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 Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1 and 3-11 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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, 5 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nomura (U.S. Patent Publication 2012/0268834).
With regard to independent claim 1, Nomura teaches a projection lens arranged along a single optical axis from an object side to an image side (Figure 1), comprising: a first lens (Figure 1, element 1) having a negative focal power (page 5, paragraph [0090]); a first glued lens (Figure 1, element C1) comprising a second lens (Figure 1, element 2) and a third lens (Figure 1, element 3), wherein the second lens is located between the first lens and the third lens (Figure 1), the second lens and the third lens are glued to each other on opposing surfaces thereof (Figure 1), and the first glued lens has a positive focal power (page 5, paragraph [0089]); a second glued lens (Figure 1, element C3) comprising a fourth lens (Figure 5, element 6) and a fifth lens (Figure 1, element 7), wherein the fourth lens is located between the third lens and the fifth lens (Figure 1), the fourth lens and the fifth lens are glued to each other on opposing surfaces thereof (Figure 1), and the second glued lens has a negative focal power (page 5, paragraph [0093]); and a sixth lens (Figure 1, element 8) having a positive focal power (page 5, paragraph [0093]); wherein the first lens has a convex surface on a side facing the object side (page 5, Table 1, r-data for Surface 1), and a concave surface on a side facing the image side (page 5, Table 1, r-data for Surface 2); the second lens has a concave surface on a side facing the object side (page 5, Table 1, r-data for Surface 3), and a concave surface on a side facing the image side (page 5, Table 1, r-data for Surface 4); the third lens has a convex surface on a side facing the object side (page 5, Table 1, r-data for Surface 4), and a convex surface on a side facing the image side (page 5, Table 1, r-data for Surface 5): the fourth lens has a concave surface on a side facing the object side (page 5, Table 1, r-data for Surface 10), and a concave surface on a side facing the image side (page 5, Table 1, r-data for Surface 11); the fifth lens has a convex surface on a side facing the object side (page 5, Table 1, r-data for Surface 11), and a convex surface on a side facing the image side (page 5, Table 1, r-data for Surface 12); the sixth lens has a convex surface on a side facing the object side (page 5, Table 1, r-data for Surface 13), and a convex surface on a side facing the image side (page 5, Table 1, r-data for Surface 14).
With regard to dependent claim 5, Nomura teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to independent claim 1, and further teaches such a projection lens wherein the first lens is an aspheric lens; and/or the sixth lens is an aspheric lens (page 5, paragraph [0095]).
With regard to dependent claim 7, Nomura teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to independent claim 1, and further teaches such a projection lens further comprising: a stop provided between the first glued lens and the second glued lens (Figure 1, element S, positioned between element C1 and C3).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 4, 6, 8 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nomura (U.S. Patent Publication 2012/0268834).
With regard to dependent claim 4, although Nomura teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to independent claim 1, Nomura fails to teach such a projection lens wherein the projection lens has a focal length of f, wherein 5.2 < f < 8.5. Nomura does teach such a projection lens such that f = 8.5 (page 6, Table 3), such that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to modify the lens system, as taught by Nomura, since it has been held that a prima facie case of obviousness exists where the claimed ranges or amounts do not overlap with the prior art but are merely close (Titanium Metals Corp. of America v. Banner, 778 F.2d 775, 783, 227 USPQ 773, 779 (Fed. Cir. 1985)).
With regard to dependent claim 6, although Nomura teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to independent claim 1, Nomura fails to teach such a projection lens wherein the first lens is made of optical plastic material; and/or the second lens, the third lens, the fourth lens, the fifth lens, and the sixth lens are made of optical glass. However, 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 known alternate (In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416), such that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention to modify the lens system, as taught by Nomura, to construct the first lens of plastic for its ease of production and light weight.
With regard to dependent claim 8, although Nomura teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to independent claim 1, Nomura fails to teach such a projection lens having a display unit provided on a side of the sixth lens facing away from the second glued lens. Nomura does teach a lens system comprising an image plane (Figure 1, element I), such that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the lens systems, as taught by Nomura, with a display position at the image plane, to provide a visual output for the image created by the lens system.
With regard to dependent claim 10, Nomura teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to dependent claim 8, further comprising: a transparent protective layer provided on a side of the [image plane] facing away from the sixth lens (Figure 1, element CG).
Claims 9 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nomura (U.S. Patent Publication 2012/0268834) as applied to claim 8 above, and further in view of Huang et al (U.S. Patent Publication 2012/0099210).
With regard to dependent claim 9, although Nomura teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to independent claim 1, Nomura fails to teach such a projection lens further comprising: a right-angle prism provided between the sixth lens and the display unit. In a related endeavor, Huang et al teaches a projection lens arranged along a single optical axis from an object side to an image side (page 1, paragraph [0002] and Figure 1), comprising: a first lens (Figure 1, element 10) having a negative focal power (page 1, paragraph [0017], lines 1-3); a first glued lens comprising a second lens and a third lens (Figure 1, element 20 comprised of elements 21 and 23), wherein the second lens is located between the first lens and the third lens, (Figure 1, element 21 is positioned after element 10 and before element 23) the second lens and the third lens are glued to each other on opposing surfaces thereof (page 1, paragraph [0018], lines 4-6), and the first glued lens has a positive focal power page 1, paragraph [0015], line 5); a second glued lens comprising a fourth lens and a fifth lens (Figure 1, element 31 and 33), wherein the fourth lens is located between the third lens and the fifth lens (Figure 1, wherein element 31 is positioned before element 33 and after element 23), the fourth lens and the fifth lens are glued to each other on opposing surfaces thereof (page 1, paragraph [0019], lines 6-7), and the second glued lens has a negative focal power page 2, Table 1 data for lenses defined by surfaces S6, S7 and S8); and a sixth lens (Figure 1, element 35) having a positive focal power (page 2, Table 1 data, lens defined by surfaces S9 and S10), further comprising: a right-angle prism provided between the sixth lens and the display unit (Figure 1, element 97), such that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the lens system, as taught by Nomura, with the prism, as taught by Huang et al, to adjust the light path (page 2, paragraph [0027]).
With regard to dependent claim 11, Nomura teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to dependent claim 9, further comprising: a transparent protective layer provided on a side of the [image plane] facing away from the sixth lens (Figure 1, element CG).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 is 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art taken either singularly or in combination fails to anticipate or fairly suggest the limitations of the independent claims, in such a manner that a rejection under 35 U.S.C. §102 or §103 would be proper. Although the prior art teaches a projection lens arranged along a single optical axis from an object side to an image side, comprising: a first lens having a negative focal power; a first glued lens comprising a second lens and a third lens, wherein the second lens is located between the first lens and the third lens, the second lens and the third lens are glued to each other on opposing surfaces thereof, and the first glued lens has a positive focal power; a second glued lens comprising a fourth lens and a fifth lens, wherein the fourth lens is located between the third lens and the fifth lens, the fourth lens and the fifth lens are glued to each other on opposing surfaces thereof, and the second glued lens has a negative focal power; and a sixth lens having a positive focal power, wherein: the first lens has a convex surface on a side facing the object side, and a concave surface on a side facing the image side; the second lens has a concave surface on a side facing the object side, and a concave surface on a side facing the image side; the third lens has a convex surface on a side facing the object side, and a convex surface on a side facing the image side; the fourth lens has a concave surface on a side facing the object side, and a concave surface on a side facing the image side; the fifth lens has a convex surface on a side facing the object side, and a convex surface on a side facing the image side; the sixth lens has a convex surface on a side facing the object side, and a convex surface on a side facing the image side, the prior art fails to teach such a projection lens wherein: the first lens has a focal length of f1, the first glued lens has a focal length of f2/3, the second glued lens has a focal length of f4/5, and the sixth lens has a focal length of f6, wherein, -15.5 < f1 < -9.5, 15.5 < f2/3 < 22.5, -80.5 < f4/5 < -52.5, 9.2 < f6 < 16.5, as claimed in dependent claim 3.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DARRYL J COLLINS whose telephone number is (571) 272-2325. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 5:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ricky L Mack can be reached at 571-272-2333. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DARRYL J COLLINS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872
07 April 2026