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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of all the claims in the reply filed on 4/20/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that it would not be a serious burden to the examiner to review all of the claims. While the office does not concede the restriction, the restriction has been withdrawn for the purposes of expediting prosecution.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-4, 6, and 11-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1, a2) as being anticipated by CN 217932242 U.
Re claim 1, CN 217932242 U teaches an optical imaging system (see figures 19, 21, and 23), comprising: a first lens group (see 610, 620, 710, 720 and 810, 820), a reflective member (see P1), and a second lens group sequentially arranged along an optical axis (see 630, 640, 730, 740, and 830, 840, 850), wherein each of the first lens group and the second lens group includes a plurality of lenses (see first 610, 620, 710, 720, 810, 820, and second 630, 640, 730, 740, and 830, 840, 850) the first lens group has positive refractive power (document states that first lens group is positive),an effective diameter of a first lens, among the plurality of lenses in the first lens group, is largest among the plurality of lenses in the first and second lens groups (see 610, 710 and 810), and wherein 0 < DL1P/TTL < 0.25 is satisfied, where DL1P is a distance, on the optical axis, from an object-side surface of the first lens in the first lens group to a first surface of the reflective member, and TTL is a distance, on the optical axis, from the object-side surface of the first lens in the first lens group to an imaging surface (see tables 9-17).
Re claim 2, CN 217932242 U teaches wherein the first lens group comprises the first lens and a second lens arranged sequentially from an object side, one of the first lens and the second lens has a positive focal length with an Abbe number greater than 50, and another has a negative focal length with an Abbe number less than 30 (see numerals 610, 620, 710, 720, 810, 820 and tables 9-17).
Re claim 3, CN 217932242 U teaches wherein v1-v2>29 is satisfied, where v1 is the Abbe number of the first lens, and v2 is the Abbe number of the second lens (see tables 9-17).
Re claim 4, CN 217932242 U teaches wherein the first lens group comprises the first lens and a second lens arranged sequentially from an object side (see figures 19, 21, and 23), and
f1/f2<0.2 is satisfied, where f1 is a focal length of the first lens, and f2 is a focal length of
the second lens (see tables 9-17).
Re claim 6, CN 217932242 U teaches wherein f > 10 mm is satisfied, where f is a total focal length of the optical imaging system (see 0086).
Re claim 11, CN 217932242 U teaches wherein Nv50 ≥ 2 and Nv28 ≥ 3 are satisfied, where Nv50 is a number of lenses having an Abbe number greater than 50, and Nv28 is a number of lenses having an Abbe number less than 28 (see table 15-17).
Re claim 12, CN 217932242 U teaches wherein among the plurality of lenses in the second lens group, two or more lenses arranged sequentially from the object side have a refractive index of 1.61 or more (see table 15-17).
Re claim 13, CN 217932242 U teaches wherein a number of the plurality of lenses in the second lens group is equal to or greater than a number of the plurality of lenses in the first lens group (see figure 23).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 15-17 are allowed.
Claims 5, 7-10, and 14 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.
In regard to dependent claim 5, the prior art taken either singly or in combination fails to anticipate or fairly suggest the limitations of claim 1 combined with the explicit numerical limitation recited in this claim; recited together in combination with the totality of particular features/limitations recited therein
In regard to dependent claim 7, the prior art taken either singly or in combination fails to anticipate or fairly suggest the limitations of claim 1 combined with the explicit numerical limitation recited in this claim; recited together in combination with the totality of particular features/limitations recited therein
In regard to dependent claim 8, the prior art taken either singly or in combination fails to anticipate or fairly suggest the limitations of claim 1 combined with the explicit numerical limitation recited in this claim; recited together in combination with the totality of particular features/limitations recited therein
In regard to dependent claim 9, the prior art taken either singly or in combination fails to anticipate or fairly suggest the limitations of claim 1 combined with the explicit numerical limitation recited in this claim; recited together in combination with the totality of particular features/limitations recited therein
In regard to dependent claim 10, the prior art taken either singly or in combination fails to anticipate or fairly suggest the limitations of claim 1 combined with the explicit numerical limitation recited in this claim; recited together in combination with the totality of particular features/limitations recited therein
In regard to dependent claim 14, the prior art taken either singly or in combination fails to anticipate or fairly suggest the limitations of claim 1 combined with the lens configuration disclosed in this claim; recited together in combination with the totality of particular features/limitations recited therein
In regard to independent claim 15, the prior art taken either singly or in combination fails to anticipate or fairly suggest the structural and numerical limitations explicitly recited in the claim; recited together in combination with the totality of particular features/limitations recited therein
The prior art taken 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.
Cited Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 7466500 B2: lens system with related structure
US 20160170175 A1: lens system with related structure
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES R GREECE whose telephone number is (571)272-3711. The examiner can normally be reached 8-4.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Allana Bidder can be reached at 571-272-5560. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JAMES R GREECE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2875
Prosecution Insights