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 .
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 .
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3-18 and 20 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.
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 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hu et al. (US Pub. 20200336639, Hu).
As per claim 1, Hu teaches (in figures 1-8) an optical element driving mechanism, comprising: a fixed assembly (fixed assembly 1-10); a movable assembly (first frame 1-118 and filter 1-FL), configured to be connected to an optical element (photosensitive element 1-122), wherein the movable assembly is movable relative to the fixed assembly (paragraph 64); and a driving module (first driving assembly 1-30), configured to drive the movable assembly to move relative to the fixed assembly (paragraph 64).
As per claim 2, Hu teaches (in figures 1-8) that the fixed assembly (fixed assembly 1-10) includes a casing (outer frame 1-102) and a base (base plate 1-120); the casing and the base are arranged along a main axis (z-axis); the optical element driving mechanism further includes a first circuit assembly (circuit member 1-114); the first circuit assembly has a body portion (main body 1-1141), and the optical element (photosensitive element 1-122) is disposed on the body portion (paragraph 73); the body portion is connected to the movable assembly (paragraph 73); the first circuit assembly further has a cantilever (movable cantilevers 1-1143) which is connected between the body portion and the casing (paragraph 77); and the driving module (first driving assembly 1-30) is configured to drive the movable assembly, the body portion and the optical element to move (paragraph 64).
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 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu et al. (US Pub. 20200336639, Hu) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Kita et al. (US Pub. 20220187686, Kita) and Zhu et al. (CN113820818A, with reference made to provided machine translation, Zhu).
As per claim 19, Hu teaches (in figures 1-8) wherein the optical element driving mechanism further includes a first optical module (second driving assembly 1-50, holder 1-108, and optical component held therein see paragraph 66), the first optical module has a first optical element (optical component held in holder 1-108 see paragraph 66) and at least one first driving member (second driving assembly I-50); the first driving member is configured to drive the first optical element to move along an optical axis (I-O) of the first optical element relative to the casing (paragraph 69).
Hu does not teach that the first optical module is detachably connected to a casing of the fixed assembly; the optical element driving mechanism further includes a second optical module and a connecting member; and the second optical module is detachably connected to the casing via the connecting member.
However, Kita (US Pub. 20220187686) teaches (in figure 1) forming a first optical module (interchangeable lens 3) such that is detachably connected to a casing of a fixed assembly (camera body 2) (paragraph 30) in order to allow lenses of different optical characteristics to be used with the camera
Additionally, Zhu teaches (in figures 2-4) providing a second optical module (aperture carrier 110) and a connecting member (stepped groove 113) in order to improve photo-taking performance (paragraph 2); and the second optical module is detachably connected to the casing via the connecting member in order to improve the ease of assembly and disassembly of the lens barrel (paragraph 72).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Hu such that the first optical module is detachably connected to a casing of the fixed assembly in order to allow lenses of different optical characteristics to be used with the camera and to provide a detachably connected second optical module in order to improve photo-taking performance while improving the ease of assembly and disassembly.
Conclusion
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/ALEXANDER P GROSS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871
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