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 Amendment
The amendment filed on 07/24/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to at least independent claims 1 and 11 have been considered, but are not persuasive. The new ground of rejection cites Son US 20160109687 as teaching the amended claim limitations in claims 1 and 11.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 11 objected to because of the following informalities:
The new claim limitation “among the first to seventh lenses, the first lens or the fourth lens has the greatest refractive power” should be “among the first to seventh lenses, the first lens or the fourth lens has the greatest absolute refractive power” because first lens in the current application has a negative focal length and a negative refractive power.
Appropriate correction is required.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
In the newly submitted specification on 07/24/2026, the phases “IMH is a diagonal length of the image plane” should be “IMH is half of a diagonal length of the image plane” for para.9, 24 and 66.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-4, 6-10 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Amended claims 1 and 16 contain claim limitation "TTL/IMH<1.2 ….IMH is a diagonal length of the image plane” which is not disclosed in the original disclosure, the original disclosure in para.0066 discloses “IMH is half of a diagonal length of the image plane”.
Also, dependent claims 2-4 and 6-10 are rejected by virtue of their dependency.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 1-4 and 6-10 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claims 1 and 16, the claim limitation, “TTL/IMH<1.2 ….IMH is a diagonal length of the image plane” is considered to be indefinite. The original disclosure in para.0066 discloses “IMH is half of a diagonal length of the image plane”. Therefore, it is indefinite.
For the purpose of examination, the examiner will interpret the above limitation as - - “TTL/IMH<1.2 ….IMH is half of a diagonal length of the image plane” - -.
Also, dependent Claims 2-4 and 6-10 are rejected by virtue of their dependency.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 6-13, 15 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yao CN112698484A (see document of 18613391_2026-04-16_CN_112698484_A_M.pdf) in view of Son US 20160109687.
1.Yao discloses an optical imaging system, in at least figs.17-20 and tables 9, 10, 15 and 16, comprising:
a first lens (E1) having a negative refractive power (see Ex5 of table 16);
a second lens (E2);
a third lens (E3) having a convex image-side surface (see table 9);
a fourth lens (E4);
a fifth lens (E5) having a negative refractive power (see Ex5 of table 16);
a sixth lens having a positive refractive power (see Ex5 of table 16); and
a seventh lens having a convex object-side surface (see table 9), wherein the first to seventh lenses are sequentially disposed from an object side (see fig.17), and TTL/IMH<1.2 (Claim 3 discloses 1<TTL/IMH<2 which includes 1<TTL/IMH<1.2) is satisfied,
where TTL is a distance on an optical axis from an object-side surface of the first lens to an image plane, and IMH is half of a diagonal length of the image plane.
Yao does not explicitly disclose f/EPD<1.8 is satisfied, where f is a focal length of the optical imaging system, and EPD is a diameter of an entrance pupil and among the first to seventh lenses, the first lens or the fourth lens has the greatest absolute refractive power.
Son discloses an optical imaging system, in at least figs.1-5 and table 1, f/EPD<1.8 (Fno=1.68, see table 1) is satisfied, where f is a focal length of the optical imaging system, and EPD is a diameter of an entrance pupil and among the first to seventh lenses, the first lens or the fourth lens has the greatest absolute refractive power (see fig.4, the first lens has the greatest absolute refractive power) for the purpose of increasing an aberration improvement effect, high resolution and implementing a wide angle (abstract).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have f/EPD<1.8 is satisfied, where f is a focal length of the optical imaging system, and EPD is a diameter of an entrance pupil and among the first to seventh lenses, the first lens or the fourth lens has the greatest absolute refractive power as taught by Son in the optical imaging system of Yao for the purpose of increasing an aberration improvement effect, high resolution and implementing a wide angle.
2. Yao discloses the second lens has a positive refractive power (see Ex5 of table 16), and an image-side surface of the second surface is concave (table 9).
3. Yao discloses an object-side surface of the sixth lens is concave (table 9).
4. Yao discloses 50<FOV/f (unit: °/mm)(130.2/2.31=56.364, Ex5 of table 16) is satisfied, where FOV is a field of view of the optical imaging system, and f is a focal length of the optical imaging system.
6. Yao discloses L6R1/CT6<−3 (-13.8361/0.9462=-14.6, see table 9) is satisfied, where L6R1 is a radius of curvature of the object-side surface of the sixth lens, and CT6 is a central thickness of the sixth lens.
7. Yao discloses 15<v1−v2<40 (56-19.2, see table 9) and 0<v1−v5<45 (56-19.2, see table 9) are satisfied, where v1 is an Abbe number of the first lens, v2 is an Abbe number of the second lens, and v5 is an Abbe number of the fifth lens.
8. Yao discloses 1.6<ET1/CT1 (see fig.17) is satisfied, where ET1 is an edge thickness of the first lens, and CT1 is a central thickness of the first lens.
9. Yao discloses an object-side surface of the first lens is concave (see table 9), and the fourth lens has a positive refractive power (see Ex5 of table 16).
10. Yao discloses an image-side surface of the fifth lens is concave (see table 9), and the seventh lens has a negative refractive power (see Ex5 of table 16).
11. Yao discloses an optical imaging system, in at least figs.17-20 and tables 9, 10, 15 and 16, comprising:
a first lens (E1) having a concave object-side surface (see table 9);
a second lens (E2);
a third lens (E3) having a positive refractive power (see Ex5 of table 16);
a fourth lens (E4) having a positive refractive power (see Ex5 of table 16);
a fifth lens (E5);
a sixth lens (E6) having a concave object-side surface (see table 9); and
a seventh lens (E7) having a convex object-side surface (see table 9),
wherein the first to seventh lenses are sequentially disposed from an object side (see fig.17),
wherein any one or any combination of any two or more surfaces of the first lens and the seventh lens include one or more inflection points (see fig.17, tables 9 and 10).
Yao does not explicitly disclose f/EPD<1.8 is satisfied, where f is a focal length of the optical imaging system, and EPD is a diameter of an entrance pupil and among the first to seventh lenses, the first lens or the fourth lens has the greatest absolute refractive power.
Son discloses an optical imaging system, in at least figs.1-5 and table 1, f/EPD<1.8 (Fno=1.68, see table 1) is satisfied, where f is a focal length of the optical imaging system, and EPD is a diameter of an entrance pupil and among the first to seventh lenses, the first lens or the fourth lens has the greatest absolute refractive power (see fig.4, the first lens has the greatest absolute refractive power) for the purpose of increasing an aberration improvement effect, high resolution and implementing a wide angle (abstract).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have f/EPD<1.8 is satisfied, where f is a focal length of the optical imaging system, and EPD is a diameter of an entrance pupil and among the first to seventh lenses, the first lens or the fourth lens has the greatest absolute refractive power as taught by Son in the optical imaging system of Yao for the purpose of increasing an aberration improvement effect, high resolution and implementing a wide angle.
12. Yao discloses SD6/SD14<0.5 (SD6/SD14=0.284, see fig.17) is satisfied, where SD6 is an effective diameter of the image-side surface of the third lens, and SD14 is an effective diameter of the image-side surface of the seventh lens.
13. Yao discloses the first lens has a negative refractive power (see Ex5 of table 6), and −4<f1/f<0 (-4.35/2.31, see Ex5 of table 16) is satisfied, where f1 is a focal distance of the first lens, and f is a focal length of the optical imaging system.
15. Yao discloses an image-side surface of the fifth lens is concave (table 9), and the seventh lens has a negative refractive power (see Ex5 of table 16).
16. Yao discloses TTL/IMH<1.2 (Claim 3 discloses 1<TTL/IMH<2 which includes 1<TTL/IMH<1.2) is satisfied, where TTL is a distance on an optical axis from the object-side surface of the first lens to an image plane, and IMH is half of a diagonal length of the image plane.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Liao US 2021/0278635 (figs.6-17, 38-45 and 50-65) and Tang US 20220221692 (table 11 and 17) can be a primary reference too.
Liao US 2021/0278635 (figs.6-17) discloses among the first to seventh lenses, the first lens or the fourth lens has the greatest absolute refractive power as well.
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/JIA X PAN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871
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