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 .
DETAILED ACTION
The amended claims submitted June 29, 2026 in response to the office action mailed May 1, 2026 are under consideration. Claims 1-2, 4-8, 10-11 and 13-20 are pending, of which claims 1-2, 4-8, 10-11 and 13 are elected, and claims 14-20 are withdrawn as being drawn to a non-elected invention.
Claims 3, 9 and 12 are cancelled.
Examiner Notes
Examiner cites particular columns and line numbers in the references as applied to the claims below for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested that, in preparing responses, the applicant fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The 35 USC §112 rejections of the previous office action have been overcome by the amendments to the claims.
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 and 4-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Migliaccio US 5,311,611 (hereafter Migliaccio).
Regarding claim 1, Migliaccio teaches “A camera module (see elements thereof that follow), comprising:
an image sensor (col. 2 line 64 to col. 3 line 2: “CCD array”);
a lens assembly (col. 2 line 64 to col. 3 line 2: “wide angle imaging ball lens”), disposed on the image sensor (col. 2 line 64 to col. 3 line 2: "It is a further object of the present invention to provide a wide angle imaging ball lens optically immersed with a fiber optic faceplate and coupled to a CCD array such that the lens provides a flat focal plane over an extended spectral range corresponding to the size of the surface of the CCD array to which the fiber optic faceplate is optically coupled."), and comprising a plurality of lenses (first element 6 and second element 12); and
an optical path member (fiber optic faceplate 22) disposed between the image sensor and the lens assembly (see Fig. 1 where the object-side is 2 and the image-side is 4 and thus 22 is between 12 and the CCD array, and col. 2 line 64 to col. 3 line 2 which explains that the purpose of the fiber optic plate is to map the curved plane of the image-side of the second lens element to a flat surface corresponding to the flat surface of a CCD.), the optical path member including either a plurality of optical fibers or a plurality of optical waveguides (bundles of optical fibers 28. Note that optical fibers are a type of optical waveguide, thus Migliaccio teaches both a plurality of optical fibers and a plurality of optical waveguides),
wherein the optical path member is at least partially in contact with a first surface of a first lens (22 is at least partially in contact with second element 12 as shown in Fig. 1 see col. 5 lines 62-64: “interface between convex surface 16 of the second lens element 12 and concave surface 24 of the fiber optic faceplate 22 (third element).” See also col. 2 line 64 to col. 3 line 2: "It is a further object of the present invention to provide a wide angle imaging ball lens optically immersed with a fiber optic faceplate”. Between the depiction of 16 touching 24 in Fig. 1 and the language “interface” and “immersed in” one would reasonably construe 16 and 24 as being at least partially in contact with one another.) adjacent to the image sensor among the plurality of lenses of the lens assembly (second element 12 is adjacent to the image sensor among the lenses of the wide angle imaging ball lens), and
wherein the first surface of the first lens has a concave or convex portion (col. 5 lines 62-64: “convex surface 16 of the second lens element 12”) and a surface of the optical path member that is at least partially in contact with the first surface of the first lens has an opposite concave or convex shape (col. 5 lines 62-64: “interface between convex surface 16 of the second lens element 12 and concave surface 24 of the fiber optic faceplate 22 (third element).”) corresponding to the concave or convex portion of the first lens (see Fig. 1).”
Regarding claim 4, Migliaccio teaches “The camera module of claim 1, wherein the optical path member comprises a plurality of optical fibers (bundle of optical fibers 28).”
Regarding claim 5, Migliaccio teaches “The camera module of claim 4, wherein the optical fibers extend in parallel with a direction perpendicular to a surface of the image sensor (see Fig. 1).”
Regarding claim 6, Migliaccio teaches “The camera module of claim 1, wherein the optical path member comprises a plurality of optical waveguides (bundles of optical fibers 28. Note that optical fibers are a type of optical waveguide).”
Regarding claim 7, Migliaccio teaches “The camera module of claim 6, wherein the optical waveguides extend in parallel with a direction perpendicular to a surface of the image sensor (see Fig. 1).”
Claims 1 and 4-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Choi et al. US 2009/0127439 A1 (hereafter Choi).
Regarding claim 1, Choi teaches “A camera module (image sensing apparatus of Fig. 1 see elements thereof below), comprising:
an image sensor (image sensor 30);
a lens assembly (imaging optical lens group 10 and microlenses 23), disposed on the image sensor (see Fig. 1, 23 is disposed on 24 which is disposed on 30 and 10 is disposed “on” 30 in that it is part of the imaging system that images light onto 30), and comprising a plurality of lenses (paragraph [0033]: “The imaging optical lens group 10 may include at least one lens” and paragraph [0034]: “A plurality of micro lenses 23”); and
an optical path member (plurality of waveguides 24 and glass plate 29) disposed between the image sensor and the lens assembly (see Fig. 1), the optical path member including either a plurality of optical fibers or a plurality of optical waveguides (24 is a plurality of waveguides, which have cores 26, boundary surface 28 and matrix 27 see paragraph [0039] and thus would normally be considered to be optical fibers.),
wherein the optical path member is configured to be at least partially in contact with a first surface of a first lens adjacent to the image sensor among the plurality of lenses of the lens assembly (see e.g. Fig. 1 and paragraph [0037]: “A plurality of waveguides 24 is formed beneath the plurality of micro lenses 23 as illustrated in FIG. 3 so that each of the plurality of waveguides 24 corresponds to each of the plurality of micro lenses 23”, thus the entrance surface of waveguides 24 are in contact with the exit surfaces of the microlenses 23), and
wherein the first surface of the first lens has a concave or convex portion (given the overall concavely curved shape of 24, see Fig. 1 and paragraph [0037], the exit surfaces of the microlenses 23 is collectively a convexly curved first surface. Moreover the exit surface of each microlens can be considered to be convexly curved in that it forms part of the overall convexly curved interface between 23 and 24) and a surface of the optical path member that is at least partially in contact with the first surface of the first lens has an opposite concave or convex shape corresponding to the concave or convex portion of the first lens (e.g. see the overall concavely curved shape of 24, in Fig. 1 and paragraph [0037] which notes that the outermost waveguides have a longest length L2 relative to the central length L1.).”
Regarding claim 4, Choi teaches “The camera module of claim 1, wherein the optical path member comprises a plurality of optical fibers (24 is a plurality of waveguides, which have cores 26, boundary surface 28 and matrix 27 see paragraph [0039] and thus would normally be considered to be optical fibers.).”
Regarding claim 5, Choi teaches “The camera module of claim 4, wherein the optical fibers extend in parallel with a direction perpendicular to a surface of the image sensor (paragraph [0037]: “the plurality of waveguides 24 may be formed perpendicularly with respect to the bottom surface 22 of the artificial ommatidia unit 20 as illustrated in FIG. 1.”).”
Regarding claim 6, Choi teaches “The camera module of claim 1, wherein the optical path member comprises a plurality of optical waveguides (paragraph [0037]: “the plurality of waveguides 24).”
Regarding claim 7, Choi teaches “The camera module of claim 6, wherein the optical waveguides extend in parallel with a direction perpendicular to a surface of the image sensor (paragraph [0037]: “the plurality of waveguides 24 may be formed perpendicularly with respect to the bottom surface 22 of the artificial ommatidia unit 20 as illustrated in FIG. 1.”).”
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 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Migliaccio US 5,311,611 (hereafter Migliaccio) as applied to claim 1 above and further in view of Ishihara US 9,104,018 B2.
Regarding claim 2, Migliaccio teaches “The camera module of claim 1,” however, Migliaccio fails to explicitly teach “wherein the optical path member is disposed directly on the image sensor”.
Note that Migliaccio does teach wherein the optical path member is configured to be disposed directly on the image sensor (col. 5 lines 66 to col. 6 line 1: “the faceplate’s planar surface 26… mapped into a flat focal plane at planar surface 26.” Thus, 22 is configured to be disposed directly on a CCD in that the image-side surface thereof is planar and therefor could be disposed directly on the flat focal plane of the CCD.). Thus Migliaccio is merely silent as to whether the optical path member and the image sensor are in contact or not, and the optical path member is configured such that it could easily be made to be in contact with the image sensor.
Ishihara teaches (claim 1) "A camera module (the imaging apparatus of Fig. 7), comprising:
an image sensor (image sensor ICD);
a lens assembly (lenses G1-G5), disposed on the image sensor (see Fig. 7), and comprising a plurality of lenses (G1-G5 are five lenses); and
an optical path member (optical transmission unit OTM, see col. 20 lines 49-53) disposed between the image sensor and the lens assembly (see Figs. 1 and 7), the optical path member including either a plurality of optical fibers or a plurality of optical waveguides (col. 20 lines 49-53: "The optical transmission unit OTM of this example is an image fiber formed of bound optical fibers of a few micron pitch. This is a plurality of optical fibers, and because optical fibers are waveguides, is also a plurality of optical waveguides)…
a first lens (G5) adjacent to the image sensor among the plurality of lenses of the lens assembly (G5 is closest to the ICD in Fig. 7), and
wherein the first surface of the first lens has a concave or convex portion (see Fig. 7 and col. 24 lines 29-30: “fifth lens G5 as a meniscus lens having a convex surface facing the image side”) and a surface of the optical path member… has an opposite concave or convex shape corresponding to the concave or convex portion of the first lens (see concave incident surface of OTM in Fig. 7).”
(claim 2) “wherein the optical path member is disposed directly on the image sensor (col. 25 lines 1-2: “the exit surface of the optical transmission unit OTM is connected to the image sensor ICD.”).”
Ishihara further teaches (col. 20 lines 49-67): “The optical transmission unit OTM of this example is an image fiber formed of bound optical fibers of a few micron pitch and has a role of transmitting an image formed on the image plane of the imaging optical system to an image sensor ICD.
The incident surface of the optical transmission unit OTM has a spherically curved shape, and the exit surface is a flat surface having intimate contact with the image sensor ICD for connection. Thus, an image sensor unit ICU is constituted…
In contrast to a structure in which the image sensor itself has a spherical surface, there is an advantage of easy production of the imaging unit ICU in which one surface of the optical transmission unit OTM has a spherical surface while the other surface is connected to the image sensor ICD.”
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to position the exit surface of the fiber optic faceplate 22 disposed directly on the image sensor as taught by Ishihara. One would have been motivated to choose such a positioning firstly because Migliaccio is silent regarding whether or not they are in contact and Ishihara demonstrates that having such an optical fiber bundle in direct contact with the image surface is an appropriate choice of disposition. One would also have been motivated to form the optical fiber plate in contact with the image sensor because Ishihara teaches that such a configuration has the advantage of easy production of the imaging unit (col. 20 lines 49-67).
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi et al. US 2009/0127439 A1 (hereafter Choi) as applied to claim 1 above and further in view of Ishihara US 9,104,018 B2.
Regarding claim 2, Choi teaches “The camera module of claim 1,” however, Choi fails to explicitly teach “wherein the optical path member is disposed directly on the image sensor”.
Note that Choi does teach wherein the optical path member is configured to be disposed directly on the image sensor (see Fig. 1, the glass plate 29 appears to be disposed directly on image sensor 30. Note that 2 can reasonably be considered a part of the optical path member given the method of manufacture thereof in Figs. 5A-5H, where 24 and 23 are integrally formed on 29.). Thus Choi only fails to explicitly state whether the optical path member and the image sensor are in direct contact or not, and the optical path member is configured such that it could easily be made to be in contact with the image sensor.
Ishihara teaches (claim 1) "A camera module (the imaging apparatus of Fig. 7), comprising:
an image sensor (image sensor ICD);
a lens assembly (lenses G1-G5), disposed on the image sensor (see Fig. 7), and comprising a plurality of lenses (G1-G5 are five lenses); and
an optical path member (optical transmission unit OTM, see col. 20 lines 49-53) disposed between the image sensor and the lens assembly (see Figs. 1 and 7), the optical path member including either a plurality of optical fibers or a plurality of optical waveguides (col. 20 lines 49-53: "The optical transmission unit OTM of this example is an image fiber formed of bound optical fibers of a few micron pitch. This is a plurality of optical fibers, and because optical fibers are waveguides, is also a plurality of optical waveguides)…
a first lens (G5) adjacent to the image sensor among the plurality of lenses of the lens assembly (G5 is closest to the ICD in Fig. 7), and
wherein the first surface of the first lens has a concave or convex portion (see Fig. 7 and col. 24 lines 29-30: “fifth lens G5 as a meniscus lens having a convex surface facing the image side”) and a surface of the optical path member… has an opposite concave or convex shape corresponding to the concave or convex portion of the first lens (see concave incident surface of OTM in Fig. 7).”
(claim 2) “wherein the optical path member is disposed directly on the image sensor (col. 25 lines 1-2: “the exit surface of the optical transmission unit OTM is connected to the image sensor ICD.”).”
Ishihara further teaches (col. 20 lines 49-67): “The optical transmission unit OTM of this example is an image fiber formed of bound optical fibers of a few micron pitch and has a role of transmitting an image formed on the image plane of the imaging optical system to an image sensor ICD.
The incident surface of the optical transmission unit OTM has a spherically curved shape, and the exit surface is a flat surface having intimate contact with the image sensor ICD for connection. Thus, an image sensor unit ICU is constituted…
In contrast to a structure in which the image sensor itself has a spherical surface, there is an advantage of easy production of the imaging unit ICU in which one surface of the optical transmission unit OTM has a spherical surface while the other surface is connected to the image sensor ICD.”
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to position the exit surface of the waveguide/plate combination directly on the image sensor as taught by Ishihara. One would have been motivated to choose such a positioning firstly because Choi is silent regarding whether or not they are in contact and Ishihara demonstrates that having such an optical fiber bundle in direct contact with the image surface is an appropriate choice of disposition. One would also have been motivated to form the optical fiber plate in contact with the image sensor because Ishihara teaches that such a configuration has the advantage of easy production of the imaging unit (col. 20 lines 49-67).
Claims 8, 10-11 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi et al. US 2009/0127439 A1 (hereafter Choi) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Juhola et al. US 2018/0052385 A1 (hereafter Juhola, already of record).
Regarding claim 8, Choi teaches “The camera module of claim 1,” however, Choi fails to teach “wherein: the first lens is stationary during an autofocus (AF) operation and at least one other lens among the plurality of lenses is configured to move in a first direction parallel to a direction perpendicular to a surface of the image sensor to perform the autofocus (AF) operation.”
Juhola teaches (claim 1) A camera module (the imaging apparatus of Fig. 3a,3b see elements thereof below), comprising:
an image sensor (image sensor 350);
a lens assembly (first lens group 320), disposed on the image sensor (see Fig. 3a, 320 is disposed on the image sensor in that light propagating therethrough is imaged by the image sensor), and comprising a plurality of lenses (paragraph [0024]: “The first lens group 320… may be a combination of several lenses”); and
an optical path member (field flattening lens 351) disposed between the image sensor and the lens assembly (see Fig. 3a),
… a first surface of a first lens adjacent to the image sensor among the plurality of lenses of the lens assembly (the image-side surface of the lens of 320 that is closest to the image sensor amongst the lenses of 320), and
wherein… a surface of the optical path member that [faces]… the first surface of the first lens (the object-side surface of field flattening lens 351) has an … concave or convex shape (e.g. paragraph [0030] “The field flattening lens 351 has a concave shaped surface on the side opposite to the image sensor 350, as illustrated in FIG. 3a.”).”
(claim 8) “wherein: the first lens is stationary (paragraph [0029]: “In one embodiment the field flattening lens 351 is immovably connected to the image sensor 350. The field flattening lens 351 does not tilt with the first lens group 320”) during an autofocus (AF) operation (e.g. paragraph [0024]: “An autofocus actuator 340 is configured to move the first lens group 320 or at least one lens in the first lens group 320”) and at least one other lens among the plurality of lenses (e.g. paragraph [0024]: “An autofocus actuator 340 is configured to move the first lens group 320 or at least one lens in the first lens group 320”) is configured to move in a first direction parallel to a direction perpendicular to a surface of the image sensor to perform the autofocus (AF) operation (paragraph [0024]: “An autofocus actuator 340 is configured to move the first lens group 320 or at least one lens in the first lens group 320 in order to reach a sharp focus on the image plane and on the image sensor 350.” An ordinary skilled artisan would understand that this is necessarily referring to moving the lens along the optical axis, perpendicular to a surface of the image sensor, so that the position along the optical axis of the image formed by the lenses is located at the imaging surface of the image sensor.)”
Juhola further teaches (paragraph [0024]): “An autofocus actuator 340 is configured to move the first lens group 320 or at least one lens in the first lens group 320 in order to reach a sharp focus on the image plane”.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide an autofocus actuator as taught by Juhola that can move one or more the plurality of lenses that are not part of the image sensor component as taught by Juhola in the camera device of Choi. One would have been motivated to add such an actuator in order to reach a sharp focus on the image plane as taught by Juhola (paragraph [0024]).
Regarding claims 10, 11 and 13, the Choi – Juhola combination teaches “The camera module of claim 8,” however, Choi is silent regarding (claim 10) “wherein:
the at least one other lens is configured to move relative to the image sensor in a second direction substantially parallel to the surface of the image sensor to perform an optical image stabilization (OIS) operation.”
(claim 11) The camera module of claim 8, wherein the at least one other lens comprises a second lens disposed farthest from the image sensor among the plurality of lenses.
(claim 13) “The camera module of claim 11, wherein:
the second lens is configured to move relative to the image sensor in a second direction substantially parallel to the surface of the image sensor in order to perform an optical image stabilization (OIS) operation.”
Juhola teaches (claim 10) wherein:
the at least one other lens is configured to move relative to the image sensor (paragraph [0025]: “An optical image stabilizer 341 is configured to move the first lens group 320”) in a second direction substantially parallel to the surface of the image sensor to perform an optical image stabilization (OIS) operation (e.g. paragraph [0028]: “In an embodiment the image is stabilized by tilting and shifting the lens. In an embodiment the image is stabilized by shifting the lens” where an ordinary skilled artisan would know that “shifting the lens” for image stabilization is moving it relative to the image sensor in directions direction substantially parallel to the surface of the image sensor).”
(claim 11) wherein the at least one other lens comprises a second lens disposed farthest from the image sensor among the plurality of lenses (paragraph [0025]: “An optical image stabilizer 341 is configured to move the first lens group 320” this is all of the lenses including a second lens disposed farthest from the image sensor among the plurality of lenses.).
(claim 13) wherein:
the second lens is configured to move relative to the image sensor in a second direction substantially parallel to the surface of the image sensor in order to perform an optical image stabilization (OIS) operation (e.g. paragraph [0028]: “In an embodiment the image is stabilized by tilting and shifting the lens. In an embodiment the image is stabilized by shifting the lens” where an ordinary skilled artisan would know that “shifting the lens” for image stabilization is moving it relative to the image sensor in directions direction substantially parallel to the surface of the image sensor).”
Juhola further teaches (paragraph [0028]): “In an embodiment, the first lens group 320… reduces the effect of detected shaking to achieve optical image stabilization… In an embodiment the image is stabilized by tilting and shifting the lens. In an embodiment the image is stabilized by shifting the lens.”
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate an optical image stabilization actuator as taught by Juhola that moves the plurality of lenses relative to the image sensor in directions parallel to the image surface of the image sensor as taught by Juhola in the camera of the Choi – Juhola combination for the purpose of stabilizing the image when shaking is detected as taught by Juhola (paragraph [0028]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-8, 10, 11 and 13 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.
The request for an interview with the examiner on page 7 of 7 the applicant’s remarks is denied. The nature and number of the outstanding issues of patentability are such that it does not appear that an interview would result in expediting allowance of the application at this time. See MPEP §713.01 (IV) “An interview should be had only when the nature of the case is such that the interview could serve to develop and clarify specific issues and lead to a mutual understanding between the examiner and the applicant, and thereby advance the prosecution of the application. … Where a complete reply to a first action includes a request for an interview, the examiner, after consideration of the reply, should grant such an interview request if it appears that the interview would result in expediting the allowance of the application.”
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 CARA E RAKOWSKI whose telephone number is (571)272-4206. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-4PM ET M-F.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
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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/CARA E RAKOWSKI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872
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