DETAILED ACTION
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 and 4-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by Satake et al. (US 2015/0272434).
Regarding claim 1, Satake (figure 2) discloses a fundus photographing apparatus 200 comprising a photographing unit including a front photographing optical system 100 that forms, on a pupil of an examinee's eye E, an illuminating light projection region and an illuminating light receiving region next to each other in a first direction 50-53, the front photographing optical system scanning a fundus of the examinee's eye with illuminating light to acquire a two-dimensional reflection image of the fundus, a driver (operation input unit, mouse, keyboard, [0130]) that moves the photographing unit relative to the examinee's eye, and a processor 90 that switches, between a first alignment mode (arrow direction in the region near reference 30) and a second alignment mode (arrow direction in the region near reference 45/46), a control 74 of guiding a positional relation (movement of the joystick 74a) between the examinee's eye and the photographing unit, the positional relation being guided to a first alignment state (arrow direction in the region near reference 30) in a predetermined positional relationship in the first alignment mode, and being guided to a second alignment state (arrow direction in the region near reference 45/46) displaced at least in a direction crossing the first direction from the first alignment state in the second alignment mode ([0041]-[0042]).
Regarding claim 2, Satake (figure 2) further discloses wherein the light projection region and the light receiving region formed next to each other in the first direction are non-concentrically arranged in line (see region 50-53).
Regarding claim 4, Satake (figure 2) further discloses wherein the processor acquires pupil information as information regarding a pupil region of the examinee's eye, and guides the positional relation in consideration of the pupil information ([0139]).
Regarding claim 5, Satake (figure 2) further discloses wherein the processor acquires, as the pupil information, information regarding a pupil size of the examinee's eye, and according to the pupil size, changes the control of guiding the positional relation based on a fundus observation image which is the two- dimensional reflection image ([0139]).
Regarding claim 6, Satake (figure 2) further discloses wherein the photographing unit further includes an OCT optical system 200 that obtains, by photographing, OCT data on the fundus based on an optical interference principle ([0036)], and the processor obtains, by photographing, the OCT data on the fundus and the two-dimensional reflection image of the fundus in the second alignment state in the second alignment mode ([0041)].
Regarding claim 7, Satake (figure 2) further comprising an observing optical system 11 that projects observation light which is infrared light onto the fundus of the examinee's eye and receives the observation light from the examinee's eye to acquire a fundus observation image which is a two-dimensional reflection image based on the observation light, wherein the processor guides, based on the fundus observation image, the positional relation between the examinee's eye and the photographing unit to the second alignment state in the second alignment mode ([0113)].
Regarding claim 8, Satake (figure 2) further discloses wherein the photographing unit further includes a target projecting optical system that projects, onto the fundus, a target light flux for adjusting a photographing condition for the front photographing optical system, and the processor detects a target image formed on the fundus observation image based on the target light flux, and guides the positional relation based on the target image ([0113)].
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 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Satake et al. (US 2015/0272434), as applied to claim 1.
Regarding claim 3, Satake (figure 2) further discloses wherein the processor acquires information regarding the examinee's eye, and based on the information, selectively sets any of the first alignment mode and the second alignment mode ([0139]). Satake discloses all the claimed limitations except that the information is opacity information which is information regarding opacity in optic media of the examinee's eye. Although Satake generally discloses without going into deep details that the information is depth data of the examinee’s eye, the opacity would have been well within the knowledge of one skilled in the art. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to select the opacity information for selective purpose.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACK DINH whose telephone number is (571)272-2327. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9am-5pm.
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/JACK DINH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872 3/15/26