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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on January 8, 2025 has been considered by the examiner.
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 7, 9, 12, 14, 15, 18 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chiang et al (U.S. patent Publication 2022/0397745).
With regard to independent claim 7, Chiang et at teaches an optical lens (Figure 1), comprising a first lens element (Figure 1, element L1), a second lens element (Figure 2, element L2), a third lens element (Figure 1, element L3), and a fourth lens element (Figure 1, element L4) sequentially arranged along an optical axis from an object side to an image side (Figure 1), wherein each of the first lens element to the fourth lens element comprises an object-side surface facing the object side and allowing imaging rays to pass through (Figure 1, elements S1, S4, S5 and S7) and an image-side surface facing the image side and allowing the imaging rays to pass through (Figure 1, elements S2, S5, S6 and S8); an optical axis region of the object-side surface of the first lens element is convex (page 3, Table 1, Radius data for S1 and Figure 1, element S1); the second lens element has positive refracting power (page 2, paragraph [0022], lines 3-5); the third lens element has negative refracting power (page 2, paragraph [0022], lines 3-5); an optical axis region of the image-side surface of the fourth lens element is concave (page 3, Table 1, Radius data for S8 and Figure 1, element S8); wherein lens elements of the optical imaging lens only comprise the first lens element to the fourth lens element (page 2, paragraph [0022], lines 1-2 and Figure 1), an image-side surface of a Nth lens element counted from the object side to the image side along the optical axis is cemented to an object-side surface of a N+1th lens element counted from the object side to the image side along the optical axis, and N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 3 (Figure 1, wherein N=2 and L2 is cemented to L3 and page 2, paragraph [0022], lines 7-8); wherein the optical imaging lens satisfies: EFL/Fno ≧ 2.200mm, wherein EFL is an effective focal length of the optical imaging lens, and Fno is a f-number of the optical imaging lens page 3, Table 1, wherein EFL = 31.57 mm; Fno = 0.70; and EFL/Fno = 45.1 mm).
With regard to dependent claim 9, Chiang et al teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to independent claim 7, and further teaches such an optical lens satisfying the following conditional expression: ALT/(T2+G23+T3) ≧ 1.600, wherein ALT is a sum of thicknesses of the first lens element through the fourth lens element along the optical axis, T2 is the thickness of the second lens element along the optical axis, G23 is a distance from the image-side surface of the second lens element to the object-side surface of the third lens element along the optical axis, and T3 is the thickness of the third lens element along the optical axis (page 3, Table 1, wherein ALT = 41.45; (T2 = 12.06 mm; G23 = 0 mm; T3 = 9.39 mm; and ALT/(T2+G23+T3) = 1.93).
With regard to dependent claim 12, Chiang et al teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to independent claim 7, and further teaches such an optical lens satisfying the following conditional expression: TTL/HFOV ≧ 0.900 mm/°, wherein TTL is a distance from the object-side surface of the first lens element to an image plane along the optical axis, and HFOV is a half field of view of the optical imaging lens (page 3, Table 1, wherein TTL = 76.88 mm; HFOV = 12 degrees; and TTL/HFOV = 1.60 mm/°).
With regard to independent claim 14, Chiang et at teaches an optical lens (Figure 1), comprising a first lens element (Figure 1, element L1), a second lens element (Figure 2, element L2), a third lens element (Figure 1, element L3), and a fourth lens element (Figure 1, element L4) sequentially arranged along an optical axis from an object side to an image side (Figure 1), wherein each of the first lens element to the fourth lens element comprises an object-side surface facing the object side and allowing imaging rays to pass through (Figure 1, elements S1, S4, S5 and S7) and an image-side surface facing the image side and allowing the imaging rays to pass through (Figure 1, elements S2, S5, S6 and S8); the second lens element has positive refracting power (page 2, paragraph [0022], lines 3-5); the third lens element has negative refracting power (page 2, paragraph [0022], lines 3-5); an optical axis region of the object-side surface of the fourth lens element is convex (page 3, Table 1, Radius data for S7 and Figure 1, element S7); and an optical axis region of the image-side surface of the fourth lens element is concave (page 3, Table 1, Radius data for S8 and Figure 1, element S8); wherein lens elements of the optical imaging lens only comprise the first lens element to the fourth lens element (page 2, paragraph [0022], lines 1-2 and Figure 1), an image-side surface of a Nth lens element counted from the object side to the image side along the optical axis is cemented to an object-side surface of a N+1th lens element counted from the object side to the image side along the optical axis, and N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 3 (Figure 1, wherein N=2 and L2 is cemented to L3 and page 2, paragraph [0022], lines 7-8); wherein the optical imaging lens satisfies: EFL/Fno ≧ 2.200mm, wherein EFL is an effective focal length of the optical imaging lens, and Fno is a f-number of the optical imaging lens page 3, Table 1, wherein EFL = 31.57 mm; Fno = 0.70; and EFL/Fno = 45.1 mm).
With regard to dependent claim 15, Chiang et al teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to independent claim 14, and further teaches such an optical lens satisfying the following conditional expression: V1/(V3+V4) ≧ 0.790, wherein V1 is an Abbe number of the first lens element, V3 is an Abbe number of the third lens element, and V4 is an Abbe number of the fourth lens element (page 3, Table 1, wherein V1 = 57.44; V3 = 23.79; V4 = 46.57; and V1/(V3+V4) = 0.816).
With regard to dependent claim 18, Chiang et al teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to independent claim 14, and further teaches such an optical lens satisfying the following conditional expression: HFOV/(AAG+T2) ≦ 15.100°/mm, wherein HFOV is a half field of view of the optical imaging lens, AAG is a sum of a distance from the image-side surface of the first lens element to the object-side surface of the second lens element along the optical axis, a distance from the image-side surface of the second lens element to the object-side surface of the third lens element along the optical axis, and a distance from the image-side surface of the third lens element to the object-side surface of the fourth lens element along the optical axis, and T2 is a thickness of the second lens element along the optical axis (page 3, Table 1, wherein HFOV = 12 degrees; AAG = 29.97 mm; T2 = 12.06 mm; and HFOV/(AAG+T2) = 0.286 °/mm).
With regard to dependent claim 19, Chiang et al teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to independent claim 14, and further teaches such an optical lens satisfying the following conditional expression: T1/(G23+T4) ≧ 1.000, wherein T1 is a thickness of the first lens element along the optical axis, G23 is a distance from the image-side surface of the second lens element to the object-side surface of the third lens element along the optical axis, and T4 is a thickness of the fourth lens element along the optical axis (page 3, Table 1, wherein T1 = 10.00 mm; G23 = 0 mm; T4 = 10.00 mm; and T1/(G23+T4) = 1.0).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-6 are allowed.
Claims 8, 10, 11, 13, 16, 17 and 20 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: 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.
With regard to independent claim 1, although the prior art teaches an optical imaging lens, comprising a first lens element, a second lens element, a third lens element, and a fourth lens element sequentially arranged along an optical axis from an object side to an image side, wherein each of the first lens element to the fourth lens element comprises an object-side surface facing the object side and allowing imaging rays to pass through and an image-side surface facing the image side and allowing the imaging rays to pass through; an optical axis region on the object-side surface of the first lens element is convex; the second lens element has positive refracting power; a periphery region of the image-side surface of the fourth lens element is concave; wherein lens elements of the optical imaging lens only comprise the first lens element to the fourth lens element, an image-side surface of a Nth lens element counted from the object side to the image side along the optical axis is cemented to an object-side surface of a N+1th lens element counted from the object side to the image side along the optical axis, and N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 3; wherein the optical imaging lens satisfies: EFL/Fno ≧ 2.200mm, wherein EFL is an effective focal length of the optical imaging lens, and Fno is a f-number of the optical imaging lens, the prior art fails to teach such an optical lens wherein a periphery region of the image-side surface of the third lens element is concave.
With regard to dependent claims 2-6, claims 2-6 are allowable as they depend, directly or indirectly, from independent claim 1 and therefore inherit all of the limitations of the claim from which they depend.
With regard to dependent claims 8, 10, 11 and 13, although the prior art teaches an optical imaging lens, comprising a first lens element, a second lens element, a third lens element, and a fourth lens element sequentially arranged along an optical axis from an object side to an image side, wherein each of the first lens element to the fourth lens element comprises an object-side surface facing the object side and allowing imaging rays to pass through and an image-side surface facing the image side and allowing the imaging rays to pass through; an optical axis region of the object-side surface of the first lens element is convex; the second lens element has positive refracting power; the third lens element has negative refracting power; an optical axis region of the image-side surface of the fourth lens element is concave; wherein lens elements of the optical imaging lens only comprise the first lens element to the fourth lens element, comprising a cemented lens and satisfying the conditional expression: EFL/Fno ≧ 2.200 mm, as defined, the prior art fails to teach such an optical lens simultaneously satisfying the conditional expressions: V2/V4 ≧ 1.200, as defined and claimed in dependent claim 8; EFL/(AAG+T2+G23) ≧ 3.500, as defined and claimed in dependent claim 10; (TTL+AAG)/TL ≧ 2.000, as defined and claimed in dependent claim 11; or TTL/HFOV ≧ 0.900 mm/°, as claimed and defined in dependent claim 13.
With regard to dependent claims 16, 17 and 20, although the prior art teaches an optical imaging lens, comprising a first lens element, a second lens element, a third lens element, and a fourth lens element sequentially arranged along an optical axis from an object side to an image side, wherein each of the first lens element to the fourth lens element comprises an object-side surface facing the object side and allowing imaging rays to pass through and an image-side surface facing the image side and allowing the imaging rays to pass through; the second lens element has positive refracting power; the third lens element has negative refracting power; an optical axis region of the object-side surface of the fourth lens element is convex; and an optical axis region of the image-side surface of the fourth lens element is concave; wherein lens elements of the optical imaging lens only comprise the first lens element to the fourth lens element, comprising a cemented lens and satisfying the conditional expression: EFL/Fno ≧ 2.200 mm, as defined, the prior art fails to teach such an optical lens simultaneously satisfying the conditional expressions: EFL/ALT ≧ 2.500, as defined and claimed in dependent claim 16; TTL∙Fno/BFL ≦ 9.000, as defined and claimed in dependent claim 17; or (AAG+G23)/G34 ≦ 1.500, as defined and claimed in dependent claim 20.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Kaneko (U.S. Patent Number 4,099,842), Suzuki et al (U.S. Patent Number 4,995,710), Kubota (U.S. Patent Publication 2011/0128637), Barton et al (U.S. Patent Publication 2018/0067317), Liang et al (U.S. Patent Publication 2023/0418026) and Wang et al (U.S. Patent Publication 2025/0013007) all teach optical systems consisting of four lens elements.
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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/DARRYL J COLLINS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872
11 February 2026