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 .
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.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s arguments, see Applicant Arguments/Remarks, filed 7/2/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 5 under Jun in view of Kim have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made via a reinterpretation of Jun in view of Kim, as well as new art Oh.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1, 10-12, 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jun US 20200409234 (hereinafter “Jun”) of record in view of Kim et. al US 20170302831 (hereinafter “Kim”) of record.
Regarding claim 1, Jun teaches a camera module, comprising:
a housing (Jun fig. 2 - 110);
a lens module (Jun fig. 2 - 200 including 210, 220) disposed in the housing (Jun fig. 2) and configured to move in one or more axial directions among three axes intersecting each other (Jun para. 0072), the lens module (200) comprising a lens barrel (Jun fig. 2 - 210) and a lens holder (Jun fig. 2 - 220) coupled together (Jun para. 0056); and
an aperture module (Jun fig. 2 - 500) coupled to the lens module (200) and configured to move together with the lens module (Jun para. 0064),
wherein the lens holder (220) comprises a first adhesive groove bonded to the lens barrel (Jun para. 0056) and a second adhesive groove including a portion of the aperture module accommodated therein (see annotated and zoomed in Jun fig. 2 below for the first and second grooves), and
wherein a barrier member is disposed between the first adhesive groove and the second adhesive groove (see annotated Jun fig. 2 below, zoomed in to show detail),
PNG
media_image1.png
403
731
media_image1.png
Greyscale
wherein the aperture module (500) comprises a support protrusion (Jun fig. 3 - 512) accommodated in the second adhesive groove (Jun fig. 2).
Jun does not teach wherein the support protrusion is spaced apart from a bottom surface of the second adhesive groove, in an optical axial direction, while being accommodated in the second adhesive groove, nor that specifically adhesive is utilized to bind components.
In the same field of endeavor, Kim teaches the support protrusion is spaced apart from a bottom surface of the second adhesive groove, in an optical axial direction, while being accommodated in the second adhesive groove (see annotated Kim fig. 9 below and para. 0184 and 0189-0191 – iris module 290 includes 211, 220, and 212 where para. 0189 places 220 between 211 and 212, and 0184 attaches 211 and 212 to 221 via adhesive applied to at least adhesive recess 221e which includes 221d as well as stated in para. 0184, therefore the below labeled support protrusion is accommodated in the adhesive groove while also being spaced apart from the bottom) and that adhesive is utilized to bind components (Kim fig. 9 – holder 221 includes portions 221e and 221i which bind 211 and 212 to holder 221 via adhesive not shown in the figure but described in at least para. 0184-0185) for the purpose of preventing the introduction of a foreign object to the interior of the camera module (Kim para. 0216). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a support protrusion as taught by Kim in the camera module of Jun in order to prevent the introduction of a foreign object to the interior of the camera module (Kim para. 0216).
PNG
media_image2.png
560
927
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 10, Jun and Kim teach the camera module of claim 1, and Jun further teaches wherein the barrier member extends in an optical axial direction to partition the first adhesive groove and the second adhesive groove (see annotated and cropped Jun fig. 2 below, the labeled barrier member partitions the first adhesive groove from the second adhesive groove).
PNG
media_image3.png
386
701
media_image3.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 11, Jun and Kim teach the camera module of claim 1, and Jun further teaches wherein a length of the second adhesive groove in a circumferential direction is longer than a length of the first adhesive groove in the circumferential direction (Jun fig. 2 – the labeled first adhesive groove is shorter than the second adhesive groove in the circumferential direction).
Regarding claim 12, Jun and Kim teach the camera module of claim 1, and Jun further teaches wherein a portion of an external side surface of the lens barrel opposes the first adhesive groove and the second adhesive groove in a direction perpendicular to an optical axis (see annotated and cropped Jun fig. 2 below).
PNG
media_image4.png
386
751
media_image4.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 17, Jun and Kim teach the camera module of claim 1, and Jun further teaches wherein the aperture module (500) and the lens module (200) are configured to move together in an optical axial direction (Jun para. 0064, 0072), a first axial direction perpendicular to the optical axial direction, and a second axial direction perpendicular to both the optical axial direction and the first axial direction (Jun para. 0072).
Claims 2-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jun et. al US 20200409234 (hereinafter “Jun”) of record and Kim et. al US 20170302831 (hereinafter “Kim”) of record as applied to claim 1 above, further in view of Chan et. al US 20190121158 (hereinafter “Chan”) of record.
Regarding claim 2, Jun and Kim teach the camera module of claim 1, and Jun further teaches the lens barrel (210) and the lens holder (220).
Jun and Kim do not specify wherein the lens barrel is bonded to the lens holder by an adhesive applied to the first adhesive groove, however Kim does teach that two lens barrels 211 and 212 in fig. 9 are bonded to the holder 221 via adhesive applied to portions of 221 including at least 221e and 221i, see also para. 0184-0185.
In the same field of endeavor, Chan teaches wherein the lens barrel (Chan fig. 3a-c – L2) is bonded to the lens holder (Chan fig. 3a-c - 30) by an adhesive (Chan fig. 3a-c - G) applied to the first adhesive groove (Chan fig. 3a-c – G is applied to R to connect L2 to 30, see also para. 0032) for the purpose of connecting the lens barrel to the holder (Chan para. 0032). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have adhesive applied to a groove to bond the lens holder to the lens barrel as taught by Chan in the camera module of Jun in order to connect the lens barrel to the holder (Chan para. 0032).
Regarding claim 3, Jun and Kim teach the camera module of claim 1, and Jun further teaches the wherein the aperture module (500) is bonded to the lens barrel (Jun para. 0064).
Jun and Kim do not specify the aperture module is bonded to the lens barrel and the lens holder by an adhesive applied to the second adhesive groove, however Jun does show in fig. 2 that the aperture module (500) includes a portion (labeled as 512 in fig. 5) which extends down from the side of 500 and is accommodated into a groove in 220, and further states in paragraph 0064 that 500 is mounted on an upper portion of 200 and may also be moved together with 200 in the optical axis direction, and Kim teaches that two lens barrels 211 and 212 in fig. 9 are bonded to the holder 221 via adhesive applied to portions of 221 including at least 221e and 221i, see also para. 0184-0185.
In the same field of endeavor, Chan teaches wherein the lens barrel (Chan fig. 3a-c – L2) is bonded to the lens holder (Chan fig. 3a-c - 30) by an adhesive (Chan fig. 3a-c - G) applied to the second adhesive groove (Chan fig. 3a-c – G is applied to R to connect L2 to 30, see also para. 0032) for the purpose of connecting components (Chan para. 0032). Therefore, since Chan teaches that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have adhesive applied to a groove to bond the lens holder to the lens barrel for the purpose of connecting components (Chan para. 0032), then one of ordinary skill in the art would know that they may apply adhesive to the portion of 220 of Jun which accommodates 512 in the camera module of Jun in order to connect components (Chan para. 0032).
Regarding claim 4, Jun, Kim, and Chan teach the camera module of claim 3, and they further teach wherein a lower surface of the aperture module (500) is bonded to an upper surface of the lens barrel (Jun para. 0064) through the adhesive (Chan para. 0032).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jun and Kim as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Oh et. al US 20190141219 (hereinafter “Oh”).
Regarding claim 6, Jun and Kim teach the camera module of claim 1, and Kim further teaches
wherein the support protrusion is spaced apart from an internal side surface of the second adhesive groove (Kim fig. 9 - gap between 220e and 211b).
Jun and Kim do not teach the support protrusion is spaced apart from an external side surface of the lens barrel.
In the same field of endeavor, Oh teaches the support protrusion (Oh fig. 10c - 516) is spaced apart from an external side surface of the lens barrel (Oh fig. 10c – 516 is spaced apart from the lens barrel 210, see also the annotated fig. 10c below for clarity) for the purpose of providing a tight coupling of the driving portion and the protruding portion (Oh para. 0136 – a typo in the specification cites Fig. 100, though this should state Fig. 10c as this is the figure which is discussed, and there is no Fig. 100 in the drawings). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the support protrusion spaced apart from the external side surface of the lens barrel as taught by Oh in the camera module of Jun and Kim in order to provide a tight coupling of the driving portion and the protruding portion (Oh para. 0136 – a typo in the specification cites Fig. 100, though this should state Fig. 10c as this is the figure which is discussed, and there is no Fig. 100 in the drawings).
PNG
media_image5.png
719
1271
media_image5.png
Greyscale
Claims 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jun, Kim, and Oh as applied to claim 6 above, and further in view of Chan et. al US 20190121158 (hereinafter “Chan”) of record.
Regarding claim 8, Jun and Kim teach the camera module of claim 6.
Jun, Kim, and Oh do not specify an adhesive applied to the second adhesive groove, however Jun does show in fig. 2 that the aperture module (500) includes the support protrusion (512) which extends down from the side of 500 and is accommodated into a groove in 220, and further states in paragraph 0064 that 500 is mounted on an upper portion of 200 and may also be moved together with 200 in the optical axis direction, and Kim teaches that two lens barrels 211 and 212 in fig. 9 are bonded to the holder 221 via adhesive applied to portions of 221 including at least 221e and 221i, see also para. 0184-0185.
In the same field of endeavor, Chan teaches an adhesive (Chan fig. 3a-c - G) applied to the first adhesive groove (Chan fig. 3a-c – G is applied to R to connect L2 to 30, see also para. 0032) for the purpose of connecting components (Chan para. 0032). Therefore, since Chan teaches that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have adhesive applied to a groove to bond the lens holder to the lens barrel, then one of ordinary skill in the art would know that they may apply adhesive to the portion of 220 of Jun which accommodates 512 in the camera module of Jun, Kim, and Oh in order to connect components (Chan para. 0032), where adhesive applied to this portion would surround 512.
Regarding claim 9, Jun, Kim, Oh, and Chan teach the camera module of claim 8, and they further teach wherein the adhesive is in contact with the internal side surface of the second adhesive groove (Jun fig. 2, adhesive applied to the second adhesive groove would contact the internal side surface of the second adhesive groove), an external side surface of the support protrusion (Kim para. 0184-0185), and the external side surface of the lens barrel (Oh fig. 10c – adhesive applied between 516 and 210 would contact both).
Claims 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jun and Kim as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Park KR 20180123776 (hereinafter “Park”) of record.
Regarding claim 13, Jun and Kim teach the camera module of claim 1, and Jun further teaches further comprising:
a connection substrate configured to supply power to the aperture module (Jun fig. 4 – 515, 512, see also para. 0137).
Jun and Kim do not teach a connection substrate including a moving portion coupled to the aperture module, a fixing portion fixed to the housing, and a support portion connecting the moving portion to the fixing portion.
In the same field of endeavor, Park teaches a connection substrate (Park fig. 3 - 400) including a moving portion (Park fig. 3 - 420) coupled to the aperture module (Park para. 0058 – 420 can be connected to 510 of 500, the aperture), a fixing portion (Park fig. 3 - 410) fixed to the housing (Park para. 0057), and a support portion (Park fig. 3 - 430) connecting the moving portion (420) to the fixing portion (Park para. 0059) for the purpose of connecting multiple components to the flexible printed circuit board (Park para. 0056-0059). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a connection substrate as taught by Park in the camera module of Jun in order to connect multiple components to the flexible printed circuit board (Park para. 0056-0059).
Regarding claim 14, Jun, Kim, and Park teach the camera module of claim 13, and they further teach further comprising:
a printed circuit board coupled to the housing (Jun 110) and on which an image sensor is disposed (Jun para. 0086),
wherein the connection substrate (Park 400) further comprises a connection portion (Park fig. 3 - 440) connecting the fixing portion (410) to the printed circuit board (Park para. 0060).
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jun and Kim as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of and Chen et. al US 20210124144 (hereinafter “Chen”) of record.
Regarding claim 15, Jun and Kim teach the camera module of claim 1, and Jun further teaches wherein the aperture module (500) comprises:
a base (Jun fig. 4 - 510);
a rotating body (Jun fig. 4 - 530) configured to rotate with respect to the base (Jun para. 0111-0112);
a plurality of blades (Jun fig. 4 – 540, 550, 560, 570) configured to move in conjunction with rotation of the rotating body to form an aperture (Jun para. 0109-0113);
a magnet portion (Jun fig. 4 - 521a) disposed on one of the base and the rotating body (Jun fig. 4 – 521a disposed on side part of base);
a coil portion (Jun fig. 3 – 521b) disposed to face the magnet portion (Jun fig. 3).
Jun and Kim do not teach an aperture substrate on which the coil portion is disposed.
In the same field of endeavor, Chen teaches an aperture substrate (Chen fig. 10 – 2-F) on which the coil portion (Chen fig. 10 – 2-C2) is disposed (Chen para. 0194) for the purpose of driving the linkage member to move relative to the base seat (Chen para. 0196). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a coil portion disposed on an aperture substrate as taught by Chen in the camera module of Jun in order to driving the linkage member to move relative to the base seat (Chen para. 0196).
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jun, Kim, and Chen as applied to claim 15 above, and further in view of and Park KR 20180123776 (hereinafter “Park”) of record.
Regarding claim 16, Jun, Kim, and Chen teach the camera module of claim 15, and Jun further teaches further comprising:
a printed circuit board coupled to the housing (Jun 110) and on which an image sensor is disposed (Jun para. 0086).
Jun, Kim, and Chen do not teach wherein the connection substrate further comprises a connection portion connecting the fixing portion to the printed circuit board.
In the same field of endeavor, Park teaches wherein the connection substrate (Park 400) further comprises a connection portion (Park fig. 3 - 440) connecting the fixing portion (410) to the printed circuit board (Park para. 0060) for the purpose of connecting multiple components to the flexible printed circuit board (Park para. 0056-0059). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a connection substrate as taught by Park in the camera module of Jun, Kim, and Chen in order to connect multiple components to the flexible printed circuit board (Park para. 0056-0059).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 7 is 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:
Regarding claim 7, the prior art of record does not disclose nor teach “wherein a distance between an internal side surface of the adhesive groove and an external side surface of the lens barrel in a direction perpendicular to an optical axis is greater than a width of the support protrusion in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis” in combination with all the limitations of claims 1 and 6.
As allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ELIZABETH M HALL whose telephone number is (703)756-5795. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9-5:30 pm PST.
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.
/ELIZABETH M HALL/Examiner, Art Unit 2872
/ZACHARY W WILKES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872
