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 without traverse of Species A, claims 1-6 and 9 in the reply filed on 5/07/2026 is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
As required by M.P.E.P. 609, the applicant’s submissions of the Information Disclosure Statement dated 3/18/2024 is acknowledged by the examiner and the cited references have been considered in the examination of the claims now pending.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 6, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kang (20160088201) in view of Seo (20220099917).
Regarding claim 1, Kang discloses (see at least Fig 1 – Fig 6, [0034]-[0063]) a lens driving device (Fig 4, [0038], camera module 100), comprising: at least one lens barrel (110) for holding at least one optical system (Fig 4, [0041]); a housing (120) for containing (Fig 4, [0042], 110 is positioned at any positions inside the receiving space of the 120) the at least one lens barrel (110) therein; a support mechanism (170) for supporting the at least one lens barrel in the housing ([0047], 170 is formed on the outer circumferential surface of the lens barrel 110) so that the at least one lens barrel can be driven in an optical axis direction of the at least one optical system ([0042], 110 positioned at any positions starts to be vertically driven in the direction of the optical axis); and a driving mechanism (130) for providing driving force driving the at least one lens barrel in the optical direction ([0042], driven in the direction of the optical axis by the driving part 130 to adjust the focal length), wherein the driving mechanism (130) includes a coil (134) provided on the at least one lens barrel ([0050], 134 is provided on the inner circumferential surface of the housing 120) and a magnet (132) provided on the housing ([0054], magnet 132 that is provided on the outer circumferential surface of the lens barrel 110), wherein the support mechanism (170) includes: a first support portion (112) fixedly provided in the housing (120) so as to extend in the optical direction and at least partially face the magnet (Fig 6, [0045], a first receiving groove 112 in which at least a portion of the guide ball 140 is received is formed on the other side of the outer circumferential surface of the lens barrel 110), a second support portion (122) provided on the at least one lens barrel (110) so as to face the first support portion (Fig 6 shows 112 facing 122), and a guide member (guide ball 140) held between the first support portion and the second support portion (Fig 6, [0051]), and wherein the guide member (140) is held between the first support portion and the second support portion by magnetic attraction force generated between the first support portion and the second support portion (Fig 6, [0051], second receiving groove 122 that rotatably supports the guide ball 140 assisting the lens barrel 110 to vertically transfer by reducing a friction force between the lens barrel 110 and the housing 120 is formed on the inner circumferential surface of the housing 120) but does not teach wherein each of the first support portion and the second support portion is formed from magnetic material. However, in a similar endeavor, Seo teaches wherein each of the first support portion and the second support portion is formed from magnetic material (Fig 5, [0132], carrier 310 may include a metal part including first to fourth grooves 121, 122, 311, and 312 configured to accommodate the ball member 370). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to combine the optical system of Kang with the components of Seo for the purpose of optimizing image quality and driving distance with a camera module (Seo, [0175]).
Regarding claim 2, Kang in view of Seo discloses the invention as described within claim 1 and Seo further teaches wherein the guide member (370) is formed from magnetic material ([0133], ball member 370 rolls while being in contact with the grooves 121, 122, 311, and 312 formed of a metal), and wherein magnetic attraction force is generated between the guide member and the first support portion and between the guide member and the second support portion (Fig 10, [0138], force that maintains the contact may be formed by the magnet 320a). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to combine the optical system of Kang with the components of Seo for the purpose of optimizing image quality and driving distance with a camera module (Seo, [0175]).
Regarding claim 3, Kang in view of Seo discloses the invention as described within claim 1 and Kang further teaches wherein the coil (134) is provided so as to surround the at least one lens barrel (110) and the support mechanism (170) from an outer side (Fig 5, Fig 8A), and wherein a part of the coil is located between the first support portion of the support mechanism and the magnet (Fig 5, [0050], 134 is provided on the inner circumferential surface of the housing 120 so as to be opposite to the magnet 132 provided on the outer circumferential surface of the lens barrel 110).
Regarding claim 6, Kang in view of Seo discloses the invention as described within claim 1 and Kang further teaches wherein each of the first support portion (112) and the second support portion (122) includes a receiving groove for receiving the guide member (Fig 6, [0051], each guide ball is shown to be indented within 110 and 120), wherein the receiving groove of each of the first support portion and the second support portion extends in the optical direction (Fig 6 shows each groove of 112 and 122 to extend in the direction of F1 and F2), and wherein the guide member (140) is held between the receiving groove of the first support portion and the receiving groove of the second support portion by the magnetic attraction force generated ([0055], guide ball 140 guides the upward/downward driving of the lens barrel 110 with respect to the housing 120) between the first support portion and the second support portion (Fig 6, [0057], guide ball 140 is interposed in the space between the lens barrel 110).
Regarding claim 9, Kang in view of Seo discloses the invention as described within claim 1 and Kang further teaches a camera module ([0038], camera module) comprising: a lens driving device ([0016], a driving part); and the at least one optical system ([0041], lens L) held by the at least one lens barrel of the lens driving device ([0041], lens barrel 110 collects external images to the inside of the camera module through a lens L).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 and 5 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: with respect to the allowable subject matter, none of the prior art either alone or in combination disclose or teach of the claimed combination of limitations to warrant a rejection under 35 USC 102 or 103.
Specifically, with respect to dependent claim 4, the prior art of Kang taken either singly or in combination with any other prior art fails to suggest such a lens driving device including the specific arrangement: “wherein the housing includes an upper plate having a rectangular flat plate-like shape, four wall portions respectively and linearly extending from edge portions of the upper plate toward an imaging side of the optical axis direction, and a base facing the upper plate, and wherein at least a part of the housing facing the first support portion is formed from magnetic material.”. Claim 5 is allowable due to pendency on dependent claim 4.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Park (20230236385) and Takahashi (20180367019) are examples of a camera module that utilizes optical image stabilization within the lens barrel.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Sharrief I Broome whose telephone number is (571)272-3454. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-5pm, EST.
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, Ricky 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.
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.
Sharrief I. Broome
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2872
/SHARRIEF I BROOME/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872
Prosecution Insights