be modified, thus can have the same color or different color).
Regarding claim 9, Quaranta discloses the invention of claim 7, as cited above, and further discloses “the structured layer defines a structured feature in correspondence of the at least one optical channel (seen in Fig. 2) and a further structured feature in correspondence of the further optical channel (seen in Fig. 2, 30 extends across the channels),wherein the structured feature and the further structured feature correspond to a same projected feature in the resulting projection (¶ [0062] superposition), wherein the light coloring layer is disposed to cover a first surface area of the structured feature in correspondence of the at least one optical channel, wherein the further light coloring layer is disposed to cover a second surface area of the further structured feature in correspondence of the further optical channel, and wherein the first surface area is different from the second surface area ( Fig. 2; the channels have their own light coloring layer 50’).
Regarding claim 11, Quaranta discloses the invention of claim 9, as cited above, and further discloses “the first surface area and the second surface area define complementary portions of a total surface area of the structured feature (seen in Fig. 2, they are on different parts of the structured feature 30 and so are complementary).”
Regarding claim 12, Quaranta discloses the invention of claim 1, as cited above, and further discloses “a first array of microlenses as field lenses (¶ [0034, 0043]); and wherein the multi-lens optical element comprises a second array of microlenses as imaging lenses (¶ [0034, 0043]).
Regarding claim 13, Quaranta discloses the invention of claim 1, as cited above, and further discloses “a projection system comprising the multi-lens optical element according to claim 1, and a light source configured to illuminate the multi-lens optical element to obtain the resulting projection via the superposition of the respective partial projections defined by structured layer for the optical channels of the multi- lens optical element (L light from light source ¶ [0037]).
Regarding claim 15, Quaranta discloses the invention of claim 1, as cited above, and further discloses “a control circuit configured to control a light emission by the light source , and wherein the control circuit is configured to trigger the light emission by the light source in response to a predefined vehicle-related trigger event (¶ [0090-0092] the projection device with light source will emit the pattern in response to a trigger event such as a welcome message or a person approaching).
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 shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Quaranta.
Regarding claim 10, Quaranta discloses the invention of claim 9, as cited above, and except “the light coloring layer is disposed to fully cover the structured feature in correspondence of the at least one optical channel, and wherein the further light coloring layer is disposed to cover a portion of the further structured feature in correspondence of the further optical channel while leaving another portion of the further structured feature free of the further light coloring layer.
Quaranta does disclose in separate embodiments different channels where the coloring layer covers the structured feature fully (Fig. 2a, 6) and another embodiment where the channel has a partial coverage (Fig. 2b, 7).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, to have different channels have different coverage of the color layer, such that one is fully covered and another is partially covered. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to and capable of modifying the arrangement for different coverages for projecting a desired picture (¶ [0007]).
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Quaranta in view of Sobecki et al., US 2019/0270403 A1.
Regarding claim 14, Quaranta discloses the invention of claim 1, as cited above, except “the light source is configured to emit white light.
Quaranta does disclose the light source can emit visible light (¶ [0046]) or other wavelengths.
Sobecki discloses a projection module for a vehicle that can utilize white light-emitting LEDs (¶ [0043, 0071]).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, to have the light source, as taught by Quaranta, emit white light, such as taught (at least in principle) by Sobecki. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated for the light source to emit white light, to allow for a desired illumination emission for a particular application (Sobecki, ¶ [0067-0071]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record on the PTO-892 but not relied upon, above, are pertinent to Applicant's disclosure because they disclose lens array projector system
Han et al., US 2020/0050094 A1
Zalevsky et al., US 2007/0218372 A1
Burger US 6381072 B1
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL CHIANG whose telephone number is (571)270-3811. The examiner can normally be reached M to F, 9am-6pm.
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/MICHAEL CHIANG/Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2875
/KEITH G. DELAHOUSSAYE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875
