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 § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sakamoto et al. (US 2022/0244488 A1) in view of Nakahara et al. (US 12,517,333 B2).
Re claim 1, Sakamoto et al. discloses a device comprising a first lens unit (U1) having a positive refractive power and fixed for zooming (paragraph 0041); at least two movable lens units (U2, U3) having negative refractive powers and configured to move for zooming (paragraph 0066); and a final lens unit (U5) having a positive refractive power, fixed for zooming (paragraph 0066), and disposed closest to an image plate (IP), wherein a distance between adjacent lens units changes during zooming (paragraph 0066), wherein at least a part of the first lens unit moves for focusing (paragraph 0073), wherein the first lens unit includes one negative lens (paragraph 0041) and at least five positive lens, which are successively arranged in this order from the object side to the image side (Fig. 1, ref. U11, U12), and wherein the following inequalities are satisfied:
2.96≤Ndn+0.0333
×
vdn≤3.20, whrein Ndn is a refractive index of the negative lens for the d-line, vdn is an Abbe number of the negative lens based on the d-line. Since Sakmoto et al. discloses 1.70<Ndn<1.85Ndn, and 28<vdn<39 (paragraph 0041), Ndn may be 1.83 and vdn may be 35 (paragraph 0041), which would satisfy the inequality.
Sakamoto et al. does not disclose the device wherein, 2.0≤|fln/fw)|≤18.0, wherein fln is a focal length of the negative lens, and fw is a focal length of the zoom lens at a wide-angle end.
Sakamoto et al. discloses the device wherein fw=8.00 (paragraph 0154). Therefore, the focal length of the negative lens may be in a range of ±16-144 mm to satisfy the inequality. Nakahara et al. discloses a device wherein the focal length of a negative lens (G1) is -31.445 (col. 18).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to employ the device wherein 2.0≤|fln/fw)|≤18.0 since employing a device wherein the focal length of the first negative lens is within the range of ±16-144 mm is well known and conventional in the art.
Re claim 2, Sakamoto et al. discloses the device wherein the following inequality is satisfied: -0.3≤(R2+R1)/(R2-R1)≤0.3 (paragraph 0154).
Re claim 3, Sakamoto et al. does not disclose the device wherein 4.4≤Dn≤6.0, wherein Dn is specific gravity of the negative lens.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to employ the device wherein 4.4≤Dn≤6.0, wherein Dn is specific gravity of the negative lens. Sakamoto et al. discloses the device wherein a high Dn equates to a larger weight (paragraph 0053). Therefore, obtaining the device wherein 4.4≤Dn≤6.0, to obtain a larger weight for the negative lens is based on a result effective variable, requiring routine skill in the art.
Re claim 4, Sakamoto et al. does not disclose the device wherein the following inequality is satisfied: 80.0≤vdpave≤96.0.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to employ the device wherein the following inequality is satisfied: 80.0≤vdpave≤96.0. Nakamura et al. discloses that the Abbe number with respect to the d-line of the positive lens of the first lens unit determines the correction of lateral chromatic and on-axis chromatic aberration (col. 7, lines 32-40). Therefore, obtaining the device wherein the following inequality is satisfied: 80.0≤vdpave≤96.0 to sufficiently correct for lateral chromatic and on-axis chromatic aberration is based a result effective variable, requiring routine skill in the art.
Re claim 5, Sakamoto et al. discloses the device wherein the first lens unit (U1) includes in order from the object side to the image side, a first subunit (U11), a second subunit (first two lens of subunit U12), and a third subunit (last lens of subunit U12), and wherein the second subunit has positive refractive power (abstract).
Re claim 6, Sakamoto et al. discloses the device wherein the following inequality is satisfied: 2.8≤|f1/fnmx) |≤13.0, wherein f1 is a focal length of the first lens unit, and fnmx is a focal length of a lens unit having a largest absolute value of refractive power among the at least two movable lens unit (paragraph 0070). Sakamoto et al. discloses that the second lens unit U2 has the largest absolute value of refractive power among the negative lens unit (paragraph 0070). Therefore, 2.8≤|f1/fnmx)|≤13.0 (paragraph 00154), since (61.00/-13.50), satisfies the inequality.
Re claim 7, Sakamoto et al. does not disclose the device wherein the following is satisfied: 0.52≤|f1n/f1| ≤5.0, where f1 is a focal length of the first lens unit.
Sakamoto et al. discloses the device wherein f1 is 61.0 (paragraph 0154). Therefore, to satisfy the inequality, fln must be between 31.7 and 305. Nakahara et al. discloses a device wherein the focal length of a negative lens (G1) is 31.445 (col. 18).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to employ the device wherein0.52≤|f1n/f1| ≤5.0, since employing a device wherein the focal length of the first negative lens is somewhere in the large range 31.7 to 31.445 mm is well known and conventional in the art.
Re claim 8, Sakamoto et al. discloses the device wherein the first lens unit consists of the negative lens and the five positive lenses (Fig. 1, ref. U1).
Re claim 9, Sakamoto et al. discloses the device wherein the first lens unit consists of the negative lens and the five positive lenses (Fig. 27, ref. U1).
Re claim 10, Sakamoto et al. discloses the device wherein the plurality of lens units include the first lens unit (U1), a second lens unit (U2) having negative refractive power and configured to move for zooming (paragraph 0066), and a rear group (U4, U5), wherein the rear group includes, successively in order from the image side to the object side: a final lens unit (U5), and a lens unit (U4) having positive refractive power and configured to move for zooming (paragraph 0066), and at least one lens unit (U5) configured to move for zooming (paragraph 0066).
Re claim 11, Sakamoto et al. discloses the device wherein the rear lens group includes, in order from the object side to the image side: a third lens unit (U3) having negative refractive power (paragraph 0066), a fourth lens unit (U4) having positive refractive power (paragraph 0066), and a fifth lens unit (U5) as the final lens unit. Lens unit (U3) may be included in the rear lens group.
Re claim 12, Sakamoto et al. discloses the device wherein the rear group includes, in order from the object side to the image side: a third lens unit (U4) having positive or negative refractive power, a fourth lens unit (U5) having negative refractive power, a fifth lens unit (U6) having positive refractive power, and a sixth lens unit (U7) as the final lens unit (Fig. 31). In this case, the rear group consists of U4, U5, U6, U7.
Re claim 13, Sakamoto et al. discloses the device comprising the zoom lens; and an image sensor configured to image an object through the zoom lens (paragraph 0104).
Conclusion
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/RICHARD H KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871