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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on April 30, 2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 2, 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Imai et al (U.S. Patent Publication 2016/0154224), in view of Arimoto et al (U.S. Patent Publication 2006/0268426), further in view of Kim et al (U.S. Patent Publication 2021/0063702).
With regard to independent claim 1, although Imai et al teaches a camera (page 7, paragraph [0133], lines 13-14 and Figure 1) comprising: an image sensor (Figure 1, element IM); a lens assembly having an optical axis and comprising: a first lens group (Figure 1, element Gr1) having negative refractive power (page 4, paragraph [0084], lines 3-4); comprising: a first set of lens elements (Figure 1, elements L1, L2 and L3) that is fixed in position on the optical axis (Figure 1, element m1), the first set of lens elements comprising: a first lens element (Figure 1, element L1); a second lens element immediately adjacent to the first lens element of the first set of lens elements (Figure 1, element L2); and a third lens element immediately adjacent to the second lens element of the first set of lens elements (Figure 1, element L3) and having a negative refractive power (page 6, paragraph [0123], lines 3-4); a second lens group (Figure 1, element Gr2) moveable along the optical axis between the first lens group and the image sensor (Figure 1, element m2), having positive refractive power (page 4, paragraph [0084], lines 4-5), and comprising a second set of lens elements (Figure 1, elements L4 and L5); and a third lens group (Figure 1, element Gr3) moveable along the optical axis between the first lens group and the image sensor (Figure 1, element m3), having negative refractive power (page 4, paragraph [0084], lines 5-6), and comprising a third set of lens elements (Figure 1, element L6); and a set of actuators (Figure 21, element 6); and a controller (Figure 21, element 5), wherein: the controller is configured to control the set of actuators to move the second lens group and the third lens group along the optical axis to set a focal length of the lens assembly within a focal range of the lens assembly (page 4, paragraph [0088]), Imai et al fails to teach such a camera further comprising a light-folding element immediately adjacent to the first lens element and wherein second lens group comprises an aperture layer defining an aperture.
In a related endeavor, Arimoto et al teaches a camera (Figure 5(a) and page 2, paragraph [0020]) comprising: an image sensor (page 1, paragraph [0002]); and a lens assembly having an optical axis (Figures 1(a)-(c)) and comprising: (Figure 1(a), element Gr1) a first lens group having negative refractive power (page 1, paragraph [0013]) and comprising a first set of lens elements (Figure 1(a), elements L1, L2 and L3) that is fixed in position on the optical axis (page 1, paragraph [0006]); a second lens group immediately adjacent the first lens group (Figure 1(a), element Gr2), moveable along the optical axis (page 1, paragraph [0013]), having positive refractive power (page 1, paragraph [0013]), and comprising a second set of lens elements (Figure 1(a), elements L4, L5 and L6) and an aperture layer defining an aperture (Figure 1(a) element ST and page 2, paragraph [0023], lines 12-14); and a third lens group immediately adjacent the [third] lens group (Figure 1(a), element Gr3), moveable along the optical axis (page 1, paragraph ][0013]), having negative refractive power (page 1, paragraph [0013]), and comprising a third set of lens elements (Figure 1(a), elements L7 and L8), such that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to modify the camera, as taught by Imai et al, with the aperture stop positioned in the second lens group, as taught by Arimoto et al, to provide a compact sized zoom optical system (page 3, paragraph [0041]).
Although Imai et al in view of Arimoto et al teach all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to independent claim 1, both fail to explicitly teach a light-folding element configured to receive light from an object side of the lens assembly and redirect the light along the optical axis immediately adjacent to the light-folding element.
In a related endeavor, Kim et al teaches a camera (page 1, paragraph [0022] and Figure 1) comprising: an image sensor (Figure 1, element 190); and a lens assembly having an optical axis and comprising: a first lens group (Figure 1, element G1) having negative refractive power (page 3, paragraph [0065], lines 6-7) and comprising: a light-folding element configured to receive light from an object side of the lens assembly and redirect the light along the optical axis immediately adjacent to the light-folding element (Figure 1, element 100); and a first set of lens elements (Figure 1, elements 110 and 120) that is fixed in position on the optical axis (page 1, paragraph [0019], lines 3-4); a second lens group immediate adjacent the first lens group (Figure 1, element G2), moveable along the optical axis (page 1, paragraph [0019], lines 4-7), having positive refractive power (page 3, paragraph [0066], lines 8-9), and comprising a second set of lens elements (Figure 1, elements 130, 140 and 150); and a third lens group (Figure 1, element G3) moveable along the optical axis (page 1, paragraph [0019], lines 8-10), having negative refractive power (page 3, paragraph [0067], lines 6-7), and comprising a third set of lens elements (Figure 1, elements 160 and 170), such that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective fling date of the instant invention to modify the optical system, as taught by Imai et al, in view of Arimoto et al, with the light-folding element, as taught by Kim et al, to bend the optical axis and provide compactness (page 5, paragraph [0084]).
With regard to dependent claim 2, although Imai et al, in view of Arimoto et al, further in view of Kim et al teach all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to independent claim 1, all fail to explicitly teach wherein the controller is configured to control the set of actuators to move the third lens group along the optical axis while maintaining a position of the second lens group to focus the camera. However, Imai et al does teach an alternate focusing scheme, and further teaches that the focusing method is not limited to the disclosed method (page 4, paragraph [0083], line 13), such that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention, without undo experimentation, to modify the optical system, as taught by Imai et al, so that the third lens group is the focusing lens group, to provide a focused image to the image plane.
With regard to dependent claim 5, Imai et al, and Arimoto et al, further in view of Kim et al teach all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to independent claim 1, wherein Imai et al further teaches such a camera wherein an f-number of the lens assembly is less than or equal to 3.0 across the focal range (page 8, paragraph [0134], F number data wherein the F number ranges from 2.53 to 2.00).
With regard to dependent claim 6, Imai et al, and Arimoto et al, further in view of Kim et al teach all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to dependent claim 5, wherein Imai et al teaches such a camera wherein an f-number of the lens assembly is between f/2.2 and f/3.0 across the focal range (page 8, paragraph [0134], F number data wherein the F number ranges from 2.53 to 2.00).
With regard to dependent claim 7, Imai et al, and Arimoto et al, further in view of Kim et al teach all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to independent claim 1, wherein Imai et al teaches such a camera wherein the focal range includes at least a range of 35 mm equivalent focal lengths between 72 mm and 108 mm (page 8, paragraph [0134], Focal length data and Image height data, wherein a range of 35 mm equivalent focal lengths are 65 to 129).
Claims 8, 11, 12 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gong et al (U.S. Patent Publication 2023/0236395) in view of Arimoto et al (U.S. Patent Publication 2006/0268426), further in view of Kim et al (U.S. Patent Publication 2021/0063702).
With regard to independent claim 8, although Gong et al teaches an optical system (page 1, paragraph [0002] and Figure 6) comprising: an image sensor (Figure 6, element 99); and a lens assembly having an optical axis and comprising: a first lens group (Figure 6, element 1) having negative refractive power (page 5, paragraph [0074], lines 3-4) and comprising: a first set of lens elements (Figure 6, elements 11, 12 and 13) that is fixed in position on the optical axis (page 13, paragraph [0215], lines 6-7); the first set of lens elements comprises: a first lens element (Figure 6, element 11); a second lens element immediately adjacent to the first lens element of the first set of lens elements (Figure 6, element 12); and a third lens element immediately adjacent to the second lens element of the first set of lens elements (Figure 6, element 13) and having a negative refractive power (page 5, paragraph [0069], lines 3-4); a second lens group immediate adjacent the first lens group (Figure 6, element 2), moveable along the optical axis (page 13, paragraph [0215], lines 10-11), having positive refractive power (page 5, paragraph [0074], lines 4-5), and comprising a second set of lens elements (Figure 6, elements 22 and 21); and a third lens group (Figure 6, element 3) moveable along the optical axis (page 13, paragraph [0215], lines 15-16), having negative refractive power (page 5, paragraph [0074], lines 5-6), and comprising a third set of lens elements (Figure 6, elements 32 and 31), Gong et al fails to teach such a camera further comprising a light-folding element immediately adjacent to the first lens element and wherein second lens group comprises an aperture layer defining an aperture.
In a related endeavor, Arimoto et al teaches a camera (Figure 5(a) and page 2, paragraph [0020]) comprising: an image sensor (page 1, paragraph [0002]); and a lens assembly having an optical axis (Figures 1(a)-(c)) and comprising: (Figure 1(a), element Gr1) a first lens group having negative refractive power (page 1, paragraph [0013]) and comprising a first set of lens elements (Figure 1(a), elements L1, L2 and L3) that is fixed in position on the optical axis (page 1, paragraph [0006]); a second lens group immediately adjacent the first lens group (Figure 1(a), element Gr2), moveable along the optical axis (page 1, paragraph [0013]), having positive refractive power (page 1, paragraph [0013]), and comprising a second set of lens elements (Figure 1(a), elements L4, L5 and L6) and an aperture layer defining an aperture (Figure 1(a) element ST and page 2, paragraph [0023], lines 12-14); and a third lens group immediately adjacent the [third] lens group (Figure 1(a), element Gr3), moveable along the optical axis (page 1, paragraph ][0013]), having negative refractive power (page 1, paragraph [0013]), and comprising a third set of lens elements (Figure 1(a), elements L7 and L8), such that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to modify the camera, as taught by Gong et al, with the aperture stop positioned in the second lens group, as taught by Arimoto et al, to provide a compact sized zoom optical system (page 3, paragraph [0041]).
Although Gong et al, in view of Arimoto et al teach all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to independent claim 8, both fail to explicitly teach a light-folding element configured to receive light from an object side of the lens assembly and redirect the light along the optical axis immediately adjacent to the light-folding element.
In a related endeavor, Kim et al teaches a camera (page 1, paragraph [0022] and Figure 1) comprising: an image sensor (Figure 1, element 190); and a lens assembly having an optical axis and comprising: a first lens group (Figure 1, element G1) having negative refractive power (page 3, paragraph [0065], lines 6-7) and comprising: a light-folding element configured to receive light from an object side of the lens assembly and redirect the light along the optical axis immediately adjacent to the light-folding element (Figure 1, element 100); and a first set of lens elements (Figure 1, elements 110 and 120) that is fixed in position on the optical axis (page 1, paragraph [0019], lines 3-4); a second lens group immediate adjacent the first lens group (Figure 1, element G2), moveable along the optical axis (page 1, paragraph [0019], lines 4-7), having positive refractive power (page 3, paragraph [0066], lines 8-9), and comprising a second set of lens elements (Figure 1, elements 130, 140 and 150); and a third lens group (Figure 1, element G3) moveable along the optical axis (page 1, paragraph [0019], lines 8-10), having negative refractive power (page 3, paragraph [0067], lines 6-7), and comprising a third set of lens elements (Figure 1, elements 160 and 170), such that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective fling date of the instant invention to modify the optical system, as taught by Gong et al, in view of Arimoto et al, with the light-folding element, as taught by Kim et al, to bend the optical axis and provide compactness (page 5, paragraph [0084]).
With regard to dependent claim 11, Gong et al, in view of Arimoto et al, further in view of Kim et al teach all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to independent claim 8, wherein Gong et al further teaches such a camera wherein the second set of lens elements comprises a first lens element (Figure 6, element 21) having positive refractive power (page 5, paragraph [0071], lines 1-4) and a second lens element (Figure 6, element 22) having negative refractive power (page 5, paragraph [0070], lines 1-4).
With regard to dependent claim 12, Gong et al, in view of Arimoto et al, further in view of Kim et al teach all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to dependent claim 11, wherein Gong et al further teaches such a camera wherein the first lens element of the second set of lens elements is immediately adjacent the first lens group (Figure 6, element 22 is adjacent element 1).
With regard to dependent claim 14, Gong et al, in view of Arimoto et al, further in view of Kim et al teach all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to independent claim 8, wherein Kim et al further teaches such a camera wherein the aperture layer is positioned between the first set of lens elements and the second set of lens elements (page 4, paragraph [0073], lines 5-7).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 15-18 and 20 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art taken either singularly or in combination fails to anticipate or fairly suggest the limitations of the independent claims, in such a manner that a rejection under 35 U.S.C. §102 or §103 would be proper. Although the prior art teaches a lens assembly having an optical axis and comprising: a first lens group having negative refractive power; a second lens group moveable along the optical axis and having positive refractive power, and comprising an aperture layer defining an aperture; and a third lens group moveable along the optical axis and having negative refractive power, wherein: the first lens group comprises; a light-folding element; and a first lens element and fixed in position on the optical axis immediately adjacent to the light-folding element; a second lens element positioned immediately adjacent to the first lens element of the first lens group; and a third lens element immediately adjacent to the second lens element of the first lens group and having a negative refractive power; the prior art fails to simultaneously teach such a lens assembly wherein: the first lens element has positive refractive power: the second lens group comprises a first lens element having positive refractive power and immediately adjacent the first lens group; and the third lens group comprises a first lens element having positive refractive power and immediately adjacent the second lens group.
With regard to dependent claims 16, 17 and 20, claims 16, 17 and 20 are allowable as they depend, directly or indirectly, from independent claim 15 and therefore inherit all of the limitations of the claim from which they depend.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DARRYL J COLLINS whose telephone number is (571) 272-2325. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 5:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ricky L Mack can be reached at 571-272-2333. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DARRYL J COLLINS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872
14 May 2026
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