DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
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 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Applicant’s submitted prior art, Wang, CN 115327728 A.
Claim 1 is anticipated by Wang’s figures 1-2 and accompanying text which discloses a lens assembly, comprising:
. a first lens 8, comprising a first surface (upper surface of 8)
. a second lens 9, comprising a second surface (lower surface of 9), the first surface spaced from the second surface in an assembly direction (fig. 1)
. a baffle ring 2 positioned between the first lens and the second lens, the baffle ring comprises a first end and a second end, the first end is connected to the first surface, the second end is connected to the second surface (fig. 1)
. a pouring space 7 formed between the first surface, the second surface, and an inner surface of the baffle ring (fig. 1) and a third lens 10, formed by pouring a pouring material into the pouring space and solidifying the pouring material ([0017]-[0018]).
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.
Claims 2-3 and 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Applicant’s submitted prior art, Wang, CN 115327728 A.
Re claims 2-3, Wang disclose the claimed invention as described above except for an inner concaved annular groove 21 in a radial direction of the baffle ring, wherein the annular groove comprises two intersecting annular bevels, each of the two annular bevels is inclined from an end surface of the baffle ring to a radial outer side of the baffle ring. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the Wang’s baffle ring including an inner concave annular groove as claimed, since it is a conventional construction for liquid filling purposes (through the Wang’s injection port 21).
Re claims 13-15, since the processing method is merely a list of forming each component and each component must be performed to make the device, the processing method of lens assembly would be inherent to the device.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-12 and 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DUNG T NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-2297. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 - 5:00.
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/DUNG T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871