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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-5 and 11-16 in the reply filed on 2/17/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 6-10 and 17-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected group, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 2/17/2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Jan (US 2015/0116954).
Regarding claim 11, Jan discloses a method of assembling an integrated sensor-lens assembly (ISLA) (Figs. 1-2), the method comprising:
connecting a lens holder (23, Figs. 1, 2) to a cover glass holder (14, Figs. 1, 2);
connecting an image sensor (13, Figs. 1, 2) to a printed circuit board (PCB) (11, 12, Figs. 1, 2);
connecting the PCB to the cover glass holder (as shown in Figs. 1, 2); and
constraining expansion of the PCB along an optical axis (O1, O2, Fig. 1) of the ISLA so as to maintain focus alignment of the ISLA (see [0020, 0021, 0044]: “…by the arrangement of the flat material, the influence of warpage of the circuit board on the alignment between both optical axes of the image sensor module and the lens module is attenuated, thereby increasing the yield.”).
Regarding claim 12, Jan discloses the method of claim 11, and Jan further discloses wherein connecting the PCB to the cover glass holder includes directly connecting the PCB to the cover glass holder (as shown in Figs. 1, 2 where 14 is directly connected to 12 of 11).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-5 are allowed.
Claims 13-16 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Re claims 1-5, prior arts do not teach or suggest the ISLA of claim 1, in particular, wherein the PCB includes at least one material having a coefficient of thermal expansion that lies substantially within a range of approximately 2 ppm/°C to approximately 40 ppm/°C and a coefficient of hygroscopic expansion that lies substantially within a range of approximately 2 ppm/100% Hu absorption to approximately 20 ppm/100% Hu absorption; and an image sensor connected to the PCB.
Re claims 13-16, prior arts do not teach or suggest the method of claim 13, in particular, wherein constraining expansion of the PCB includes forming the PCB from at least one material having a coefficient of thermal expansion that lies substantially within a range of approximately 2 ppm/°C to approximately 40 ppm/°C and a coefficient of hygroscopic expansion that lies substantially within a range of approximately 2 ppm/100% Hu absorption to approximately 20 ppm/100% Hu absorption.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Byrne et al. (US 10,645,795) discloses an ISLA (Fig. 2) comprising: a lens holder (24, Fig. 2); a cover glass holder (26, Fig. 2) connected to the lens holder; a PCB (28, Fig. 2) connected to the cover glass holder within an optical tolerance loop of the ISLA (inherent), wherein a thermal management material (22, Fig. 2) is disposed between the PCB and the lens holder (22 between 28 and 26 as shown in Fig. 2), wherein the thermal management material having a coefficient of thermal expansion that lies substantially within a range of approximately 2 ppm/°C to approximately 40 ppm/°C (col. 3, lns. 15-49; also see claims 1-4 and 12-14).
Fukuda et al. (US 9,332,631) discloses a heat dissipating substrate incudes at least one material having a coefficient of thermal expansion that lies substantially within a range of approximately 2 ppm/°C to approximately 40 ppm/°C (see claims 3 and 4) and a coefficient of hygroscopic expansion that lies substantially within a range of approximately 0 ppm/% RH to 15 ppm/% RH (see claim 5).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES WU whose telephone number is (571)270-7974. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:00AM - 5:00PM.
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/JAMES WU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841