N O N - F I N A L A C T I O N
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 7/09/24, 2/25/25, and 2/09/26 complies with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Election / Restriction
Applicant’s reply filed on 2/10/26, elected Species II (drawn to Fig. 11C-11E) with Species C (drawn to Fig. 10D-10E), which was with traverse, stating that all claims 1-20 are generic to the elected embodiments.
After further search and consideration, Applicant’s arguments are persuasive. Therefore, the election/restriction requirement has been withdrawn.
Closest Prior Art
The prior art (cited on PTO-892) is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Among these, the following references are considered to be the closest, collectively disclosing the state of the art concerned with a camera having an image sensor and lens assembly (ISLA), battery and microphone mounted to a housing configured with a heatsink / heat spreader for dissipating heat by passive thermal conduction means.
KAGA (US 20200037471) – applied to 35 USC 103 rejection, see Fig. 1-6, and para [0040, 0045, 0115-116].
HOUJOU (US 20200322521) – applied to 35 USC 103 rejection, see Fig. 1-3.
PETTY (US 20150070557) – see Fig. 1-6, elements 202/300 which discloses that the housing body 204 also serves as a heatsink.
NOTE: Examiner welcomes INTERVIEW(s) to discuss the instant application’s claimed invention as it corresponds to the specification embodiments, as well as, discussing the similarities/differences taught/not taught by prior art. In the interest of compact prosecution, Applicant’s arguments/amendments should not only address the cited closest art applied/relied on in the 35 USC 102/103 rejection (below), but also address the other cited closest art not applied/relied on.
Examiner cites particular columns and line numbers in the references as applied to the claims below for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested that, in preparing responses, the applicant fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner.
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 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 of this title, 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.
Claims 8-9 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KAGA (US 20200037471) in view of HOUJOU (US 20200322521) -- hereafter, termed as shown “underlined”.
As per INDEPENDENT CLAIM 8, KAGA teaches an image capture apparatus (Fig. 1A/1B), comprising:
a front heatsink (Front cover 20 with internal frame shown in Fig. 1A & Fig. 5 is made of metal, para [0045] and serves as a heatsink for transferring heat generated by the image sensor and battery per para [0116]);
an image sensor and lens assembly (ISLA) connected to and extending from the front heatsink so that the ISLA is fixed within the image capture apparatus relative to the front heatsink (ISLA in Fig. 3 in view of para [0040] fixed in capture apparatus at rear housing with internal frame in Fig. 2 & 6 relative to front housing/internal frame heatsink in Fig. 5), and a battery bracket in communication with the front heatsink so that thermal energy passes between the front heatsink and a battery in communication with the battery bracket (Battery mounted in a bracket per Fig. 2 in view of Fig. 5-6 and in thermal communication with front heatsink in view of para [0045 & 0116]).
KAGA does not teach (emphasis in bold): “a removable cover lens removably connected to the front heatsink forward of the ISLA”.
However, the bolded feature of said underlined limitation would have been obvious given the additional teachings of prior art HOUJOU, which discloses (in Fig. 2-3) a cover lens 3 that removably mounts over the lens of an ISLA (imager 1B/1C with lens 1D).
Thus, when considering the collective knowledge bestowed by each applied prior art, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to COMBINE the teachings of HOUJOU (cover lens in Fig. 2-3) into suitable modification with the teachings of KAGA (front housing in Fig. 1A) to produce Applicant’s claimed invention with the structural arrangement / functional configuration stated in said underlined limitation for the MOTIVATED REASON of providing a protective housing over the inner lens component in the analogous art of an imaging apparatus configured with an ISLA.
As per CLAIM 9, KAGA in view of HOUJOU teaches the image capture apparatus of claim 8, wherein the front heatsink comprises mounting flanges that extend outward relative to a surface connected to the ISLA (KAGA, Fig. 2 in view of Fig. 6: front heatsink internal frame has “side walls” that surround / accommodate the ISLA and battery which are considered mounting flanges that dissipate heat generated by the image sensors and battery, para [0116]).
As per CLAIM 11, KAGA in view of HOUJOU teaches the image capture apparatus of claim 8, wherein the front heatsink further comprises a connection mechanism that connects the removable cover lens to the front heatsink (This feature of a “connection mechanism” is considered obvious over the prior art combination of KAGA’s front housing (Fig. 1A) with HOUJOU’s removable cover lens 3 using a connection mechanism to attach to a front housing as apparent from Fig. 2 in view of Fig. 1).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-7 and 15-20 are allowed.
Claims 10 and 12-14 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.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowable subject matter:
The closest/related prior art (cited/discussed in this Office Action), when taken alone or in reasonable combination, does not teach the entirety of Applicant’s claimed invention as recited in independent claim 1 and 15.
Regarding independent claim 1, the prior art of record fails to teach or fairly suggest the combination of all limitations of claim 1 that includes (with emphasis in bold):
“An image capture apparatus, comprising:
a monolithic front heatsink comprising:
a planar surface,
a connection mechanism located adjacent to the planar surface, wherein the connection mechanism comprises: a protrusion, and connection projections extending from the protrusion;
and an image sensor and lens assembly (ISLA) coupled to the monolithic front heatsink and a portion of the ISLA extending through the protrusion of the monolithic front heatsink”.
Claims 2-7 are allowed for depending from allowable claim 1.
Regarding independent claim 15, the prior art of record fails to teach or fairly suggest the combination of all limitations of claim 15 that includes (with emphasis in bold):
“An image capture apparatus, comprising:
a front heatsink comprising:
mounting flanges with one of the mounting flanges comprising: a base;
a planar surface;
a connection mechanism located adjacent to the planar surface, the connection mechanism comprising: a projection that extends outward from the front heatsink in a directions opposite the mounting flanges;
a light recess located within the planar surface that allows light to pass through or around the front heatsink;
and a microphone recess located with the planar surface and located adjacent to the connection mechanism so that sound is allowed to come into communication with a microphone located within the image capture apparatus”.
Claims 16-20 are allowed for depending from allowable claim 15.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the EXAMINER should be directed to AKSHAY TREHAN whose telephone number is (571) 270-5252. The examiner can normally be reached between the hours of 10am – 6pm during the weekdays Monday – Friday.
Interviews with the examiner are available via telephone AND video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant may contact the examiner via telephone OR use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR), which can be found at: http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, TWYLER HASKINS can be reached on (571) 272-7406. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/AKSHAY TREHAN/
Examiner, Art Unit 2639
/TWYLER L HASKINS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2639