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 .
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 1, 2, 4 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yano et al. (US 2010/0073534), of record in IDS.
Regarding claim 1, Yano discloses a lens unit (Figs. 1-26) comprising:
a first optical device (65, Fig. 6; 406, Fig. 17) including: a first glass substrate (11, Fig. 6; para. [0227]) including a first principal surface (i.e., upper surface) and a second principal surface (i.e., lower surface) on a side opposite to the first principal surface, and a resin lens (61; paras. [0205, 0229-0230]) disposed on the second principal surface (Fig. 6);
a second optical device (66, Fig. 6; 407, Fig. 17) including: a second glass substrate (11, Fig. 6) including a third principal surface (i.e., upper surface) and a fourth principal surface (i.e., lower surface) on a side opposite to the third principal surface, wherein the third principal surface is disposed facing the second principal surface (Fig. 6); and a substantially rectangular aperture layer (410, Figs. 17, 26) made of metal (para. [0301]) that is disposed on the third principal surface (i.e., upper surface of 407, Fig. 17) and that has a shape of a cross-section orthogonal to an optical axis with four corner regions cut out (Figs. 17, 24-26; para. [0312]); and
an adhesive layer (409, Fig. 17) that adhesively bonds the first optical device (406) and the second optical device (407) (Fig. 17), wherein four corner regions do not sandwich the aperture layer (410) between the first optical device (406) and the second optical device (407) (Figs. 17, 25-26).
Regarding claim 2, Yano discloses wherein the adhesive layer (409) and the aperture layer (410) do not overlap in an optical axis direction (Fig. 25(f-g)).
Regarding claim 4, Yano discloses wherein the adhesive layer (409) has a substantially rectangular shape of the cross-section with four corners cut out in an arc (Figs. 24-26).
Regarding claim 6, Yano discloses an image pickup apparatus (1A, Fig. 6; 400, Fig. 17) comprising a lens unit (6A, Fig. 6; 408, Fig. 17) and an image pickup unit (8, Fig. 6; 403, Fig. 17) that receives light of an optical image condensed by the lens unit (paras. [0227, 0295]), wherein
the lens unit comprises:
a first optical device (65, Fig. 6; 406, Fig. 17) including: a first glass substrate (11, Fig. 6; para. [0227]) including a first principal surface (i.e., upper surface) and a second principal surface (i.e., lower surface) on a side opposite to the first principal surface, and a resin lens (61; paras. [0205, 0229-0230]) disposed on the second principal surface (Fig. 6);
a second optical device (66, Fig. 6; 407, Fig. 17) including: a second glass substrate (11, Fig. 6) including a third principal surface (i.e., upper surface) and a fourth principal surface (i.e., lower surface) on a side opposite to the third principal surface, wherein the third principal surface is disposed facing the second principal surface (Fig. 6); and a substantially rectangular aperture layer (410, Figs. 17, 26) made of metal (para. [0301]) that is disposed on the third principal surface (i.e., upper surface of 407, Fig. 17) and that has a shape of a cross-section orthogonal to an optical axis with four corner regions cut out (Figs. 17, 24-26; para. [0312]); and
an adhesive layer (409, Fig. 17) that adhesively bonds the first optical device (406) and the second optical device (407) (Fig. 17), wherein four corner regions do not sandwich the aperture layer (410) between the first optical device (406) and the second optical device (407) (Figs. 17, 25-26).
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.
Claims 3, 5 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yano et al. (US 2010/0073534).
Regarding claim 3, Yano would appear to disclose wherein a thickness of the adhesive layer (409) is substantially equal to a thickness of the aperture layer (410) (Fig. 25(d-e)), but does not explicitly disclose this feature.
However, the thickness is a result-effective variable which achieves a recognized result (Yano, paras. [0240, 0244, 0301-0302]). One having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to incorporate equal thicknesses to contribute to a thin device. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate… , since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result-effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. See MPEP 2144.05.
Regarding claim 5, Yano fails to explicitly disclose wherein the aperture layer includes chromium or titanium as a main component.
However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the recited metals to use a rigid, light-blocking material, and since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. See MPEP 2144.07.
Regarding claim 7, Yano discloses an image pickup apparatus (1A, Fig. 6; 400, Fig. 17) comprising a lens unit (6A, Fig. 6; 408, Fig. 17) and an image pickup unit (8, Fig. 6; 403, Fig. 17) that receives light of an optical image condensed by the lens unit (paras. [0227, 0295]), wherein
the lens unit comprises:
a first optical device (65, Fig. 6; 406, Fig. 17) including: a first glass substrate (11, Fig. 6; para. [0227]) including a first principal surface (i.e., upper surface) and a second principal surface (i.e., lower surface) on a side opposite to the first principal surface, and a resin lens (61; paras. [0205, 0229-0230]) disposed on the second principal surface (Fig. 6);
a second optical device (66, Fig. 6; 407, Fig. 17) including: a second glass substrate (11, Fig. 6) including a third principal surface (i.e., upper surface) and a fourth principal surface (i.e., lower surface) on a side opposite to the third principal surface, wherein the third principal surface is disposed facing the second principal surface (Fig. 6); and a substantially rectangular aperture layer (410, Figs. 17, 26) made of metal (para. [0301]) that is disposed on the third principal surface (i.e., upper surface of 407, Fig. 17) and that has a shape of a cross-section orthogonal to an optical axis with four corner regions cut out (Figs. 17, 24-26; para. [0312]); and
an adhesive layer (409, Fig. 17) that adhesively bonds the first optical device (406) and the second optical device (407) (Fig. 17), wherein four corner regions do not sandwich the aperture layer (410) between the first optical device (406) and the second optical device (407) (Figs. 17, 25-26).
Yano fails to explicitly disclose an endoscope.
However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the apparatus into an endoscope as a desired utility, since it has been held that a recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus satisfying the claimed structural limitations. See MPEP 2114, Subsections I and II.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure. The references of Sakai (US 2016/0266373) and Olympus Corporation (WO 2020/183600) disclose endoscopes having optical devices with four corner regions cut out.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAISLEY L WILSON whose telephone number is (571)270-5023. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9:00am-5:00pm ET.
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/PAISLEY L WILSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871