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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed on 07/22/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 and 14 under 102(a)(1) over Sadahiro et al. 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 Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.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 in view of Law et al. US 2023/0260130.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 6-8, 10, 11 and 14-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sadahiro et al. US 2019/0339598 in view of Law et al. US 2023/0260130.
Regarding claim 1, Sadahiro teaches a camera filter system (see paras: 0005: that each camera optical element has an optical property, and para 0031 teaches: in filter embodiments, that the tactile indicator may indicate a property such as “a type of filter” or “an amount of light transmission of the filter”, and para 0045: further teaches a set of optical elements/filter having different properties, such as filters with different amounts of light transmission), comprising,
a plurality of camera filters, each camera filter (para 0031 teaches: in filter embodiments, that the tactile indicator may indicate a property such as “a type of filter” or “an amount of light transmission of the filter”, and para 0045: further teaches a set of optical elements/filter having different properties, such as filters with different amounts of light transmission) including:
a ring; a rim (see paras. 0004, 0034, claim 31: teaches that the optical element may include a frame surrounding the optical body, and that the tactile indicator may be positioned on the frame. See para 0047 and Figs. 13-14: teaches a circular optical element having a frame 120 surrounding optical body 122); and
an optical lens (see para 0047 and Figs. 13-14: cameral optical element 116 may have the form of lens);
wherein each optical lens in the plurality of camera filters provides a different optical property for the transmission of light through the optical lens (see paras: 0005: that each camera optical element has an optical property, and para 0031 teaches: in filter embodiments, that the tactile indicator may indicate a property such as “a type of filter” or “an amount of light transmission of the filter”, and para 0045: further teaches a set of optical elements/filter having different properties, such as filters with different amounts of light transmission); and
wherein each one of the camera filters in the plurality of camera filters includes a tactile indicator associated with each different optical property of each optical lens in the plurality of camera filters and that identifies the different optical property of each optical lens in the plurality of camera filters (see para 0003: teaches “a tactile indicator coupled to the camera optical element for indicating a property of the cameral optical element. See para 0005: a system comprising a plurality of camera optical elements each having an optical property, and a polarity of tactile indicators each being coupled or otherwise associated with a respective one of the plurality of camera optical elements and indicating the optical property of the respective camera optical element. Para 0031 further teaches that for filters, the tactile indicator may indicate a type of filter or an amount of light transmission of the filter.),
wherein the tactile indicator is one of an extended portions and an unextended portion of the ring (see para. 0027: teaches tactile indicator including surface features in the form of protrusions or cavities, and para 0041 further teaches protrusions in the form of bumps or ridges that project outwardly a desired distance from the optical element or frame, thereby teaching the claimed extended portion of the ring/frame).
However, Sadahiro fails to teach that the extended tactile indicator further includes a textured surface on the tactile indicator itself.
Law teaches tactile symbols having raised three-dimensional element with elevated surfaces and expressly teaches that the tactile symbols may include contoured or textured surfaces on the elevated surfaces and markers (see para 0008). Thus, Law distinguished the elevated/protruding tactile structure from an additional texture provided on the surface of elevated tactile structure itself. Lee further teaches that such textured surfaces provide tactile information and may be used to identify a brand, product or product line (see para. 0009). Law additionally explains that the raised tactile symbols permit user to recognize and identify contents by touch, including in dark or difficult to view conditions (see para. 0010). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the extended tactile indicator of Sadahiro to further include the textured surface as taught by Law to provide additional tactilely distinguishable characteristic and thereby facilitate more reliable identification of the respective optical property by touch.
Regarding claim 2, Sadahiro further teaches the camera filter system of claim 1, wherein the tactile indicator uniquely identifies each different optical property of each optical lens in the plurality of camera filters (see para 0003, 0005, 0025-0026: teaches that the tactile indicator indicates a property of the camera optical element, para 0031 teaches: in filter embodiments, that the tactile indicator may indicate a property such as “a type of filter” or “an amount of light transmission of the filter”, and paras. 0028, 0032-0033, 0045-0046: teaches that a set of camera optical elements may each have a different property and a corresponding different tactile indicator, where for example, the quantify of surface features or the shape of the tactile indicator corresponds to the property of the respective optical elements.).
Regarding claim 3, Sadahiro teaches the camera filter system of claim 2, wherein the tactile indicator is one of a plurality of textured indicators (see paras. 0027, 0038, and 0041-0044: discloses that the tactile indictor may include surface features in the form of variations in the surface of the camera optical element, including protrusions, cavities, bumps, ridges, divots and other shaped surfaces, which these are textured tactile features).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Sadahiro teaches the camera filter system of claim 1, and Law further teaches wherein the extended portion of the ring includes the textured surface on the tactile indicator (see paras. 0008-0009: teaches raised/elevated tactile symbols having textured surfaces on the elevated surfaces and markers).
Regarding claim 6, Sadahiro teaches the camera filter system of claim 2, wherein tactile indicator is positioned on the ring of each camera filter (see Fig. 13: tactile indicator 118 formed on the outer side of the ring frame 120).
Regarding claim 7, Sadahiro teaches the camera filter system of claim 6, wherein the tactile indicator includes extended portions from the ring (see Fig. 13: tactile indicator 118 i.e., bumps extend from the outside frame ring 120).
Regarding claim 8, Sadahiro teaches the camera filter system of claim 6, wherein the tactile indicator is provided on the ring includes extended portions of different shapes for each camera filter (paras. 0034, 0036-0040 and 0047-0048: teaches that the tactile indicator may be provided on a frame surrounding the optical body, corresponding the claimed ring. Paras. 0027, 0041 and 0043: further teaches that the tactile indicator may include surface features in the form of protrusions extending outwardly from the optical element or frame, and para 0043 further teaches protrusions of different shapes, including a triangular/prism shape and a cylindrical/circular shape).
Regarding claim 10, Sadahiro teaches the camera filter system of claim 1, the tactile indicator being disposed on a ring of each camera filter (see Fig. 13: tactile indicator 118 provided outside the frame ring 120).
Regarding claim 11, Sadahiro teaches the camera filter system of claim 1, wherein the tactile indicator is provided as a unique tactile pattern of tactile indicators around the ring of each camera lens (see paras. 0026-0033: teaches that tactile indicator may be provided in different respective arrangements corresponding to different optical properties of respective camera optical elements, in particular that quantify of surface features, the shape of the surface features, and other properties of the tactile indicator may indicator the property of the camera optical element).
Regarding claim 14, Sadahiro teaches a camera filter (see paras: 0005: that each camera optical element has an optical property, and para 0031 teaches: in filter embodiments, that the tactile indicator may indicate a property such as “a type of filter” or “an amount of light transmission of the filter”, and para 0045: further teaches a set of optical elements/filter having different properties, such as filters with different amounts of light transmission) comprising,
a ring; a rim (see paras. 0004, 0034, claim 31: teaches that the optical element may include a frame surrounding the optical body, and that the tactile indicator may be positioned on the frame. See para 0047 and Figs. 13-14: teaches a circular optical element having a frame 120 surrounding optical body 122); and
an optical lens (see para 0047 and Figs. 13-14: cameral optical element 116 may have the form of lens);
wherein the optical lens of the camera filter provides a unique optical property for the transmission of light through the optical lens (see paras: 0005: that each camera optical element has an optical property, and para 0031 teaches: in filter embodiments, that the tactile indicator may indicate a property such as “a type of filter” or “an amount of light transmission of the filter”, and para 0045: further teaches a set of optical elements/filter having different properties, such as filters with different amounts of light transmission); and
wherein the camera filter includes a tactile indicator associated with the unique optical property associated with the optical lens and that identifies the unique optical property of the optical lens in the camera filter (see para 0003: teaches “a tactile indicator coupled to the camera optical element for indicating a property of the cameral optical element. See para 0005: a system comprising a plurality of camera optical elements each having an optical property, and a polarity of tactile indicators each being coupled or otherwise associated with a respective one of the plurality of camera optical elements and indicating the optical property of the respective camera optical element. Para 0031 further teaches that for filters, the tactile indicator may indicate a type of filter or an amount of light transmission of the filter.),
wherein the tactile indicator is one of an extended portions and an unextended portion of the ring (see para. 0027: teaches tactile indicator including surface features in the form of protrusions or cavities, and para 0041 further teaches protrusions in the form of bumps or ridges that project outwardly a desired distance from the optical element or frame, thereby teaching the claimed extended portion of the ring/frame).
However, Sadahiro fails to teach that the extended tactile indicator further includes a textured surface on the tactile indicator itself.
Law teaches tactile symbols having raised three-dimensional element with elevated surfaces and expressly teaches that the tactile symbols may include contoured or textured surfaces on the elevated surfaces and markers (see para 0008). Thus, Law distinguished the elevated/protruding tactile structure from an additional texture provided on the surface of elevated tactile structure itself. Lee further teaches that such textured surfaces provide tactile information and may be used to identify a brand, product or product line (see para. 0009). Law additionally explains that the raised tactile symbols permit user to recognize and identify contents by touch, including in dark or difficult to view conditions (see para. 0010). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the extended tactile indicator of Sadahiro to further include the textured surface as taught by Law to provide additional tactilely distinguishable characteristic and thereby facilitate more reliable identification of the respective optical property by touch.
Regarding claim 15, Sadahiro teaches the camera filter system of claim 14, wherein the tactile indicator uniquely identifies the optical property of the optical lens in the camera filter (see para 0003, 0005, 0025-0026: teaches that the tactile indicator indicates a property of the camera optical element, para 0031 teaches: in filter embodiments, that the tactile indicator may indicate a property such as “a type of filter” or “an amount of light transmission of the filter”, and paras. 0028, 0032-0033, 0045-0046: teaches that a set of camera optical elements may each have a different property and a corresponding different tactile indicator, where for example, the quantify of surface features or the shape of the tactile indicator corresponds to the property of the respective optical elements.).
Regarding claim 16, Sadahiro teaches the camera filter system of claim 14, wherein tactile indicator is positioned on the ring of the camera filter (see Fig. 13: tactile indicator 118 formed on the outer side of the ring frame 120).
Regarding claim 17, Sadahiro teaches the camera filter system of claim 14, wherein the tactile indicator is provided on the ring and includes extended portions of different shapes for the camera filter (paras. 0034, 0036-0040 and 0047-0048: teaches that the tactile indicator may be provided on a frame surrounding the optical body, corresponding the claimed ring. Paras. 0027, 0041 and 0043: further teaches that the tactile indicator may include surface features in the form of protrusions extending outwardly from the optical element or frame, and para 0043 further teaches protrusions of different shapes, including a triangular/prism shape and a cylindrical/circular shape).
Regarding claim 18, Sadahiro teaches the camera filter system of claim 14, wherein the tactile indicator is provided as a unique tactile pattern of tactile indicators around the ring of the camera filter (see paras. 0026-0033: teaches that tactile indicator may be provided in different respective arrangements corresponding to different optical properties of respective camera optical elements, in particular that quantify of surface features, the shape of the surface features, and other properties of the tactile indicator may indicator the property of the camera optical element).
Claim(s) 5, 9, 13 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sadahiro, Law and Overall as applied to claims 1, 2 and 14 above, and further in view of Overall US 2019/0094661.
Regarding claim 5, Sadahiro teaches the camera filter system of claim 2, and Sadahiro further teaches tactile indicators including textured surface features such as protrusion, ridges, bumps, and cavities (see paras. 0027 and 0041-0044). Sadahiro further teaches that such textures surface features may be separated by valleys or intervening smooth regions, and that the valley may be configured to provide desired spacing between the textured features (see para 0041). Sadahiro additionally teaches that the tactile indicator may convey the property of the camera optical element by tactile characteristics such as the number, shape and arrangement of the surface features (see par 0028, 0032-0033). However, Sadahiro fails to teach: wherein the plurality of textured indicators include a section having a length that is longer or shorter than a non-textured indicator section of the ring of each camera filter.
Overall teaches that different camera filter specifications are assigned distinct identifying indicia so that users can quickly and reliably distinguish among the filters (see paras. 0010, 0012-0015, and 0017-0019). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to configure the tactile indicator pattern of Sadahiro such that a textured section has a length longer or shorter than an adjacent non-textured section, because Sadahiro already teaches using tactile pattern characteristics to encode optical propertied, and varying the relative lengths of textured and non-textured sections would have been a predictable design variations for improving tactile distinguishability among different filter properties. Overall further suggests the desirability of assigning distinct identifying patterns to different filter specifications. Accordingly, modifying Sadahiro’s known tactile coding scheme to use different relative section lengths would have been an obvious matter of routine design choice to provide additional differentiation among filters.
Regarding claim 9, Sadahiro teaches the camera filter system of claim 1, that the camera optical element may be a filter such as a neutral density filter or a polarizing filter (see para 0031). However, Sadahiro fails to teach wherein the plurality of camera filters include a 3 stop filter, a 6 stop filter, and a 10 stop filter.
Overall teaches sets of camera filters including a polarizer and a plurality of neutral density filters of different strengths/specifications (see paras. 0003, 0013, 0037-0040: specifically describes neutral density filters of differing capacities and a polarizer in the same coding system). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date, to include within the known set of different filter types and ND strength taught by Overall and Sadahiro, commonly used ND filter strengths such as 3 stop, 6 stop and 10 step together with a polarizing filter, because these are merely known selections of filter strength within the recognized classes of ND filters used to provide different amounts of light transmission.
Regarding claim 13, Sadahiro teaches the camera filter system of claim 1, but fails to teach wherein the plurality of camera filters include threaded fittings to attach the plurality of filters to a camera.
Overall teaches a sets of camera filters include threaded fitting to attach the plurality of filters to a camera (para [0005]: teaches filters installed on the camera lens by threading). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to provide the filters of Sadahiro with the known threaded fitting taught by Overall, because Overall teaches threaded attachment as a conventional way of mounting camera filters to a camera lens, and doing so would have predictably allowed Sadahiro’s property-identifying tactile filter system to be implemented using standard attachable camera filters.
Regarding claim 20, Sadahiro teaches the camera filter system of claim 14, but fails to teach wherein the camera filter includes threaded fittings to attach the camera filter to a camera.
Overall teaches a sets of camera filters include threaded fitting to attach the plurality of filters to a camera (para [0005]: teaches filters installed on the camera lens by threading). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to provide the filters of Sadahiro with the known threaded fitting taught by Overall, because Overall teaches threaded attachment as a conventional way of mounting camera filters to a camera lens, and doing so would have predictably allowed Sadahiro’s property-identifying tactile filter system to be implemented using standard attachable camera filters.
Claim(s) 10 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sadahiro, Law and Overall as applied to claims 1 and 14 above, and further in view of Xu US 2014/0140688.
Regarding claim 10, Sadahiro teaches the camera filter system of claim 1, but fails to teaches wherein the plurality of camera filters are magnetic.
In the same field of endeavor, Xu teaches a magnetic lens filter system (para [0003]), wherein one of the rings or the rim is magnetic (para [0045] and Fig. 1: teaches magnetic lens filter system 100 having magnetic ring/rim 140). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the camera filter system of Sadahiro by utilizing the claimed magnetic ring or rim as taught by Xu in order make changing of the different lens filters becomes easy and effortless, and thereby a user to easily and quickly rotate the lens filter around the lens to correctly orient the filter on the lens according to user requirements for particular photographic opportunity.
Regarding claim 19, Sadahiro teaches the camera filter system of claim 14, but fails to teach wherein the camera filter is magnetic.
In the same field of endeavor, Xu teaches a magnetic lens filter system (para [0003]), wherein one of the rings or the rim is magnetic (para [0045] and Fig. 1: teaches magnetic lens filter system 100 having magnetic ring/rim 140). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the camera filter system of Sadahiro by utilizing the claimed magnetic ring or rim as taught by Xu in order make changing of the different lens filters becomes easy and effortless, and thereby a user to easily and quickly rotate the lens filter around the lens to correctly orient the filter on the lens according to user requirements for particular photographic opportunity.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 2014/0182770: teaches raised tactile relief textures used for recognition by feel/touch including different surface textures corresponding to different identifying characteristics (see para. 0004).
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EPHREM ZERU MEBRAHTU whose telephone number is (571)272-8386. The examiner can normally be reached 10 am -6 pm (M-F).
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, Stephone Allen can be reached at 571-272-2434. 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.
/EPHREM Z MEBRAHTU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872
