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
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 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Byler (US Publication No.: US 2022/0179182 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Byler discloses a microscope objective (Figure 26A; Paragraph 0070), comprising:
A first movable lens group that is movable along an optical axis (Figure 26A, first movable lens group G322);
A first correction means configured to move the first movable lens group along the optical axis (Figure 26A, first correction means is contained with module M226; Paragraph 0036);
A second movable lens group that is movable along the optical axis (Figure 26A, second movable lens group G522); and
A second correction means configured to move the second movable lens group along the optical axis (Figure 26A, second correction means is contained with module M226; Paragraph 0036).
Regarding Claim 2, Byler disclose the microscope objective according to claim 1, wherein the first movable lens group is composed of a cemented doublet with a plano-convex lens and a plano-concave lens (Figure 26A discloses a double G322 with a plano-convex lens and a plano-concave lens; Paragraph 0080; Paragraph 0161).
Regarding Claim 4, Byler discloses a microscope observation system (Figures 27-28; Paragraph 0037), comprising the microscope objective according to claim 1;
An integrated workstation configured to control the first correction means and the second correction means of the microscope objective (Paragraph 0108 discloses a zoom module that is integrated within the system to control the correction means; Paragraph 0087);
A tube lens unit configured to form an image in combination with the microscope objective (Paragraph 0198); and
An image acquisition device configured to acquire image formed by the tube lens unit (Paragraph 0124; Paragraph 0200), wherein
The integrated workstation is configured to
Calculate a correction amount using image data acquired by the image acquisition device, and control the first correction means and the second correction means based on the calculated correction amount (Paragraph 0200; Paragraph 0176).
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.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Byler in view of Terasawa et al (US Patent No.: US 5,191,475, “Terasawa”).
Regarding Claim 3, Byler discloses the microscope objective according to claim 2.
Byler fails to disclose that the plano-convex lens and the plano-concave lens satisfy following conditional expressions (1) and (2): |n1-n2|<0.05 (1) and |v1-v2|>10 (2), n1: refractive index of the plano-convex lens on a reference wavelength; n2: refractive index of the plano-concave lens on the reference wavelength; v1:Abbe number of the plano-convex lens; v2:Abbe number of the plano-concave lens.
However, Terasawa discloses a similar microscope objective where the plano-convex lens and the plano-concave lens satisfy following conditional expressions (1) and (2): |n1-n2|<0.05 (1) and |v1-v2|>10 (2), n1: refractive index of the plano-convex lens on a reference wavelength; n2: refractive index of the plano-concave lens on the reference wavelength; v1:Abbe number of the plano-convex lens; v2:Abbe number of the plano-concave lens (Terasawa, Figure 1, plano-convex lens L8, plano-concave lens L7; Table 1 discloses n1-n2 is 0.04 and v1-v2 is 14.7, which both fall within the claimed range).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the lenses as disclosed by Byler to have particular characteristics as disclosed by Terasawa. One would have been motivated to do so for the purpose of optimizing tracking adjustment (Terasawa, Column 3, l.55).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARIAM QURESHI whose telephone number is (571)272-4434. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-5PM EST M-F.
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/MARIAM QURESHI/Examiner, Art Unit 2871