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
This Office Action is in response to the Amendment filed on 01/29/2026.
Status of the Claims:
Claim(s) 1, 3 and 8 has/have been amended.
Claim(s) 2 and 9 has/have been canceled. Claim(s) 10-17 has/have been previously canceled.
Claim(s) 1 and 3-8 is/are pending in this Office Action.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1 and 3-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2023/0418021 to WANG et al. (hereinafter WANG) in view of JP 2003230028 to AIZAWA (hereinafter AIZAWA) and US 2020/0021719 to KIM et al. (hereinafter KIM).
Regarding independent claim 1, WANG teaches a mobile phone camera module, comprising:
a bracket assembly having an accommodation cavity (lens holder 12 in Figure 1),
a … circuit board fixed to a first side of the bracket assembly (printed circuit board PCB 20 fixed to the substrate 11 and fixed to the first side of the lens holder (bottom in Fig. 1)),
a chip accommodated in the accommodation cavity and electrically connected to the ... circuit board (image sensor 60 electrically connected to PCB 20 and accommodated in the cavity, see Fig. 1 and step S201 of Fig. 20),
a lens assembly disposed on a second side of the bracket assembly and disposed opposite to the … circuit board (lens module 30 disposed on second side of lens holder 12 (top in Fig. 1)), and
a connecting portion connecting the lens assembly to the second side of the bracket assembly (bonding layer 50 connecting lens module 30 and lens holder 12, see Fig. 1 and par. [0081]);
the connecting portion being disposed between the bracket assembly and the lens assembly (bonding layer 50 connecting lens module 30 and lens holder 12, see Fig. 1 and par. [0081]);
wherein an outer diameter of the bracket assembly is the same as an outer diameter of the lens assembly, (lens module 30 outer diameter is the same as the lens holder 12 outer diameter, see WANG Fig. 1), an outer diameter of the accommodation cavity is smaller than the outer diameter of the lens assembly (the outer diameter of the lens holder 12 is smaller than the outer diameter of the lens module 30, see Fig. 1);
But WANG fails to clearly specify that the circuit board is a flexible circuit board, and
“further comprising a capacitor-resistor assembly positioned outside the accommodation cavity;
wherein the projections of the lens assembly and the bracket assembly along the optical axis do not overlap with the capacitor-resistor assembly; and
further comprising an insulating adhesive layer coated on the flexible circuit board and the capacitor-resistor assembly;
wherein the insulating adhesive layer encapsulates the capacitor-resistor assembly on the flexible circuit board”.
However, AIZAWA teaches a small modular camera (see par. [0015]) including a flexible substrate 12. Also, AIZAWA teaches “further comprising a capacitor-resistor assembly positioned outside the accommodation cavity;
wherein the projections of the lens assembly and the bracket assembly along the optical axis do not overlap with the capacitor-resistor assembly (The flexible substrate 12 on which the module camera 13 according to the present invention is mounted is folded in half, and an IC bare chip 11, resistors, capacitors, etc. are mounted on the opposite sides of the folded portion. By folding it in half in this way, it can be incorporated into a thin and small mobile phone. See par. [0015])”.
References are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor and/or are reasonably pertinent to the particular problem with which the applicant was concerned because they relate to camera modules.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the above camera module as taught by WANG, by combining the components as taught by AIZAWA.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this modification in order to t can be incorporated into a thin and small mobile phone as taught by AIZAWA par. [0015].
WANG in view of AIZAWA fail to disclose “further comprising an insulating adhesive layer coated on the flexible circuit board and the capacitor-resistor assembly;
wherein the insulating adhesive layer encapsulates the capacitor-resistor assembly on the … board”.
However, KIM teaches a camera module 100 “further comprising an insulating adhesive layer coated on the flexible circuit board and the capacitor-resistor assembly (including sealing member 170 configured to seal the passive components 160 on the substrate 140, the sealing member coats the passive components 160, the sealing member may be formed by an adhesive, see Fig. 1 and par. [0050]);
wherein the insulating adhesive layer encapsulates the capacitor-resistor assembly on the … board (the sealing member encapsulates the passive component 160, see par. [0050] and Fig. 1. Note that passive components are capacitors, resistors, etc.)”.
References are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor and/or are reasonably pertinent to the particular problem with which the applicant was concerned because they relate to camera modules.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the above camera module as taught by WANG in view of AIZAWA, by combining the components and steps, as taught by KIM.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this modification in order to protect the passive component from external impact and to improve adhesive force between the bottom housing 130 and the substrate 140 as taught by KIM par. [0050].
Regarding claim 3, WANG in view of AIZAWA and KIM teaches the mobile phone camera module according to claim 1, wherein the connecting portion has a continuous annular structure (bonding layer 50 has an annular shape such as the lens module 30 and lens holder 12, see WANG par. [0081]).
Regarding claim 4, WANG in view of AIZAWA and KIM teaches the mobile phone camera module according to claim 3, wherein an outer diameter of the connecting portion is the same as an outer diameter of the bracket assembly (bonding layer 50 outer diameter is the same as the lens holder 12 of base 10 outer diameter, see WANG Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 5, WANG in view of AIZAWA and KIM teaches the mobile phone camera module according to claim 1, wherein the connecting portion is an adhesive layer (bonding layer 50 is an adhesive layer, see WANG par. [0084]).
Regarding claim 6, WANG in view of AIZAWA and KIM teaches the mobile phone camera module according to claim 5, wherein the adhesive layer is made of AA glue (can be AA glue, see WANG pars. [0002 and 0084]).
Regarding claim 7, WANG in view of AIZAWA and KIM teaches the mobile phone camera module according to claim 1, wherein a size of the accommodation cavity matches a size of the chip (image sensor 60 electrically connected to PCB 20 and accommodated in the cavity, see WANG Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 8, WANG in view of AIZAWA and KIM teaches the mobile phone camera module according to claim 1, wherein the flexible circuit board comprises a bending area disposed in correspondence with the bracket assembly and a non-bending area connected to the bending area, and the capacitor-resistor assembly is fixed on the non-bending area (AIZAWA components are disposed on the non-bending areas of the flexible substrate, see AIZAWA Fig. 3).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANGEL L GARCES-RIVERA whose telephone number is (571)270-7268. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9AM-5PM ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sinh Tran can be reached at 571-727-7564. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANGEL L GARCES-RIVERA/Examiner, Art Unit 2637
/SINH TRAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2637
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