Sony CorporationDownload PDFPatent Trials and Appeals BoardMay 28, 20202019003970 (P.T.A.B. May. 28, 2020) Copy Citation UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE United States Patent and Trademark Office Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450 www.uspto.gov APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO. 15/656,691 07/21/2017 Thomas Dawson 201705764.01 4511 36738 7590 05/28/2020 ROGITZ & ASSOCIATES 4420 Hotel Circle Court SUITE 230 SAN DIEGO, CA 92108 EXAMINER HAIEM, SEAN N ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 2422 NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE 05/28/2020 ELECTRONIC Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding. The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication. Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the following e-mail address(es): John@rogitz.com Noelle@rogitz.com eofficeaction@appcoll.com PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE ____________________ BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD ____________________ Ex parte THOMAS DAWSON and STEVEN RICHMAN ____________________ Appeal 2019-003970 Application 15/656,691 Technology Center 2400 ____________________ Before ROBERT E. NAPPI, LARRY J. HUME, and JULIET MITCHELL DIRBA, Administrative Patent Judges. DIRBA, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL1 Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 134(a), Appellant2 seeks review of the Examiner’s rejection of claims 1–20. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b). We AFFIRM-IN-PART. 1 This Decision uses the following abbreviations: “Spec.” for the original Specification, filed July 21, 2017; “Final Act.” for the Final Office Action, mailed Feb. 7, 2019; “Appeal Br.” for Appellant’s Appeal Brief, filed Feb. 20, 2019; “Ans.” for Examiner’s Answer, mailed Apr. 8, 2019; and “Reply Br.” for Appellant’s Reply Brief, filed Apr. 23, 2019. 2 We use the word “Appellant” to refer to “applicant” as defined in 37 C.F.R. § 1.42. According to Appellant, the real party in interest is Sony Corp. Appeal Br. 2. Appeal 2019-003970 Application 15/656,691 2 BACKGROUND Appellant’s disclosed embodiments and claimed invention relate to a projector screen with a multichromic filtering coating. Spec. 1–2. Claim 1, reproduced below, is illustrative of the claimed subject matter: l. An assembly comprising: at least one substrate against which color video can be projected by a projector, the substrate comprising pixels actuatable to establish grayscale values on the substrate; and at least one multichromic filtering coating disposed on the substrate, the multichromic filtering coating comprising molecules passing to the substrate only those wavelengths produced by the projector. Appeal Br. 11 (Claims App.). RELATED APPEALS Appellant identifies no related appeals (Appeal Br. 2), but the Board is aware of one appeal that may be related. A notice of appeal was filed in copending Application No. 15/656,495, Appeal No. 2019-000464.3 In our Decision mailed May 26, 2020, we reversed the Examiner’s rejection. REJECTIONS R1. Claims 1–4 and 7–20 stand rejected under the judicially-created doctrine of non-statutory obviousness-type double patenting as being 3 Both Application No. 15/656,495 and the instant application: were filed on the same date with similar specifications, name the same inventors, list the same real party in interest, and are being prosecuted by the same patent attorney. See 37 C.F.R. § 41.37(c)(1)(ii) (defining related appeals). Appeal 2019-003970 Application 15/656,691 3 unpatentable over claims 1–4 and 7–20 of Application No. 15/656,495. Final Act. 7. R2. Claims 1–2, 5, and 7–11 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) as anticipated by Weng (US 2007/0040989 A1, published Feb. 22, 2007). Final Act. 8–12. R3. Claim 3 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as obvious over Weng and Osterhout (US 2015/0309316 A1, published Oct. 29, 2015). Final Act. 12–13. R4. Claim 4 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as obvious over Weng and Yamaguchi (US 2017/0269360 A1, published Sept. 21, 2017). Final Act. 13. R5. Claims 6, 12–13, and 16–17 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as obvious over Weng and Destain (US 2010/0097699 A1, published Apr. 22, 2010). Final Act. 14–16. R6. Claim 14 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as obvious over Weng, Destain, and Osterhout. Final Act. 16–17. R7. Claim 15 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as obvious over Weng, Destain, and Yamaguchi. Final Act. 17. R8. Claims 18–20 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as obvious over Weng, Destain, and Hajjar (US 2007/0014318 A1, published Jan. 18, 2007). Final Act. 17–19. ANALYSIS We review the appealed rejections for error based upon the issues identified by Appellant and in light of the arguments and evidence produced thereon. Ex parte Frye, 94 USPQ2d 1072, 1075 (BPAI 2010) (precedential). Appeal 2019-003970 Application 15/656,691 4 To the extent Appellant has not advanced separate, substantive arguments for particular claims, or other issues, such arguments are waived. 37 C.F.R. § 41.37(c)(1)(iv). We have considered all of Appellant’s arguments and any evidence presented. We highlight and address specific findings and arguments for emphasis in our analysis below. Obviousness-Type Double Patenting Rejection R1 of Claims 1–4 and 7–20 The Examiner provisionally rejected claims 1–4 and 7–20 on the ground of non-statutory obviousness-type double patenting (OTDP) as being unpatentable over claims 1–4 and 7–20 of co-pending Application No. 15/656,495. Final Act. 7. The Examiner found that “the claims are very similar with the exception of the wording ‘reflecting’ versus ‘filtering,’”4 but that both “creat[e] a viewable image by filtering/reflecting specific wavelengths for specific colors to form on the substrate” and, thus, “provide the same function in light of the specification.” Id. Appellant argues that this rejection should be reversed because “no prima facie case of [OTDP] has been made.” Appeal Br. 4. In support, Appellant contends that “no actual claim interpretation appears on the record 4 For context, the only difference between claim 1 of the instant application and claim 1 of the ’495 application is the use of the phrase “passing to the substrate” in place of the term “reflecting.” Compare Appeal Br. 11 (Claims App.), with US Application No. 15/656,495, Appeal No. 2019-000464, Appellant’s Appeal Brief (Claims App.). Both claims recite a “substrate against which color video can be projected by [a] projector” and “a multichromic . . . coating disposed on the substrate” that selectively passes/reflects “only those wavelengths produced by the projector.” We understand the Examiner and Appellant to use “filtering” to refer to the claim phrase “passing to the substrate.” See Final Act. 7; Appeal Br. 3–4. Appeal 2019-003970 Application 15/656,691 5 and no actual citation to the instant specification to support the equivalence appears in the rejection.” Id. However, Appellant does not respond to the substance of the Examiner’s rejection. Appellant’s arguments do not persuade us of error because the Examiner established a prima facie case. “[T]he prima facie case is merely a procedural device that enables an appropriate shift of the burden of production.” Hyatt v. Dudas, 492 F.3d 1365, 1369–70 (Fed. Cir. 2007). It requires the Examiner to set forth the basis for a rejection and “adequately explain[] the shortcomings it perceives [in the application] so that the applicant is properly notified and able to respond.” Id.; see also In re Jung, 637 F.3d 1356, 1362 (Fed. Cir. 2011) (explaining that a prima facie case is not established when a rejection “is so uninformative that it prevents the applicant from recognizing and seeking to counter the grounds for rejection”). In the Final Office Action, the Examiner identified the basis for the rejection and provided an explanation that was sufficient to enable Appellant to substantively respond. Moreover, we perceive no reversible error in the Examiner’s OTDP rejection. “Obviousness-type double patenting is a judge-made doctrine that prevents an extension of the patent right beyond the statutory time limit.” In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 1431 (Fed. Cir. 1998). The ODTP inquiry asks whether the instant claims define “merely an obvious variation of” the claims of the ’495 application. In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 1052 (Fed. Cir. 1993). We agree with the Examiner (see Final Act. 7) that, in the context of the Specification, “passing to the substrate” (or “filtering”) is an obvious variation of “reflecting.” Indeed, as indicated by the Examiner (see id.), the Specification describes “filtering” and “reflecting” as two sides of Appeal 2019-003970 Application 15/656,691 6 the same coin. See, e.g., Spec. 1 (“As understood herein, selective reflectivity of light from the eScreen can be enhanced using multichromic particles coated onto the eScreen.”), 19 (“The coating material and thickness are established to selectively pass to the substrate 602 only those wavelengths produced by the projector, to accentuate selective wavelengths of light to be reflected.”); compare id. at 20 (“Moving to block 702, multichromic material is selected for the coating 600 that best passes to the projector screen substrate the wavelengths identified at block 700 . . . .”), with Fig. 7, item 702 (“Select coating best reflecting projector wavelengths.”) (emphases added). Accordingly, we are not persuaded of error in the Examiner’s conclusion that the instant application’s claims are not patentably distinct over the cited claims of the ’495 application. As a result, we affirm the Examiner’s OTDP rejection R1 of claims 1–4 and 7–20. Anticipation Rejection R2 of Claims 1–2, 5, and 7–11 Claims 1–2, 5, and 7–11 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) as anticipated by Weng. Final Act. 8–12. Appellant presents arguments for independent claims 1 and 7 and dependent claims 9 and 11. We address each claim in turn. Claim 1 Claim 1 recites a “substrate against which color video can be projected by at least one projector,” where the “substrate compris[es] pixels actuatable to establish grayscale values on the substrate.” Appeal Br. 11 (Claims App.). Claim 1 further recites a coating disposed on the substrate Appeal 2019-003970 Application 15/656,691 7 that “pass[es] to the substrate only the wavelengths of light produced by the projector.” Id. (referred to in this Decision as the “passing limitation”). The Examiner found Weng discloses all limitations of claim 1. Final Act. 8–10 (citing Weng at Figs. 1, 3, ¶¶ 16–18, 25–27, 44).5 In particular, the Examiner found Weng’s reflective layer 142 teaches the claimed “coating.” Id. at 9–10; see id. at 3–4. For the claimed “substrate,” the Examiner points to Weng’s screen 12, onto which grayscale component 24 is projected. Id. at 8–9; see id. at 2–3. As to the passing limitation, the Examiner states: (0016) noted that “screen 12 to selectively reflect and absorb ambient light and light 22 from projector 14 based upon the color or chrominance component of the image[.”] Also (0027) as shown by FIG. 3, for each pixel 220, reflective layer 142 is partitioned or divided into distinct reflectors 142a, 142b and 142c. Reflectors 142a, 142b and 142c are configured to reflect distinct colors or wavelengths of visible light such as red, green and blue or such as cyan, magenta and yellow colored light, respectively (If more detailed desired see (0044)). Final Act. 9 (emphasis omitted) (citing Weng ¶¶ 16, 27, 44); see id. at 3–4. Appellant presents several arguments on appeal. First, Appellant argues that Weng fails to disclose “pixels that are actuatable to establish grayscale values on the substrate,” as required by claim 1, because grayscale component 24 of Weng “is a component of image data” and “not a physical 5 According to Appellant, the Examiner relies upon two “different” embodiments in the rejection. See Appeal Br. 6 (identifying Figures 3–5 as a “different embodiment”). Appellant identifies (and we perceive) no error in the Examiner’s reference to both the general system (with screen 12 and projector 14, as illustrated in Figure 1) and a specific embodiment of it (as illustrated in Figure 3). See Weng ¶ 25 (Figures 3–5 illustrate details of a screen 112, which is “a particular embodiment of screen 12.”). Appeal 2019-003970 Application 15/656,691 8 thing.” Appeal Br. 4–5. The Examiner responds that screen 12 is “physical,” and it includes “pixels” as well as “the substrate and the layers on the substrate.” Ans. 4–5; see also Final Act. 2–3 (explaining projector 14 projects greyscale light onto screen 12), 8 (identifying screen 12 as the “substrate”). The Examiner further explains that “the substrate is controlled to selectively[,] per pixel[,] either accept the greyscale light in each color which passes to the substrate and reflect to a viewer, or the substrate is controlled to reject the greyscale light in each color which is absorbed and not reflected.” Ans. 5; see also Final Act. 3. Appellant replies that the Answer “evades Appellant’s observation . . . that the element 24 of Weng is not a substrate with pixels” (Reply Br. 2) and asserts, without support or explanation, that the Examiner’s further explanation is incorrect (id. at 4). Appellant’s arguments do not persuade us of error because they fail to address the rejection as articulated. The Examiner found that screen 12, not grayscale component 24, teaches the claimed “substrate.” The Examiner referenced component 24 to support his finding that screen 12 (the substrate) includes “pixels that are actuatable to establish grayscale values on the substrate,” as required by claim 1. Appellant fails to directly respond to the Examiner’s actual findings.6 See generally Reply. Br. 2–4. Accordingly, we 6 Appellant includes accusations of “misrepresentation” and “incoherence” and makes other inflammatory comments. See, e.g., Reply Br. 2–3. We disagree with Appellant’s characterizations. Also, such comments do not serve to persuade us of the merits of Appellant’s substantive arguments. Further, we remind Appellant that “Applicants and their attorneys or agents are required to conduct their business with the United States Patent and Trademark Office with decorum and courtesy.” 37 C.F.R. § 1.3. Appeal 2019-003970 Application 15/656,691 9 are not persuaded by Appellant’s argument that Weng fails to disclose the substrate required by claim 1. Second, Appellant argues that Weng’s reflective layer 142 does not disclose the passing limitation because it reflects “substantially all light without substantially filtering or absorbing light.” Appeal Br. 6–7 (quoting Weng ¶ 26). Appellant also argues that Weng’s paragraphs 16–18 fail to teach the passing limitation. Id. at 5–6; see Reply Br. 4. These arguments also do not persuade us of error because Appellant fails to address the rejection as articulated, which relied on reflectors 142a, 142b, and 142c in reflective layer 142 (as described in paragraph 27) to teach the passing limitation. See Final Act. 4, 9 (citing Weng ¶ 27); Ans. 6–7. As the Examiner found, Weng’s paragraph 27 teaches that reflectors 142a, 142b, and 142c reflect only selected wavelengths of light from the projector. Final Act. 4, 9; Ans. 6–7; see Weng ¶ 27. Appellant fails to address this teaching of Weng (see Appeal Br. 5–7; Reply Br. 4–6) and, consequently, fails to show error in the Examiner’s finding that it discloses the passing limitation. Therefore, based upon the findings above, on this record, we are not persuaded of error in the Examiner’s reliance on the cited prior art to disclose the disputed limitations of claim 1, nor do we find error in the Examiner’s resulting finding of anticipation. Accordingly, we sustain the Examiner’s anticipation rejection of independent claim 1. Claims 7 and 9 For independent claim 7 and dependent claim 9 (which depends from claim 7), Appellant relies upon arguments presented for claim 1. Appeal Appeal 2019-003970 Application 15/656,691 10 Br. 5–7; Reply Br. 4–6. These arguments, however, are not persuasive for the reasons discussed above. Consequently, Appellant’s arguments do not show error in the Examiner’s factual findings that claims 7 and 9 are anticipated. Accordingly, we sustain the Examiner’s anticipation rejection of independent claim 7 and dependent claim 9. Claims 2, 5, 8, and 10 Appellant does not address dependent claims 2, 5, 8, and 10. As a result, these claims stand or fall with the claims from which they depend. See In re King, 801 F.2d 1324, 1325 (Fed. Cir. 1986). Accordingly, because we affirm the Examiner’s anticipation rejection of independent claims 1 and 7, we affirm the Examiner’s anticipation rejection of dependent claims 2, 5, 8, and 10. Claim 11 Appellant contends that Weng fails to disclose the additionally recited limitations in dependent claim 11, stating only that “[t]here are no grayscale values of the substrate discussed in paragraph 16, much less is synchronization as claimed discussed.” Appeal Br. 7. Appellant does not provide further explanation or support for its argument. See id.7 7 In its reply, Appellant presents new arguments and explanation. Reply Br. 7. These new arguments are untimely and will not be considered. See 37 C.F.R. § 41.41(b)(2) (“Any argument raised in the reply brief which was not raised in the appeal brief, or is not responsive to an argument raised in the examiner’s answer . . . will not be considered by the Board for purposes of the present appeal, unless good cause is shown.”). In particular, these arguments address the rejection as originally provided in the Final Action, rather than positions raised in the Answer (compare Final Act. 5, with Appeal 2019-003970 Application 15/656,691 11 We are not persuaded of error. The Examiner found Weng discloses the additionally recited step of synchronization because of Weng’s “formation of the greyscale luminance values and matching with chrominance (color values) for each data in projection of video images as noted in (0016).” Final Act. 5; see id. at 12 (citing Weng ¶ 16). In paragraph 16, Weng explains that an image is separated into its color and grayscale components, and then both of these components are projected or displayed on the screen to create the image. Weng ¶ 16. Accordingly, the Examiner has presented a prima facie case of anticipation. Appellant fails to address the Examiner’s findings or explain why those findings are allegedly unclear or unsupported. By failing to do so, Appellant’s fails to show error in the rejection. See Ex Parte Belinne, 2009 WL 2477843, at *4 (BPAI Aug. 10, 2009) (informative); see also In re Lovin, 652 F.3d 1349, 1357 (Fed. Cir. 2011) (“[T]he Board reasonably interpreted Rule 41.37 to require more . . . than a mere recitation of the claim elements and a naked assertion that the corresponding elements were not found in the prior art.”). Accordingly, we sustain the Examiner’s anticipation rejection of dependent claim 11. Obviousness Rejection R3–R4 of Claims 3–4 The Examiner rejects dependent claims 3–4 over a combination of Weng and either Osterhout or Yamaguchi. Final Act. 12–13. Appellant Ans. 8), and Appellant has not shown good cause for failing to provide these arguments in the Appeal Brief. Appeal 2019-003970 Application 15/656,691 12 does not address dependent claims 3–4, and as a result, these claims stand or fall with the claims from which they depend. See King, 801 F.2d at 1325. Accordingly, because we affirm the Examiner’s anticipation rejection of independent claim 1, we affirm the Examiner’s obviousness rejection of dependent claims 3–4. Obviousness Rejection R5 of Claims 6, 12–13, and 16–17 Claims 6, 12–13, and 16–17 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as obvious over Weng and Destain. Final Act. 14–16. We are persuaded by certain of Appellant’s arguments, as explained below. We address dependent claim 6 (which depends from claim 1) and then independent claim 12 (and its dependent claims, i.e., claims 13 and 16–17). Claim 6 Claim 6 depends from claim 1 and further recites that the claimed coating comprises “multichromic filtering particles (MFP) that are linearly disposed in the coating along parallel lines of molecules.”8 Appeal Br. 12 (Claims App.). The Examiner found that Weng discloses multichromic filtering particles, and the Examiner found that Destain teaches the rest of this claim limitation because Destain describes a prismatic film that “includes parallel prismatic grooved lines.” Final Act. 14 (quoting Destain ¶ 17; citing Destain 8 The Specification describes “linearly disposed” by pointing to two patents, which it incorporates by reference. Spec. 19 (citing US Patent Nos. 6,013,123 and 5,764,248). These patents qualify as prior art. We have not considered (and do not decide), however, whether claim 6 would have been obvious over Weng in combination with either of these prior art patents. Appeal 2019-003970 Application 15/656,691 13 ¶ 5). Appellant argues that the cited portions of Destain “teach nothing about molecular alignment but rather discuss a film with parallel grooves in it. Grooves are not molecules.” Appeal Br. 8. We are persuaded of reversible error. We find the Examiner has not adequately explained (and it is unclear from our review) how the relied-upon disclosures in Destain, which discuss parallel grooves in a film, teach or suggest particles that are “linearly disposed . . . along parallel lines of the molecules,” as required by claim 6. See Final Act. 14. In addition, the Examiner’s Answer does not appear to address the arguments presented by Appellant. See Ans. 8–9. Therefore, based upon the findings above, on this record, we are persuaded of error in the Examiner’s reliance on the cited prior art combination to teach or suggest this limitation, such that we find error in the Examiner’s resulting legal conclusion of obviousness. Accordingly, we do not sustain the Examiner’s obviousness rejection of claim 6. Claims 12–13 and 16–17 Independent claim 12 recites a substrate “comprising screen pixels actuatable to establish grayscale values” and a multichromic substance disposed on the substrate. Appeal Br. 13 (Claims App.). In addition, claim 12 further specifies that “the color video pixels [are] larger than the screen pixels.” Id. (referred to in this Decision as the “size limitation”). The Examiner found Weng does not disclose the size limitation. Final Act. 15. But the Examiner found Destain teaches this limitation because: Destain (0030) discloses using Fig 2 that the film (coating filter) on the projection screen has a diffuser-reflector layer 110 and surface 175 is substantially a reflective roughened surface Appeal 2019-003970 Application 15/656,691 14 and provides a smaller pixel surface than the projected light pixel, as cited “raised micro-features 205 (screen pixels), to be substantially smaller than the target pixel area of light 150 to be projected on the screen. E.g., in some preferred embodiments, the micro-features 205 are about 0.1 to 0.2 the size of a pixel.” Final Act. 15 (emphasis added) (quoting Destain ¶ 30). Appellant argues that the cited portions of Destain fail to teach the size limitation. Appeal Br. 8–9. In particular, Appellant submits that Destain’s paragraph 30 “teaches a roughened diffuser-reflector layer with raised micro-features that are smaller than the target pixel area of light to be projected on the screen.” Id. at 9. Appellant explains that “[r]aised micro- features randomly distributed on a diffuser-reflector layer are not screen pixels,” as required by the size limitation of claim 12. Id. We are persuaded of reversible error. We find the Examiner has not adequately explained (and it is unclear from our review) how the relied-upon disclosures in Destain, which describe irregularities in a screen’s surface (i.e., raised micro-features 205), teach or suggest “screen pixels,” as required by claim 12. See Final Act. 15–16. In addition, the Examiner’s Answer does not appear to address the arguments presented by Appellant. See Ans. 8–9. Therefore, based upon the findings above, on this record, we are persuaded of error in the Examiner’s reliance on the cited prior art combination to teach or suggest the size limitation, such that we find error in the Examiner’s resulting legal conclusion of obviousness. Accordingly, we do not sustain the Examiner’s obviousness rejection of independent claim 12, or its respective dependent claims (i.e., claims 13 and 16–17). Appeal 2019-003970 Application 15/656,691 15 Obviousness Rejection R6–R8 of Claims 14–15, and 18–20 The Examiner rejects dependent claims 14–15 and 18–20 over a combination of Weng, Destain, and one of Osterhout, Yamaguchi, and Hajjar. Final Act. 16–19. Each of claims 14–15 and 18–20 depend, directly or indirectly, from independent claim 12, and the Examiner’s rejection of these claims relies on Destain in the same erroneous manner discussed above in the context of claim 12. Accordingly, because we reverse the Examiner’s obviousness rejection of independent claim 12, we also reverse the Examiner’s obviousness rejection of dependent claims 14–15 and 18–20. Appeal 2019-003970 Application 15/656,691 16 CONCLUSION In summary: Claims Rejected 35 U.S.C. § Reference(s)/Basis Affirmed Reversed 1–4, 7–20 Provisional Obviousness-Type Double Patenting 1–4, 7–20 1–2, 5, 7–11 102 Weng 1–2, 5, 7–11 3 103 Weng, Osterhout 3 4 103 Weng, Yamaguchi 4 6, 12–13, 16–17 103 Weng, Destain 6, 12–13, 16–17 14 103 Weng, Destain, Osterhout 14 15 103 Weng, Destain, Yamaguchi 15 18–20 103 Weng, Destain, Hajjar 18–20 Overall Outcome 1–5, 7–20 6 TIME PERIOD FOR RESPONSE No time period for taking any subsequent action in connection with this appeal may be extended under 37 C.F.R. § 1.136(a)(1)(iv). See 37 C.F.R. § 41.50(f). AFFIRMED-IN-PART Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation