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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 2/23/2024 was considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: in line 2, the phrase “an unique” is assumed to be a typographical error and should have been written “[[an]]a unique”. Additionally, in line 6, the phrase “… of an aperture stop;” should have been written “… of an aperture stop[[;]], and”. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
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.
Claims 1 and 9-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsui (US 2010/0014154) in view of Chen et al. (US 2021/0222239).
Regarding Claim 1, Matsui discloses a microscope assembly kit (Fig. 17 and Fig. 38), comprising:
(a) multiple lens assemblies each having a unique combination among said lens assemblies of effective focal length and numerical aperture (Paragraph 0125, lines 1-11, Fig. 17 plurality of kinds of objective lenses, both a low-power 11(1) and a high-power 11(2) providing different magnifications by having different focal lengths and numerical apertures, the plurality of kinds of objective lenses, as shown in Fig. 38);
(b) a microscope housing (microscope as shown in Fig. 17 and the turret in Fig. 38) configured to contain combinations of said lens assemblies each forming a microscope assembly that includes an objective lens (Fig. 17, plurality of kinds of objective lenses, both a low-power 11(1) and a high-power 11(2)) and a tube lens disposed on object and image sides (Fig. 17, elements 20, 13, and 14), respectively, of an aperture stop (Fig. 17, aperture stop 12);
(c) wherein said microscope assembly is configured to form images with both (i) a numerical aperture equal to the numerical aperture of the objective lens (Paragraph 0125, lines 8-9, different focal length not numerical aperture, because either focal length or numerical aperture are changed), and (ii) a magnification equal to a ratio of effective focal lengths of the tube lens and the objective lens (Paragraph 0122, lines 14-17, magnification).
Matsui does not specifically disclose a diffraction limited lens.
However, Chen, in the same field of endeavor, teaches a diffraction limited lens (Paragraph 0130, lines 1-6), for the purpose of reducing aberration in a microscope image.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have the microscope assembly kit of Matsui with the diffraction limited lens, of Chen, for the purpose of reducing aberration in a microscope image.
Regarding Claim 9, Matsui in view of Chen discloses as is set forth above and Matsui further discloses comprising a wide field of view lens (Paragraph 0221, lines 1-7, wide field of view) attachment lens assembly that includes two meniscus lenses (Tenth Embodiment, Fig. 30, Table 7, lenses L11 and L21 are both positive meniscuses).
Regarding Claim 10, Matsui in view of Chen discloses as is set forth above and Matsui further discloses wherein the wide field of view lens (Paragraph 0221, lines 1-7, wide field of view) attachment lens assembly further includes a biconvex lens (Tenth Embodiment, Fig. 30, Table 7, lens L22 is biconvex).
Regarding Claim 11, Matsui in view of Chen discloses as is set forth above and Matsui further discloses wherein the wide field of view lens (Paragraph 0221, lines 1-7, wide field of view) attachment lens assembly further includes two biconvex lenses (Tenth Embodiment, Fig. 30, Table 7, lenses L22 and L25 are biconvex).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-8 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 claim 2, none of the prior art either alone or in combination disclose or teach of a microscope assembly kit including, as the distinguishing feature(s) in combination with the other limitations, wherein comprising one or more combinations of said lens assemblies each forming said microscope assembly with a numerical aperture above 0.1 and a magnification of 2× or more.
Specifically, with respect to claim 3, none of the prior art either alone or in combination disclose or teach of a microscope assembly kit including, as the distinguishing feature(s) in combination with the other limitations, wherein comprising two or more combinations of said lens assemblies each forming said microscope assembly with a numerical aperture above 0.1 and a magnification of 2× or more.
Specifically, with respect to claim 4, none of the prior art either alone or in combination disclose or teach of a microscope assembly kit including, as the distinguishing feature(s) in combination with the other limitations, wherein comprising one or more combinations of said lens assemblies each forming said microscope assembly with a numerical aperture above 0.14 and a magnification of 2× or more.
Specifically, with respect to claim 5, none of the prior art either alone or in combination disclose or teach of a microscope assembly kit including, as the distinguishing feature(s) in combination with the other limitations, wherein comprising two or more combinations of said lens assemblies each forming said microscope assembly with a numerical aperture above 0.14 and a magnification of 2× or more.
Specifically, with respect to claim 6, none of the prior art either alone or in combination disclose or teach of a microscope assembly kit including, as the distinguishing feature(s) in combination with the other limitations, wherein comprising one or more combinations of said lens assemblies each forming said microscope assembly with a numerical aperture not less than 0.18 and a magnification of 2× or more.
Specifically, with respect to claim 7, none of the prior art either alone or in combination disclose or teach of a microscope assembly kit including, as the distinguishing feature(s) in combination with the other limitations, wherein comprising two or more combinations of said lens assemblies each forming said microscope assembly with a numerical aperture not less than 0.18 and a magnification of 2× or more.
Specifically, with respect to claim 8, none of the prior art either alone or in combination disclose or teach of a microscope assembly kit including, as the distinguishing feature(s) in combination with the other limitations, wherein comprising at least one 3× magnification lens assembly with a numerical aperture not less than 0.18.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Lichtman et al. (US 4,884,880), Tamano (US 2016/0054554), Cohen et al. (US 2016/0062100), Byler (US 2018/0217365), Schulz et al. (US 2018/0307021), and Eisenberg (US 2022/0099953) are cited to show similar microscopes.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM R ALEXANDER whose telephone number is (571)270-7656. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30 AM- 4:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Pinping Sun can be reached on (571) 270-1284. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WILLIAM R ALEXANDER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872