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 9/11/2026 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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, 4, 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yamaguchi (JP4617744) hereafter Yamaguchi.
Regarding claim 1, Yamaguchi discloses in an optical system, comprising: a first lens (L1) having positive (+) refractive power (claim 1); a second lens (L2); and a third lens (L3) having a negative (-) refractive power (claim 1), wherein: the first to third lenses (L1-L3) are successively arranged from an object side to an image side (see fig. fig 5); the first to third lenses (L1-L3) are made of a plastic material (par. [0086] note that the resin material reads on the claimed plastic material); and the center thickness of each of the first to third lenses in the optical-axis direction is greater than 0.9 mm (see table 4); and a refractive index of the first lens is less than a refractive index of the second lens (see table 4).
Regarding claim 2, Yamaguchi discloses the optical system of claim 1, wherein a center thickness of the second lens in the optical axis is greater than a center thickness of the third lens (see table 4).
Regarding claim 4, Yamaguchi discloses the optical system of claim 1, which satisfies the following conditional expression: 6mm<TTL<8mm, wherein, TTL means the distance along the optical axis from the object side surface of the first lens (L1) to an image surface an image sensor (table 4).
Regarding claim 10, Yamaguchi discloses the optical system of claim 1, further: comprising an image sensor (fig. 5); and satisfying the following conditional expression: 2mm<ImgH<4mm, wherein, ImgH means the overall diagonal length of the image sensor in mm (fig. 5)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11-20 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter the prior art does not disclose the claimed combination of limitations to warrant a rejection under 35 USC 102 or 103.
Regarding independent claim 11 (and its dependents), the prior art does not disclose the claimed optical system specifically including as the distinguishing features in combination with the other limitations the claimed “satisfying the following conditional expression: 100 degrees < L3S2_maxslope angle < 120 degrees, wherein, L3S2_max slope angle means a maximum value of the angles that a tangent line tangential to the image side surface of the third lens makes with a line perpendicular to the optical axis.”
Claims 3 and 5-9 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Regarding claim 5, the prior art does not disclose the claimed optical system specifically including as the distinguishing features in combination with the other limitations the claimed “which satisfies the following conditional expression: 1.6<n1<1.8, wherein, n1 means the refractive index of the first lens.”
Regarding claim 6, the prior art does not disclose the claimed optical system specifically including as the distinguishing features in combination with the other limitations the claimed “which satisfies the following conditional expression: 1.8<Fno<2.2, wherein, Fno means the F-number of the optical system.”
Regarding claim 7, the prior art does not disclose the claimed optical system specifically including as the distinguishing features in combination with the other limitations the claimed “which satisfies the following conditional expression: v1<v2, wherein, v1 means the Abbe number of the first lens, and v2 means the Abbe number of the second lens.”
Regarding claim 8, the prior art does not disclose the claimed optical system specifically including as the distinguishing features in combination with the other limitations the claimed “which satisfies the following conditional expression: 25 degrees<FOV<35 degrees, wherein, FOV means the field of view of the optical system.”
Regarding claim 9, the prior art does not disclose the claimed optical system specifically including as the distinguishing features in combination with the other limitations the claimed “which satisfies the following conditional expression: 10<v1<20, wherein, v1 means the Abbe number of the first lens.”
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Hsueh (9989741) and Izumi (20090067041) are being cited herein to show references that disclose similar features to that of the claimed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES JONES whose telephone number is (571)270-1278. The examiner can normally be reached 7:00 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 at (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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/JAMES C. JONES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872
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