DETAILED ACTION
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 8-9 and 15-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lee (U.S. Patent No. 10571648). Regarding claim 1, Lee teaches an iris module comprising: an iris main body comprising a base 189 and a holder guide portion 184 extending from a side surface of the base; a magnet holder 174 seated on the holder guide portion and comprising an iris magnet 173; and a magnet holder coupling portion that couples the magnet holder to the holder guide portion, wherein the magnet holder coupling portion comprises: a protrusion 702/703 protruding from a side surface of the magnet holder; and a fastening portion (184 in fig. 9B) formed at the holder guide portion and fastened to the protrusion (fastened via the interaction of 702 and 703 with 704 and 184.
Regarding claim 2, the holder guide portion comprises a guide main body having a quadrangular frame shape (see 184, fig. 1C) and an edge portion protruding (81, fig. 9B) from an edge of the guide main body to guide reciprocal movement of the magnet holder, and the fastening portion comprises a fastening groove formed at the edge portion that corresponds to the protrusion (see grooves in annotated fig. 9A below).
PNG
media_image1.png
678
810
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 8, Lee teaches a camera module (fig. 1A, col. 2, lines 20-21) comprising: a housing having an internal space (see figs. 1A-1C); a lens barrel 160 accommodated in the internal space of the housing and including a plurality of lenses (col. 8, lines 19-21); and an iris module 170 disposed adjacent to the lens barrel and configured to adjust a size of an incident hole, wherein the iris module comprises: an iris main body comprising a base (189, fig. 1C) and a holder guide portion (184, fig. 1C) extending from the base; a magnet holder (174, fig. 1C) seated on the holder guide portion and comprising an iris magnet 173, and a magnet holder coupling portion configured to reduce an impact by coupling the magnet holder to the holder guide portion, wherein the magnet holder coupling portion comprises a protrusion (702/703, fig. 7C) protruding from a side surface of the magnet holder and a fastening portion (184 in fig. 9B) formed at the holder guide portion and fastened to the protrusion (fastened via the interaction of 702 and 703 with 704 and 184.)
Regarding claim 9, the holder guide portion comprises a guide main body having a quadrangular frame shape (see 184, fig. 1C) and an edge portion protruding (81, fig. 9B) from an edge of the guide main body to guide reciprocal movement of the magnet holder, and the fastening portion comprises a fastening groove formed at the edge portion that corresponds to the protrusion (see grooves in annotated fig. 9A above).
Regarding claim 15, Lee teaches a lens driving module 190 configured to drive the lens barrel, wherein the lens driving module comprises: an auto focus portion comprising a focus carrier 180 accommodating the lens barrel, and a focus driving portion (col. 9, lines 65-66, “movement in the Z-axis direction for auto-focusing”) configured to generate a driving force to move the focus carrier in an optical axis direction (col. 8, lines 51-54, “The third carrier side wall 183 may include a third magnetic member 188 that cooperates with a coil 193 in the housing 190 to move the lens barrel 160 in the Z-axis direction”); and an optical image stabilization portion (col. 9, lines 64-65) comprising a correction carrier 150 configured to guide movement of the lens barrel, and a correction driving portion configured to generate a driving force to move the correction carrier in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis direction (col. 8, lines 48-51, “the first magnet member 151 and the second magnet member 152 may be coupled to the coils 191 and 192 to move the lens barrel 160 in the X-axis and/or Y-axis direction”), wherein the correction carrier is disposed inside the focus carrier (fig. 1C).
Regarding claim 16, the housing comprises a housing main body 190 including four sidewalls connected to each other to form the internal space (see fig. 1C), wherein the iris module further comprises an iris driving portion configured to provide a driving force to adjust the size of the incident hole, wherein the iris driving portion comprises an iris magnet 173 and an iris coil 172 that face each other and provide a magnetic force, and the iris coil of the iris driving portion is installed at any one of the four sidewalls of the housing main body (see fig. 6A where 172 is at one of the four sidewalls of 190).
Regarding claim 17, the focus driving portion 193 is installed at another one of the four sidewalls, and the correction driving portion 191 and 192 is installed at the remaining two of the four sidewalls. The applicant is directed to review fig. 1C.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-7 and 10-14 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. LEE (U.S. Publication No. 2019/0377239) teaches an iris module comprising: an iris main body comprising a base 184 and a holder guide portion 512 extending from a side surface of the base; a magnet holder 520 seated on the holder guide portion and comprising an iris magnet 521a; and a magnet holder coupling portion 515 that couples the magnet holder to the holder guide portion. A yoke 515 has protrusions 515a which may be embedded in holder guide portion 512.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER E MAHONEY whose telephone number is (571)272-2122. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5:30.
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, Stephanie Bloss can be reached at 571-272-3555. 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.
/CHRISTOPHER E MAHONEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852