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 .
Response to Amendment
The amendments to the claims, in the submission dated 07/07/2026, are acknowledged and accepted. No claims are amended. Claims 3, 5, 11, and 13 have previously been cancelled by the applicant. Claims 1-2, 4, 6-10, 12, and 14-16 are pending.
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 1-2. 4, 6-10, 12, and 14-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tanaka US Patent 5,739,966 (of record, see Office action dated 09/11/2025, hereinafter, “Tanaka”) in view of Bone et al. US PGPub 2015/0198784 A1 (of record, see Office action dated 10/31/2024, hereinafter “Bone”) and Chen et al. US PGPub 2019/0101724 A1 (of record, see Office action dated 02/12/2026, hereinafter, “Chen”) as evidenced by Gross, Herbert, ed. Handbook of Optical Systems, Volume 3: Aberration Theory and Correction of Optical Systems. Vol. 3. Wiley-Vch, 2005 (of record, see Office action dated 10/31/2024, hereinafter, “Gross”).
Regarding amended independent claim 1, Tanaka discloses an optical imaging system (refer to at least title and abstract disclosing an imaging lens system), comprising:
a first lens comprising a convex image-side surface (Fig. 1 depicts Embodiment 1 of the disclosed imaging lens system, where the radius of curvature r2 is -55.9452 for the image-side surface of the first lens, refer to parameters provided for the various embodiments disclosed by Tanaka in the tables of col. 5 and col. 6, therefore the image-side surface of the first lens is convex on the image side);
a second lens comprising a refractive power (Fig. 1, Embodiment 1 has a second lens that has curved object-side and image-side surfaces, with an index of refraction of n2 =1.69680, see data table in col. 5, therefore second lens of the first embodiment has a refractive power, with a focal length of 17.65 as calculated from the parameters in col. 5);
a third lens comprising a refractive power and a concave image-side surface (Fig. 1, Embodiment 1 has a third lens that has curved object-side and image-side surfaces, where the image-side surface radius of curvature is given as 8.4831, indicating a concave image-side surface, and an index of refraction of n3 = 1.83350, see data table for Embodiment 1 in col. 5, therefore third lens of the first embodiment has a refractive power and a concave image-side surface, with a focal length of -8.58 as calculated from the parameters in col. 5); and
a fourth lens comprising a refractive power (Fig. 1, Embodiment 1 has a fourth lens that has curved object-side and image-side surfaces, with an index of refraction of n4 =1.81600, see data table in col. 5, therefore fourth lens of the first embodiment has a refractive power, with a focal length of 26.05 as calculated from the parameters in col. 5),
wherein the first to fourth lenses are sequentially disposed from an object side toward an imaging plane (Fig. 1 depicts the first through fourth lenses of Embodiment 1 arranged sequentially from an object side to an imaging plane),
wherein 4.8 < f/IMG_HT < 9.0, where f is a focal length of the optical imaging system and IMG_HT is half a diagonal length of an imaging surface of the image sensor (Tanaka teaches the condition 0.1 < h/f < 0.5, with image height h and focal length f, refer to col. 3 lines 5-11, and when rearranged for comparison to the instant limitation, Tanaka teaches 2 < f/h < 10, overlapping the claimed range),
wherein the distance from the image-side surface of the third lens to the object-side surface of the fourth lens is greater than a distance from an image-side surface of the second lens to an object-side surface of the third lens (Fig. 1, the distance from the third lens image-side surface to the fourth lens object-side surface is 15.000, and the distance from the image-side surface of the second lens to the object-side surface of the third lens is 2.558, see parameters for Embodiment 1 in col. 5),
wherein an absolute value of a radius of curvature of an image-side surface of the second lens is greater than an absolute value of a radius of curvature of an object-side surface of the third lens (Fig. 1, Embodiment 1 has a second lens with an image-side radius of curvature having an absolute value of 88.7855, and Embodiment 1 has a third lens with an object-side radius of curvature having an absolute value of 49.3402, satisfying the limitation).
Tanaka does not disclose a fourth lens with a concave image-side surface (Fig. 1 shows Embodiment 1 with a fourth lens that has a convex image-side surface, refer also to data table for Embodiment 1 in col. 5 for the image-side radius of curvature for the fourth lens being -24.6775, indicating a convex surface on the image side), nor does Tanaka disclose wherein a thickness of the second lens is greater than a distance from an image-side surface of the third lens to an object-side surface of the fourth lens (Tanaka discloses a thickness of the second lens that is 4.9894, and the distance from the third lens image-side surface to the fourth lens object-side surface is 15.000) and Tanaka does not disclose wherein a thickness of the third lens is greater than a thickness of the fourth lens (Tanaka discloses Embodiment 1 with the third lens having thickness d6 = 1.4845 and fourth lens having thickness d8 = 3.0526, opposite of the claimed relationship, and with reference to Embodiment 4, Tanaka discloses the third lens and the fourth lens have the same thickness of 3.0000, see col. 5, which does not satisfy the claimed limitation).
In the same field of invention, Bone discloses an optical imaging system comprising:
a first lens comprising a convex image-side surface (Fig. 1 of Bone depicts imaging lens system 100 with a first lens element L11 having a convex surface 113 on the image side, refer to par. [0022] thereof, see also Table 1 providing parameters for imaging lens system 100, where lens element L11 has a negative curvature on the image side, indicating a convex surface);
a second lens comprising a refractive power (Bone imaging lens system 100 has a second lens element L12, par. [0022] thereof, with a negative focal length as disclosed in Table 1, equivalent to a second lens with refractive power);
a third lens comprising a refractive power (Bone imaging lens system 100 has a third lens element L13, par. [0022] thereof, with a negative focal length as disclosed in Table 1, equivalent to a third lens with refractive power); and
a fourth lens comprising a refractive power (Bone imaging lens system 100 has a fourth lens element L14, par. [0022] thereof, with a positive focal length as disclosed in Table 1, equivalent to a fourth lens with refractive power),
wherein the first to fourth lenses are sequentially disposed from an object side toward an imaging plane (as shown in Bone Fig. 1, lens elements L11, L12, L13, and L14 of imaging system 100 are arranged from object side to image side),
wherein 4.8 < f/IMG_HT < 9.0, where f is a focal length of the optical imaging system and IMG_HT is half a diagonal length of an imaging surface of the image sensor (Bone imaging system 100 has a focal length of 13.998 mm, and an image height of 2.00 mm, par. [0027] thereof, therefore the imaging system 100 has a ratio f/IMG_HT = 6.999, satisfying the instant limitation),
wherein a thickness of the second lens is greater than a distance from an image-side surface of the third lens to an object-side surface of the fourth lens (Bone imaging system 100 has second lens element L12 with a thickness of 0.61, and a distance from the image-side surface of lens element L13 to the object-side surface of lens element L14 is 0.15, see Table 1 for both values, therefore imaging system 100 satisfies the limitation as recited), and
wherein an absolute value of a radius of curvature of an image-side surface of the second lens is greater than an absolute value of a radius of curvature of an object-side surface of the third lens (Bone, Table 1, the absolute value of the radius of curvature of the image-side surface of the second lens is 2.6359, and the absolute value of the radius of curvature of the object-side surface of the third lens is 2.4817, satisfying the instant limitation).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have applied the teachings of Bone to the disclosure of Tanaka to adjust the arrangement, thickness, and/or spacings of the second lens, third lens, and fourth lens to arrive at an arrangement wherein a thickness of the second lens is greater than a distance from an image-side surface of the third lens to an object-side surface of the fourth lens so as to ensure light passes through the lenses to fully enter the third lens (Bone, par. [0029]).
The prior art combination of Tanaka in view of Bone does not disclose a fourth lens with a concave image-side surface (Tanaka Fig. 1 shows Embodiment 1 with a fourth lens that has a convex image-side surface, refer also to the data table for Embodiment 1 in col. 5 for the image-side radius of curvature for the fourth lens being -24.6775, indicating a convex surface on the image side, and Bone imaging lens system 100, see Fig. 1 thereof, has a fourth lens element L14 with a convex image-side surface, par. [0022], refer also to Bone Table 1 where lens 4 has a negative radius of curvature on the image-side, indicating a convex surface), and the prior art combination does not disclose wherein a thickness of the third lens is greater than a thickness of the fourth lens (as noted above, Tanaka in Embodiment 1 discloses the third lens thereof has thickness d6 = 1.4845 and the fourth lens thereof has thickness d8 = 3.0526, and with reference to Embodiment 4 of Tanaka, the third lens and the fourth lens have the same thickness of 3.0000, see col. 5, and Bone in Table 1 discloses the third lens has a thickness of 0.4 and the fourth lens has a thickness of 0.9908).
In the same field of invention, Chen discloses an optical imaging system (refer to at least the abstract thereof, disclosing an optical lens assembly) comprising:
a first lens (Fig. 3 depicts the second embodiment disclosed by Chen, refer to at least par. [0117] and Table 3A thereof, teaching the inclusion of lens 1, also referred to as first lens element 210);
a second lens comprising a refractive power (Chen Fig. 3, second embodiment, par. [0117] thereof, Table 3A, includes lens 2, also referred to as second lens element 220);
a third lens comprising a refractive power (Chen Fig. 3, second embodiment, par. [0117] thereof, Table 3A, includes lens 3, also referred to as third lens element 230); and
a fourth lens comprising a refractive power and a concave image-side surface (Chen Fig. 3, second embodiment, par. [0117] thereof, Table 3A, includes lens 4, also referred to as fourth lens element 240, with surface 242 being concave in a paraxial region thereof, par. [0121] thereof, and surface 9 in Table 3A is the image-side surface of lens 4 with a curvature radius of 0.828, indicating a concave image-side surface for the fourth lens),
wherein the first to fourth lenses are sequentially disposed from an object side toward an imaging plane (Chen Fig. 3, second embodiment, par. [0117] thereof, Table 3A, lenses 1 through 4, also referenced as elements 210, 220, 230, and 240, are sequentially disposed from an object side toward an imaging plane),
wherein a thickness of the second lens is greater than a distance from an image-side surface of the third lens to an object-side surface of the fourth lens (Chen Fig. 3, second embodiment, par. [0117] thereof, Table 3A, lens 2, i.e., second lens element 220, has a thickness of 0.423 and the distance from lens 3, i.e., third lens element 230, image-side surface to object-side surface of lens 4, i.e., fourth lens element 240, is 0.030, satisfying the limitation),
wherein an absolute value of a radius of curvature of an image-side surface of the second lens is greater than an absolute value of a radius of curvature of an object-side surface of the third lens (Chen Fig. 3, second embodiment, par. [0117] thereof, Table 3A, lens 2, i.e., element 220, has image-side radius of curvature of -3.277, therefore the radius of curvature has an absolute value of 3.277, and the object-side radius of curvature of lens 3, i.e., element 230, is -0.760, therefore has an absolute value of 0.760, satisfying the limitation), and
wherein a thickness of the third lens is greater than a thickness of the fourth lens (Chen Fig. 3, second embodiment, par. [0117] thereof, Table 3A, lens 3, i.e., element 230, has a thickness of 0.637 and lens 4, i.e., element 240, has a thickness of 0.629, satisfying the limitation).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have applied the teachings of Chen to the disclosure of Tanaka to adjust the thicknesses of the third lens and fourth lens to arrive at an arrangement wherein a thickness of the third lens is greater than the fourth lens to reduce aberrations and optimize compactness (Chen, pars. [0046-47]), and to bend the image-side surface of the fourth lens to be concave, because Chen teaches a concave image-side surface of the fourth lens reduces the back focal length and the total track length (Chen, par. [0045]).
In the general field of optical systems, Gross teaches (page 378 section 33.1.4) that bending a lens is amongst the operations that an ordinary skilled artisan would typically employ in order to find a lens design with better performance. Bending a lens involves modifying the curvatures of the two surfaces while keeping the focal power of the lens the same (“zero power operations”, “do not introduce any refractive power”). Gross teaches that bending a lens can be done without any great perturbation of the existing setup.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to bend image-side surface of the fourth lens element of Tanaka from concave to convex, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have a reasonable expectation of success when making this modification, as evidenced by Gross which shows that changing the curvatures of a lens is amongst the operations that an ordinary skilled artisan would typically employ in order to find a lens design with better performance (Gross page 378, section 33.1.4), and that bending a lens does not introduce any refractive power changes and can be done without any great perturbation of the existing setup (Gross page 378, section 33.1.4). In this case, Chen teaches a concave image-side surface is beneficial for reducing back focal length and total track length, and Gross teaches bending a lens surface is a zero-power operation.
Regarding dependent claim 2, Tanaka in view of Bone, Chen, and Gross (hereinafter, “modified Tanaka”) discloses the optical imaging system of claim 1, and Tanaka further discloses wherein the first lens has a convex object-side surface (Fig. 1 of Tanaka, Embodiment 1 first lens is biconvex, col. 6, lines 27-29).
Regarding dependent claim 4, modified Tanaka discloses the optical imaging system of claim 1, and Tanaka further discloses wherein the fourth lens has a convex object-side surface (Fig. 1, Embodiment 1, fourth lens has a convex object-side surface, refer to parameters for Embodiment 1 in col. 5 where radius of curvature r8 is 144.7648, indicating a convex object-side surface).
Regarding dependent claim 6, modified Tanaka discloses the optical imaging system of claim 1, and Tanaka further discloses wherein the first lens has positive refractive power (the first lens of Embodiment 1 of Tanaka has a focal length of 47.75 as calculated from the parameters for embodiment 1 provided in col. 5).
Regarding dependent claim 7, modified Tanaka discloses the optical imaging system of claim 1, and Tanaka further discloses wherein the third lens has negative refractive power (the third lens of Embodiment 1 has a focal length of -8.58 as calculated from the parameters for embodiment 1 provided in col. 5).
Regarding dependent claim 8, modified Tanaka discloses the optical imaging system of claim 1, but Tanaka does not disclose wherein the fourth lens has negative refractive power (the fourth lens of Embodiment 1 has a focal length of 26.05 as calculated from the parameters for embodiment 1 provided in col. 5).
Chen discloses a fourth lens comprising a refractive power, a concave image-side surface, and further discloses wherein the fourth lens has negative refractive power (Chen Fig. 3, second embodiment, par. [0117] thereof, Table 3A, includes lens 4, also referred to as fourth lens element 240, with surface 242 being concave in a paraxial region thereof, par. [0121] thereof, and surface 9 in Table 3A is the image-side surface of lens 4 with a curvature radius of 0.828, indicating a concave image-side surface for the fourth lens, and also in Table 3A Chen discloses lens 4 has a negative refractive power, par. [0121] thereof, having a focal length of -3.21).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have a adapted the imaging lens system of Tanaka to have a fourth lens with a negative refractive power, such as that disclosed by Chen, because Chen teaches a fourth lens with said features is favorable for enhancing the image quality in a peripheral region by correcting field curvature in the off-axis region thereof, and so that the back focal length and the total track length can be reduced (Chen par. [0045]) and a fourth lens such as that disclosed by Chen is favorable for reducing the generation of aberrations by complementary effect of the third lens element and the fourth lens element (Chen par. [0046]).
Regarding amended independent claim 9, Tanaka discloses an optical imaging system (refer to title and abstract disclosing an imaging lens system), comprising:
a first lens comprising a refractive power (Fig. 1 depicts embodiment 1 of the disclosed imaging lens system and the first lens of Embodiment 1 has a focal length of 47.75 as calculated from the parameters for embodiment 1 provided in col. 5);
a second lens comprising a refractive power (Fig. 1, Embodiment 1 has a second lens that has curved object-side and image-side surfaces, with an index of refraction of n2 =1.69680, see data table in col. 5, therefore second lens of the first embodiment has a refractive power, with a focal length of 17.65 as calculated from the parameters in col. 5);
a third lens comprising a refractive power and a concave image-side surface (Fig. 1, Embodiment 1 has a third lens that has curved object-side and image-side surfaces, where the image-side surface radius of curvature is given as 8.4831, and an index of refraction of n3 = 1.83350, see data table for Embodiment 1 in col. 5, therefore third lens of the first embodiment has a refractive power and a concave image-side surface, with a focal length of -8.58 as calculated from the parameters in col. 5); and
a fourth lens comprising a refractive power (Fig. 1, embodiment 1 has a fourth lens that has curved object-side and image-side surfaces, with an index of refraction of n4 =1.81600, see data table in col. 5, therefore fourth lens of the first embodiment has a refractive power, with a focal length of 26.05 as calculated from the parameters in col. 5),
wherein the first to fourth lenses are sequentially disposed from an object side toward an imaging plane (Fig. 1 depicts the first through fourth lenses of embodiment 1 arranged sequentially from an object side to an imaging plane),
wherein 4.8 < f/IMG_HT < 9.0, where f is a focal length of the optical imaging system and IMG_HT is half a diagonal length of an imaging surface of the image sensor (Tanaka teaches the condition 0.1 < h/f < 0.5 with image height h and focal length f, refer to col. 3 lines 5-11, and when rearranged for comparison to the instant limitation, Tanaka teaches 2 < f/h < 10, overlapping the claimed range),
wherein the distance from the image-side surface of the third lens to the object-side surface of the fourth lens is greater than a distance from an image-side surface of the second lens to an object-side surface of the third lens (Fig. 1, the distance from the third lens image-side surface to the fourth lens object-side surface is 15.000, and the distance from the image-side surface of the second lens to the object-side surface of the third lens is 2.558, see parameters for Embodiment 1 in col. 5), and
wherein an absolute value of a radius of curvature of an image-side surface of the second lens is greater than an absolute value of a radius of curvature of an object-side surface of the third lens (Fig. 1, Embodiment 1 has a second lens with an image-side radius of curvature having an absolute value of 88.7855, and Embodiment 1 has a third lens object-side radius of curvature having an absolute value of 49.3402, satisfying the limitation).
Tanaka does not disclose a fourth lens with a concave image-side surface (Fig. 1 shows Embodiment 1 with a fourth lens that has a convex image-side surface, refer also to data table for Embodiment 1 in col. 5 for the image-side radius of curvature for the fourth lens being -24.6775, indicating a convex surface on the image side) nor does Tanaka disclose wherein a thickness of the second lens is greater than a distance from an image-side surface of the third lens to an object-side surface of the fourth lens (Tanaka discloses a thickness of the second lens that is 4.9894, and the distance from the third lens image-side surface to the fourth lens object-side surface is 15.000) and Tanaka does not disclose wherein a thickness of the third lens is greater than a thickness of the fourth lens (Tanaka discloses Embodiment 1 with the third lens having thickness d6 = 1.4845 and fourth lens having thickness d8 = 3.0526, opposite of the claimed relationship, and with reference to Embodiment 4, Tanaka discloses the third lens and the fourth lens have the same thickness of 3.0000, see col. 5, which does not satisfy the claimed limitation).
In the same field of invention, Bone discloses an optical imaging system comprising:
a first lens comprising a refractive power (imaging lens system 100, Fig. 1 thereof, has a first lens element L11 with positive focal length, see Table 1 providing parameters for imaging lens system 100, equivalent to a first lens with refractive power);
a second lens comprising a refractive power (imaging lens system 100 has second lens element L12 with negative focal length, see Bone Table 1, equivalent to a second lens with refractive power);
a third lens comprising a refractive power (imaging lens system 100 has third lens element L13 with negative focal length, see Bone Table 1, equivalent to a third lens with refractive power); and
a fourth lens comprising a refractive power (imaging lens system 100 has fourth lens element L14 with positive focal length, see Bone Table 1, equivalent to a fourth lens with refractive power),
wherein the first to fourth lenses are sequentially disposed from an object side toward an imaging plane (as shown in Fig. 1 of Bone, lens elements L11, L12, L13, and L14 of imaging system 100 are arranged from object side to image side),
wherein 4.8 < f/IMG_HT < 9.0, where f is a focal length of the optical imaging system and IMG_HT is half a diagonal length of an imaging surface of the image sensor (Bone imaging system 100 has a focal length of 13.998 mm, and an image height of 2.00 mm, par. [0027] thereof, therefore the imaging system 100 has a ratio f/IMG_HT = 6.999, satisfying the instant limitation),
wherein a thickness of the second lens is greater than a distance from an image-side surface of the third lens to an object-side surface of the fourth lens (imaging system 100 of Bone has second lens element L12 with a thickness of 0.61, and a distance from the image-side surface of lens element L13 to the object-side surface of lens element L14 is 0.15, see Table 1, therefore imaging system 100 satisfies the limitation as recited), and
wherein an absolute value of a radius of curvature of an image-side surface of the second lens is greater than an absolute value of a radius of curvature of an object-side surface of the third lens (Bone, Table 1, the absolute value of the radius of curvature of the image-side surface of the second lens is 2.6359, and the absolute value of the radius of curvature of the object-side surface of the third lens is 2.4817, satisfying the instant limitation).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have applied the teachings of Bone to the disclosure of Tanaka to adjust the arrangement, thickness, and/or spacings of the second lens, third lens, and fourth lens to arrive at an arrangement wherein a thickness of the second lens is greater than a distance from an image-side surface of the third lens to an object-side surface of the fourth lens so as to ensure light passes through the lenses to fully enter the third lens (Bone, par. [0029]).
The prior art combination of Tanaka in view of Bone does not disclose a fourth lens with a concave image-side surface (Tanaka Fig. 1 shows Embodiment 1 with a fourth lens that has a convex image-side surface, refer also to data table for Embodiment 1 in col. 5 for the image-side radius of curvature for the fourth lens being -24.6775, indicating a convex surface on the image side, and Bone imaging lens system 100, see Fig. 1 thereof, has a fourth lens element L14 with a convex image-side surface, par. [0022], refer also to Bone Table 1 where lens 4 has a negative radius of curvature on the image-side, indicating a convex surface) and the prior art combination does not disclose wherein a thickness of the third lens is greater than a thickness of the fourth lens (as noted above, Tanaka in Embodiment 1 discloses the third lens thereof has thickness d6 = 1.4845 and the fourth lens thereof has thickness d8 = 3.0526, and with reference to Embodiment 4 of Tanaka, the third lens and the fourth lens have the same thickness of 3.0000, see col. 5, and Bone in Table 1 discloses the third lens has a thickness of 0.4 and the fourth lens has a thickness of 0.9908).
In the same field of invention, Chen discloses an optical imaging system (refer to at least the abstract thereof, disclosing an optical lens assembly) comprising:
a first lens (Fig. 3 depicts the second embodiment disclosed by Chen, refer to at least par. [0117] thereof and Table 3A thereof teaching the inclusion of lens 1 also referred to as first lens element 210);
a second lens comprising a refractive power (Chen Fig. 3, second embodiment, par. [0117] thereof, Table 3A, includes lens 2 also referred to as second lens element 220);
a third lens comprising a refractive power (Chen Fig. 3, second embodiment, par. [0117] thereof, Table 3A, includes lens 3 also referred to as third lens element 230); and
a fourth lens comprising a refractive power and a concave image-side surface (Chen Fig. 3, second embodiment, par. [0117] thereof, Table 3A, includes lens 4 also referred to as fourth lens element 240 with surface 242 being concave in a paraxial region thereof, par. [0121] thereof, and surface 9 in Table 3A is the image-side surface of lens 4 with a curvature radius of 0.828, indicating a concave image-side surface for the fourth lens),
wherein the first to fourth lenses are sequentially disposed from an object side toward an imaging plane (Chen Fig. 3, second embodiment, par. [0117] thereof, Table 3A, lenses 1 through 4, also referenced as elements 210, 220, 230, and 240, are sequentially disposed from an object side toward an imaging plane),
wherein a thickness of the second lens is greater than a distance from an image-side surface of the third lens to an object-side surface of the fourth lens (Chen Fig. 3, second embodiment, par. [0117] thereof, Table 3A, lens 2, i.e., second lens element 220, has a thickness of 0.423 and the distance from lens 3, i.e., third lens element 230, image-side surface to object-side surface of lens 4, i.e., fourth lens element 240, is 0.030, satisfying the limitation),
wherein an absolute value of a radius of curvature of an image-side surface of the second lens is greater than an absolute value of a radius of curvature of an object-side surface of the third lens (Chen Fig. 3, second embodiment, par. [0117] thereof, Table 3A, lens 2, i.e., element 220, has image-side radius of curvature of -3.277, therefore the radius of curvature has an absolute value of 3.277, and the object-side radius of curvature of lens 3, i.e., element 230, is -0.760, therefore has an absolute value of 0.760, satisfying the limitation), and
wherein a thickness of the third lens is greater than a thickness of the fourth lens (Chen Fig. 3, second embodiment, par. [0117] thereof, Table 3A, lens 3, i.e., element 230, has a thickness of 0.637 and lens 4, i.e., element 240, has a thickness of 0.629, satisfying the limitation).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have applied the teachings of Chen to the disclosure of Tanaka to adjust the thicknesses of the third lens and fourth lens to arrive at an arrangement wherein a thickness of the third lens is greater than the fourth lens to reduce aberrations and optimize compactness (Chen, pars. [0046-47]) and to bend the image-side surface of the fourth lens to be concave, because Chen teaches a concave image-side surface of the fourth lens reduces the back focal length and the total track length (Chen, par. [0045]).
In the general field of optical systems, Gross teaches (page 378 section 33.1.4) that bending a lens is amongst the operations that an ordinary skilled artisan would typically employ in order to find a lens design with better performance. Bending a lens involves modifying the curvatures of the two surfaces while keeping the focal power of the lens the same (“zero power operations”, “do not introduce any refractive power”). Gross teaches that bending a lens can be done without any great perturbation of the existing setup.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to bend image-side surface of the fourth lens element of Tanaka from concave to convex, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have a reasonable expectation of success when making this modification, as evidenced by Gross which shows that changing the curvatures of a lens is amongst the operations that an ordinary skilled artisan would typically employ in order to find a lens design with better performance (Gross page 378, section 33.1.4), and that bending a lens does not introduce any refractive power changes and can be done without any great perturbation of the existing setup (Gross page 378, section 33.1.4). In this case, Chen teaches a concave image-side surface is beneficial for reducing back focal length and total track length, and Gross teaches bending a lens surface is a zero-power operation.
Regarding dependent claim 10, modified Tanaka discloses the optical imaging system of claim 9, and Tanaka further discloses wherein the first lens has a convex object-side surface (Fig. 1, Embodiment 1 first lens is biconvex, col. 6, lines 27-29).
Regarding dependent claim 12, modified Tanaka discloses the optical imaging system of claim 9, and Tanaka further discloses wherein the fourth lens has a convex object-side surface (Fig. 1, Embodiment 1 fourth lens has a convex object-side surface, refer to parameters for Embodiment 1 in col. 5 where radius of curvature r8 is 144.7648, indicating a convex object-side surface).
Regarding dependent claim 14, modified Tanaka discloses the optical imaging system of claim 9, and Tanaka further discloses wherein the first lens has positive refractive power (the first lens of Embodiment 1 disclosed by Tanaka has a focal length of 47.75 as calculated from the parameters for embodiment 1 provided in col. 5).
Regarding dependent claim 15, modified Tanaka discloses the optical imaging system of claim 9, and Tanaka further discloses wherein the third lens has negative refractive power (Fig. 1, Embodiment 1 third lens has a focal length of -8.58 as calculated from the parameters in col. 5).
Regarding dependent claim 16, modified Tanaka discloses the optical imaging system of claim 9, but Tanaka does not disclose wherein the fourth lens has negative refractive power (the fourth lens of Embodiment 1 has a focal length of 26.05 as calculated from the parameters for embodiment 1 provided in col. 5).
Chen discloses a fourth lens comprising a refractive power, a concave image-side surface, and further discloses wherein the fourth lens has negative refractive power (Chen Fig. 3, second embodiment, par. [0117] thereof, Table 3A, includes lens 4, also referred to as fourth lens element 240, with surface 242 being concave in a paraxial region thereof, par. [0121] thereof, and surface 9 in Table 3A is the image-side surface of lens 4 with a curvature radius of 0.828, indicating a concave image-side surface for the fourth lens, and also in Table 3A Chen discloses lens 4 has a negative refractive power, par. [0121] thereof, having a focal length of -3.21).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have a adapted the imaging lens system of Tanaka to have a fourth lens with a negative refractive power, such as that disclosed by Chen, because Chen teaches a fourth lens with said features is favorable for enhancing the image quality in a peripheral region by correcting field curvature in the off-axis region thereof, and so that the back focal length and the total track length can be reduced (Chen par. [0045]) and a fourth lens such as that disclosed by Chen is favorable for reducing the generation of aberrations by complementary effect of the third lens element and the fourth lens element (Chen par. [0046]).
Claims 1-2, 4, 6-10, 12, and 14-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang US PGPub 2019/0121081 A1 (hereinafter, “Huang”) in view of Tsai et al. US PGPub 2012/0092778 A1 (hereinafter, “Tsai”, both references of record, see Office action dated 05/04/2026).
Regarding amended independent claim 1, Huang discloses an optical imaging system (refer to title and abstract) comprising:
a first lens comprising a convex image-side surface (Fig. 5 depicts the third embodiment, with first lens element 310 having an image-side surface 312 that is convex in a paraxial region thereof, par. [0135]);
a second lens comprising a refractive power (Fig. 5, second lens element 320 has positive refractive power, par. [0136]);
a third lens comprising a refractive power and a concave image-side surface (Fig. 5, third lens element 330 has negative refractive power and an image-side surface 332 that is concave in a paraxial region thereof, par. [0137]); and
a fourth lens comprising a refractive power and a concave image-side surface (Fig. 5, fourth lens element 340 has negative refractive power, and image-side surface 342 that is concave in a paraxial region thereof, par. [0138]),
wherein the first to fourth lenses are sequentially disposed from an object side toward an imaging plane (Fig. 5, the imaging lens assembly includes, in order from an object side to an image side, a first lens element 310, a second lens element 320, a third lens element 330, and a fourth lens element 340, par. [0134]),
wherein 4.8 < f/IMG_HT < 9.0, where f is a focal length of the optical imaging system and IMG_HT is half a diagonal length of an imaging surface of the image sensor (Huang discloses the condition 1.85 < f/ImgH < 10.0 is satisfied by the embodiments disclosed therein, refer to par. [0058] and claim 1 thereof, overlapping the claimed range), and,
wherein the distance from the image-side surface of the third lens to the object-side surface of the fourth lens is greater than a distance from an image-side surface of the second lens to an object-side surface of the third lens (Table 5 provides detailed optical data of the third embodiment, where the distance from the image-side surface of the third lens to the object-side surface of the fourth lens is 0.622, and the distance from the image-side surface of the second lens to the object-side surface of the third lens is 0.049, satisfying the limitation),
Huang, in the third embodiment, does not disclose wherein a thickness of the second lens is greater than a distance from an image-side surface of the third lens to an object-side surface of the fourth lens (Table 5 lists the second lens thickness as 0.302, and the distance from the image-side surface of the third lens to the object-side surface of the fourth lens is given as 0.622), nor does Huang in the third embodiment disclose wherein an absolute value of a radius of curvature of an image-side surface of the second lens is greater than an absolute value of a radius of curvature of an object-side surface of the third lens (Table 5 gives the radius of curvature of the image-side surface of the second lens as -10.452, the absolute value of which is 10.452, and the third lens has an object-side radius of curvature given as -52.949, the absolute value of which is 52.949, and thus does not satisfy the limitation), and Huang, in the third embodiment, does not disclose wherein a thickness of the third lens is greater than a thickness of the fourth lens (Table 5 gives the third lens thickness as 0.228, and the fourth lens thickness as 0.237, and thus does not satisfy the limitation).
However, Huang discloses a seventh embodiment, shown in Fig. 13, with a first lens element 710 (par. [0191]), a second lens element 720 (par. [0192]), a third lens element 730 with negative refractive power and a concave image-side surface 732 (par. [0193]), and a fourth lens element 740 with a concave image-side surface 742 (par. [0194]), wherein the optical elements are in order from an object side to an image side (par. [0190]), wherein a thickness of the second lens is greater than a distance from an image-side surface of the third lens to an object-side surface of the fourth lens (Table 13, second lens has a thickness of 0.623, and the distance from image-side surface of the third lens to an object-side surface of the fourth lens is 0.588, satisfying the limitation), wherein an absolute value of a radius of curvature of an image-side surface of the second lens is greater than an absolute value of a radius of curvature of an object-side surface of the third lens (Table 13, the absolute value of a radius of curvature of an image-side surface of the second lens is 90.606, and the absolute value of a radius of curvature of an object-side surface of the third lens is 20.332, satisfying the limitation).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have combined the third and seventh embodiments disclosed by Huang and adjusted the radiuses of curvature of the image side of the second lens and the object side of the third lens, because Huang teaches such arrangements are favorable for light converging capability and avoiding excessive aberrations (Huang, par. [0048]), and to adjust the spacing between and thickness of optical elements because Huang teaches such adjustments are favorable for balancing the distances between adjacent lens elements and avoiding assembling interference due to overly small distances between adjacent lens elements (Huang, par. [0075]).
The combination of Huang third and seventh embodiments does not disclose wherein a thickness of the third lens is greater than a thickness of the fourth lens (Table 5 lists the thickness of the third lens in the third embodiment as 0.228, and the thickness of the fourth lens as 0.237, and Table 13 lists the thickness of the third lens in the seventh embodiment as 0.230, and the thickness of the fourth lens as 0.380).
In the same field of invention, Tsai discloses an optical imaging system (refer to at least title and abstract, where Tsai discloses an optical imaging lens assembly) comprising:
a first lens (Fig. 3A and Fig. 15, first lens element 310 has positive refractive power, par. [0136] thereof);
a second lens comprising a refractive power (Fig. 3A and Fig. 15, second lens element 320 has negative refractive power, par. [0137] thereof);
a third lens comprising a refractive power and a concave image-side surface (Fig. 3A and Fig. 15, third lens element 330 has negative refractive power and a concave image-side surface 332, par. [0138] thereof); and
a fourth lens comprising a refractive power (Fig. 3A and Fig. 15, fourth lens element 340 has negative refractive power, par. [0139] thereof),
wherein the first to fourth lenses are sequentially disposed from an object side toward an imaging plane (Fig. 3A and Fig. 15, optical elements of the third embodiment are in order from an object side to an image side, par. [0135] thereof),
wherein the distance from the image-side surface of the third lens to the object-side surface of the fourth lens is greater than a distance from an image-side surface of the second lens to an object-side surface of the third lens (Table 5, the distance from the image-side surface of the third lens to the object-side surface of the fourth lens is 0.721, and the distance from an image-side surface of the second lens to an object-side surface of the third lens is 0.469, satisfying the limitation),
wherein an absolute value of a radius of curvature of an image-side surface of the second lens is greater than an absolute value of a radius of curvature of an object-side surface of the third lens (Table 5, image-side radius of curvature of the second lens has an absolute value of 12.43360, and the object-side radius of curvature of the third lens has an absolute value of 4.48170, satisfying the limitation), and
wherein a thickness of the third lens is greater than a thickness of the fourth lens (Table 5, third lens has a thickness of 0.425, and the fourth lens has a thickness of 0.365, satisfying the limitation).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have applied the teachings of Tsai to the disclosure of Huang and adjusted the thicknesses of the third and fourth lens elements so as to make the third lens thicker than the fourth lens, to favorably correct astigmatism and optimize aberration in the final image produce (Tsai, par. [0012]).
Regarding dependent claim 2, Huang in view of Tsai (hereinafter, “modified Huang”) discloses the optical imaging system of claim 1, and Huang further discloses wherein the first lens has a convex object-side surface (Huang, first lens element 310 has object-side surface 311 that is convex, par. [0135]).
Regarding dependent claim 4, modified Huang discloses the optical imaging system of claim 1, and Huang further discloses wherein the fourth lens has a convex object-side surface (Huang, fourth lens element 340 has object-side surface 341 that is convex, par. [0138]).
Regarding dependent claim 6, modified Huang discloses the optical imaging system of claim 1, and Huang further discloses wherein the first lens has positive refractive power (Huang, first lens element 310 has positive refractive power, par. [0135]).
Regarding dependent claim 7, modified Huang discloses the optical imaging system of claim 1, and Huang further discloses wherein the third lens has negative refractive power (Huang, third lens element 330 has negative refractive power, par. [0137]).
Regarding dependent claim 8, modified Huang discloses the optical imaging system of claim 1, and Huang further discloses wherein the fourth lens has negative refractive power (Huang, fourth lens element 340 has negative refractive power, par. [0138]).
Regarding amended independent claim 9, Huang discloses an optical imaging system (refer to title and abstract) comprising:
a first lens comprising a refractive power (Fig. 5 depicts the third embodiment, with first lens element 310 having positive refractive power, par. [0135]);
a second lens comprising a refractive power (Fig. 5, second lens element 320 has positive refractive power, par. [0136]);
a third lens comprising a refractive power and a concave image-side surface (Fig. 5, third lens element 330 has negative refractive power and an image-side surface 332 that is concave in a paraxial region thereof, par. [0137]); and
a fourth lens comprising a refractive power and a concave image-side surface (Fig. 5, fourth lens element 340 has negative refractive power, and image-side surface 342 that is concave in a paraxial region thereof, par. [0138]),
wherein the first to fourth lenses are sequentially disposed from an object side toward an imaging plane (Fig. 5, the imaging lens assembly includes, in order from an object side to an image side, a first lens element 310, a second lens element 320, a third lens element 330, and a fourth lens element 340, par. [0134]),
wherein 4.8 < f/IMG_HT < 9.0, where f is a focal length of the optical imaging system and IMG_HT is half a diagonal length of an imaging surface of the image sensor (Huang discloses the condition 1.85 < f/ImgH < 10.0 is satisfied by the embodiments disclosed therein, refer to par. [0058] and claim 1 thereof, overlapping the claimed range),
wherein the distance from the image-side surface of the third lens to the object-side surface of the fourth lens is greater than a distance from an image-side surface of the second lens to an object-side surface of the third lens (Table 5 provides detailed optical data of the third embodiment, where the distance from the image-side surface of the third lens to the object-side surface of the fourth lens is 0.622, and the distance from the image-side surface of the second lens to the object-side surface of the third lens is 0.049, satisfying the limitation),
Huang, in the third embodiment, does not disclose wherein a thickness of the second lens is greater than a distance from an image-side surface of the third lens to an object-side surface of the fourth lens (Table 5 lists the second lens thickness as 0.302, and the distance from the image-side surface of the third lens to the object-side surface of the fourth lens is given as 0.622), nor does Huang in the third embodiment disclose wherein an absolute value of a radius of curvature of an image-side surface of the second lens is greater than an absolute value of a radius of curvature of an object-side surface of the third lens (Table 5 gives the radius of curvature of the image-side surface of the second lens as -10.452, the absolute value of which is 10.452, and the third lens has an object-side radius of curvature given as -52.949, the absolute value of which is 52.949, and thus does not satisfy the limitation), and Huang, in the third embodiment, does not disclose wherein a thickness of the third lens is greater than a thickness of the fourth lens (Table 5 gives the third lens thickness as 0.228, and the fourth lens thickness as 0.237, and thus does not satisfy the limitation).
However, Huang discloses a seventh embodiment, shown in Fig. 13, with a first lens element 710 (par. [0191]), a second lens element 720 (par. [0192]), a third lens element 730 with negative refractive power and a concave image-side surface 732 (par. [0193]), and a fourth lens element 740 with a concave image-side surface 742 (par. [0194]), wherein the optical elements are in order from an object side to an image side (par. [0190]), wherein a thickness of the second lens is greater than a distance from an image-side surface of the third lens to an object-side surface of the fourth lens (Table 13, second lens has a thickness of 0.623, and the distance from image-side surface of the third lens to an object-side surface of the fourth lens is 0.588, satisfying the limitation), wherein an absolute value of a radius of curvature of an image-side surface of the second lens is greater than an absolute value of a radius of curvature of an object-side surface of the third lens (Table 13, the absolute value of a radius of curvature of an image-side surface of the second lens is 90.606, and the absolute value of a radius of curvature of an object-side surface of the third lens is 20.332, satisfying the limitation).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have combined the third and seventh embodiments disclosed by Huang and adjusted the radiuses of curvature of the image side of the second lens and the object side of the third lens, because Huang teaches such arrangements are favorable for light converging capability and avoiding excessive aberrations (Huang, par. [0048]), and to adjust the spacing between and thickness of optical elements because Huang teaches such adjustments are favorable for balancing the distances between adjacent lens elements and avoiding assembling interference due to overly small distances between adjacent lens elements (Huang, par. [0075]).
The combination of Huang third and seventh embodiments does not disclose wherein a thickness of the third lens is greater than a thickness of the fourth lens (Table 5 lists the thickness of the third lens in the third embodiment as 0.228, and the thickness of the fourth lens as 0.237, and Table 13 lists the thickness of the third lens in the seventh embodiment as 0.230, and the thickness of the fourth lens as 0.380).
In the same field of invention, Tsai discloses an optical imaging system (refer to at least title and abstract, where Tsai discloses an optical imaging lens assembly) comprising:
a first lens comprising a refractive power (Fig. 3A and Fig. 15, first lens element 310 has positive refractive power, par. [0136] thereof);
a second lens comprising a refractive power (Fig. 3A and Fig. 15, second lens element 320 has negative refractive power, par. [0137] thereof);
a third lens comprising a refractive power and a concave image-side surface (Fig. 3A and Fig. 15, third lens element 330 has negative refractive power and a concave image-side surface 332, par. [0138] thereof); and
a fourth lens comprising a refractive power (Fig. 3A and Fig. 15, fourth lens element 340 has negative refractive power, par. [0139] thereof),
wherein the first to fourth lenses are sequentially disposed from an object side toward an imaging plane (Fig. 3A and Fig. 15, optical elements of the third embodiment are in order from an object side to an image side, par. [0135] thereof),
wherein the distance from the image-side surface of the third lens to the object-side surface of the fourth lens is greater than a distance from an image-side surface of the second lens to an object-side surface of the third lens (Table 5, the distance from the image-side surface of the third lens to the object-side surface of the fourth lens is 0.721, and the distance from an image-side surface of the second lens to an object-side surface of the third lens is 0.469, satisfying the limitation),
wherein an absolute value of a radius of curvature of an image-side surface of the second lens is greater than an absolute value of a radius of curvature of an object-side surface of the third lens (Table 5, image-side radius of curvature of the second lens has an absolute value of 12.43360, and the object-side radius of curvature of the third lens has an absolute value of 4.48170, satisfying the limitation), and
wherein a thickness of the third lens is greater than a thickness of the fourth lens (Table 5, third lens has a thickness of 0.425, and the fourth lens has a thickness of 0.365, satisfying the limitation).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have applied the teachings of Tsai to the disclosure of Huang and adjusted the thicknesses of the third and fourth lens elements so as to make the third lens thicker than the fourth lens, to favorably correct astigmatism and optimize aberration in the final image produce (Tsai, par. [0012]).
Regarding dependent claim 10, Huang in view of Tsai (hereinafter, “modified Huang”) discloses the optical imaging system of claim 9, and Huang further discloses wherein the first lens has a convex object-side surface (Huang, first lens element 310 has object-side surface 311 that is convex, par. [0135]).
Regarding dependent claim 12, modified Huang discloses the optical imaging system of claim 9, and Huang further discloses wherein the fourth lens has a convex object-side surface (Huang, fourth lens element 340 has object-side surface 341 that is convex, par. [0138]).
Regarding dependent claim 14, modified Huang discloses the optical imaging system of claim 9, and Huang further discloses wherein the first lens has positive refractive power (Huang Fig. 5 depicts the third embodiment, with first lens element 310 having positive refractive power, par. [0135]).
Regarding dependent claim 15, modified Huang discloses the optical imaging system of claim 9, and Huang further discloses wherein the third lens has negative refractive power (Huang, third lens element 330 has negative refractive power, par. [0137]).
Regarding amended dependent claim 16, modified Huang discloses the optical imaging system of claim 9, and Huang further discloses wherein the fourth lens has negative refractive power (Huang, fourth lens element 340 has negative refractive power, par. [0138]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 07/07/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant has argued the combination of Tanaka, Bone, Chen, and Gross fails to teach or suggest the limitation “a third lens comprising a refractive power and a concave image-side surface”. Examiner respectfully disagrees.
Primary reference Tanaka discloses a third lens with refractive power and a concave image-side surface, see rejection above, and refer to Fig. 1 showing Embodiment 1 with a third lens that has curved object-side and image-side surfaces, where the image-side surface radius of curvature is given as 8.4831, indicating a concave image-side surface, and an index of refraction of n3 = 1.83350, see data table for Embodiment 1 in col. 5, therefore third lens of the first embodiment has a refractive power and a concave image-side surface.
Applicant argued that the cited art fails to teach or suggest the limitation “a fourth lens comprising a refractive power and a concave image-side surface”, because the fourth lenses of Tanaka and Bone have convex image-side surfaces. Examiner agrees with this observation, but notes that supporting reference Chen teaches a fourth lens comprising a refractive power and a concave image-side surface (see rejection above), and Gross teaches the bending a lens can be done without any great perturbation of the existing setup because bending is a zero power operation that does not introduce any refractive power, and would be an operation a person of ordinary skill would undertake to investigate potential improvements and optimizations during the lens design process. Applicant further argues that if the shapes of the image-side surfaces of the third and fourth lenses of Bone were changed to be concave, a focal length f4 of the fourth lens and a focal length f of the optical imaging system of Bone would be changed significantly, and therefore a person having an ordinary skill in the art would not be motivated to combine Tanaka with Bone, Chen, and Gross, and even if these references were combined, the features of claim 1 would not be fully realized. Examiner respectfully disagrees.
The claims do not recite specific values, or ranges of values, for the focal length of the fourth lens beyond claiming a negative focal length, and the effective focal length of the system is only disclosed as a range in relation to the image height, thus the change in focal length of the fourth lens as a result of bending of a lens surface will not render the lens system inoperable or unfit for its intended purpose, and a person of ordinary skill would be able to adjust other unclaimed parameters to arrive at a functional imaging system based on the cited references as a starting point.
Applicant has further argued that the cited references do not teach or suggest the limitation “the distance from the image-side surface of the third lens to the object-side surface of the fourth lens is greater than a distance from an image-side surface of the second lens to an object-side surface of the third lens”, which is not taught by either Bone, Chen, or Gross. However, primary reference Tanaka teaches the distance from the third lens image-side surface to the fourth lens object-side surface is 15.000, and the distance from the image-side surface of the second lens to the object-side surface of the third lens is 2.558, see parameters for Embodiment 1 in col. 5.
Likewise, Applicant has argued that features of independent claim 9, “a third lens comprising a refractive power and a concave image-side surface; and a fourth lens comprising a refractive power and a concave image-side surface, wherein the distance from the image-side surface of the third lens to the object-side surface of the fourth lens is greater than a distance from an image-side surface of the second lens to an object-side surface of the third lens” are not taught or suggested by the cited references. Examiner respectfully disagrees, where the same explanations for the rejection are provided above.
Examiner also notes that all claims have also been rejected as unpatentable over Huang in view of Tsai, for which no arguments have been presented.
No other substantial arguments were presented after page 7 of Remarks. As such, the prior art cited discloses the invention as currently claimed.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 Justin W Hustoft whose telephone number is (571)272-4519. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Eastern Time.
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/JUSTIN W. HUSTOFT/ Examiner, Art Unit 2872
/RICKY L MACK/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2872
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