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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tamura et al. (US 20180348597 A1; hereafter Tamura) in view of Izukawa (US 20050128342 A1).
As of Claim 1: Tamura teaches an accessory removably attachable to a camera body (¶0034 and FIG. 1A and an interchangeable lens assembly (an optical apparatus, an accessory, a lens apparatus) 100 that is a camera accessory, and a camera body (an image pickup apparatus) 10 on which the interchangeable lens assembly 100 is detachably mounted) that has a terminal that outputs a C clock signal (¶0045 and note that The LCLK terminals are terminals for communication clock signals output from the camera body 10 to the interchangeable lens assembly 100 and interpreted as C clock signals), the accessory comprising: a ready terminal used to indicate whether or not communication with the camera body is allowed (¶0046 and note that the CS terminals are terminals for a communication request signal between the camera body 10 and the interchangeable lens assembly 100, and are open interfaces. The request is to check whether or not communication with the camera body is allowed and thereby confirming readiness to communicate); and a second data terminal that outputs a second data signal to the camera body, wherein: a first communication is performed by using the ready terminal, the first data terminal and the second data terminal, and the accessory performs the first communication without receiving the C clock signal from the camera body (¶¶0043,0044,0045, 0092 and note that the communication terminals further include a terminal unit (the CS, and DCA terminals) that is a third communication unit that performs the third communication independent of the first and second communications. The camera control unit 18 and the lens control unit 103 are capable of performing the first, second, and third communications that are independent of each other through the above communication terminals. Since it is independent, it does not need to receive the C clock signal).
Izukawa is a similar or analogous system to the claimed invention as evidenced Izukawa teaches a lens apparatus attached to the image taking apparatus described above. The lens apparatus comprises a lens; a memory which stores information on the image size of the lens apparatus; and a communicating unit which transmits the information on the image size to the image taking apparatus that would have prompted a predictable variation of Tamura by applying Izukawa’s known principal of a first data terminal that receives a first data signal that is output synchronized with the C clock signal, from the camera body (¶¶0031,0048, and note that CK denotes a clock input terminal to synchronize communications between the camera control CPU 31 of the camera body side and lens control CPU 11 of the lens apparatus side. Also DO denotes a data output terminal to transmit data of the lens apparatus side to the camera body side, and Reference Symbol DI denotes a data input terminal into which data and a command from the camera body side are inputted).
In view of the motivations such as improving data exchange in real time timed by the clock which keeps focusing, stabilization coordinated and thereby improving image quality one of ordinary skill in the art would have implemented the claimed variation of the prior art system of Tamura.
Therefore, the claimed invention would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MEKONNEN D DAGNEW whose telephone number is (571)270-5092. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:00AM-5:00PM M-Th.
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/MEKONNEN D DAGNEW/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2638
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