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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Makida et al (US 12366737) in view of Yamamoto (US 20230059659)
Regarding Claim 1,
Makida et al discloses (Fig. 1 and ABSTRACT) a zoom lens (ZL) consisting of, in order from an object side to an image side: a front group (G1); an intermediate group (G3); and a rear group (G4), wherein the front group (G1) consists of two or fewer lens groups that have positive refractive powers,, the intermediate group (G3) consists of two or fewer lens groups that have negative refractive powers, the rear group (G5) consists of a plurality of lens groups, a lens group closest to the object side in the rear group has a positive refractive power, all spacings of adjacent lens groups change during zooming, and assuming that a focal length of the zoom lens in a state where an infinite distance object is in focus at a telephoto end is ft, a focal length of the zoom lens in a state where the infinite distance object is in focus at a wide-angle end is fw, an amount of displacement of a lens group, which has a maximum amount of displacement during zooming from the wide-angle end to the telephoto end, among lens groups that move during zooming, is Movmax, and a unit of Movmax is mm, Conditional Expression (1) is satisfied, which is represented by 0.4 < (ft/fw)/Movmax (1).This expression 0.4 < (ft/fw)/Movmax (1) is a result-effective variable that affect system performances.
Makida et al does not disclose the prior art does not disclose a lens group closest to the object side in the front group remains stationary with respect to an image plane during zooming and a lens group closest to the image side in the rear group remains stationary with respect to the image plane during zooming
Yamamoto discloses a lens group closest to the object side in the front group remains stationary [0089] with respect to an image plane during zooming and a lens group closest to the image side in the rear group remains stationary with respect to the image plane during zooming.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Makida et al to include Yamamoto's zoom functions motivated by the desire to reduce moving mass and improve aberration correction while maintaining zoom performance [0089].
Regarding Claim 2,
In addition to Makida et al and Yamamoto, Makida et al discloses (Fig. 1 and ABSTRACT) wherein assuming that a sum of a back focal length of the zoom lens in terms of an air-equivalent distance and a distance on an optical axis from a lens surface closest to the object side in the front group to a lens surface closest to the image side in the rear group in a state where the infinite distance object is in focus is TL, and a maximum image height is Y, Conditional Expression (2) is satisfied, which is represented by TL/2Y < 80 (2) is a result-effective variable that affect system performances.
Regarding Claim 3,
In addition to Makida et al and Yamamoto, Makida et al discloses (Fig. 1 and ABSTRACT)wherein Conditional Expression (1-1) is satisfied, which is represented by 0.8 < (ft/fw)/Movmax (1-1) is a result-effective variable that affect system performances.
Regarding Claim 4,
In addition to Makida et al and Yamamoto, Makida et al discloses (Fig. 1 and ABSTRACT)wherein assuming that a sum of a back focal length of the zoom lens in terms of an air-equivalent distance and a distance on an optical axis from a lens surface closest to the object side in the front group to a lens surface closest to the image side in the rear group in a state where the infinite distance object is in focus is TL, Conditional Expression (3) is satisfied, which is represented by 2 < ft/TL (3) is a result-effective variable that affect system performances.
Regarding Claim 5,
In addition to Makida et al and Yamamoto, Makida et al discloses (Fig. 1 and ABSTRACT)wherein assuming that a back focal length of the zoom lens in terms of an air-equivalent distance is Bf, Conditional Expression (4) is satisfied, which is represented by
10 < ft/Bf (4) is a result-effective variable that affect system performances.
Regarding Claim 6,
In addition to Makida et al and Yamamoto, Makida et al discloses (Fig. 1 and ABSTRACT) wherein assuming that a maximum image height is Y, Conditional Expression (5) is satisfied, which is represented by 30 < ft/2Y (5) is a result-effective variable that affect system performances.
Regarding Claim 7,
In addition to Makida et al and Yamamoto, Makida et al discloses (Fig. 1 and ABSTRACT) wherein assuming that a focal length of the lens group closest to the object side in the front group is fF1, Conditional Expression (6) is satisfied, which is represented by 0.5 < ft/fF1 (6) is a result-effective variable that affect system performances.
Regarding Claim 8,
In addition to Makida et al and Yamamoto, Makida et al discloses (Fig. 1 and ABSTRACT) wherein assuming that a focal length of a lens group closest to the object side in the intermediate group is fM1, Conditional Expression (7) is satisfied, which is represented by
5 < |ft/fM1| (7) is a result-effective variable that affect system performances.
Regarding Claim 9,
In addition to Makida et al and Yamamoto, Makida et al discloses (Fig. 1 and ABSTRACT) wherein the lens group (G4) closest to the object side in the front group (G1 and G2 together can also be considered of the front group of lenses) includes at least four lenses (L41,L42,L43,L44), and a lens group which is third from the object side in the rear group (G5) includes an aspherical lens (L51 or L52).
Regarding Claim 10,
In addition to Makida et al and Yamamoto, Makida et al discloses (Fig. 1 and ABSTRACT) wherein assuming that a focal length of the lens group closest to the object side in the rear group is fR1, Conditional Expression (8) is satisfied, which is represented by
0 < ft/fR1 < 100 (8) is a result-effective variable that affect system performances.
Regarding Claim 11,
In addition to Makida et al and Yamamoto, Makida et al discloses (Fig. 1 and ABSTRACT) wherein assuming that a focal length of the lens group closest to the image side in the rear group is fRe, Conditional Expression (9) is satisfied, which is represented by -100 < ft/fRe < 200 (9) is a result-effective variable that affect system performances.
Regarding Claim 12,
In addition to Makida et al and Yamamoto, Makida et al discloses (Fig. 1 and ABSTRACT) wherein Conditional Expression (9-1) is satisfied, which is represented by
0 < ft/fRe < 200 (9-1) is a result-effective variable that affect system performances.
Regarding Claim 13,
In addition to Makida et al and Yamamoto, Makida et al discloses (Fig. 1 and ABSTRACT) wherein Conditional Expression (9-6) is satisfied, which is represented by -100 < ft/fRe < 0 (9-6) is a result-effective variable that affect system performances.
Regarding Claim 14,
In addition to Makida et al and Yamamoto, Makida et al discloses (Fig. 1 and ABSTRACT) wherein the zoom lens includes a focusing group that moves during focusing, and assuming that a lateral magnification of the focusing group in a state where the infinite distance object is in focus at the telephoto end is βfoc, and a combined lateral magnification of all lenses closer to the image side than the focusing group in a state where the infinite distance object is in focus at the telephoto end is βfocR, Conditional Expression (10) is satisfied, which is represented by |(1-βfoc2) × βfocR2| < 50 (10)is a result-effective variable that affect system performances.
Regarding Claim 15,
In addition to Makida et al and Yamamoto, Makida et al discloses (Fig. 1 and ABSTRACT) wherein the lens group closest to the object side in the front group (G1 and G2) includes at least one cemented lens (L11).
Regarding Claim 16,
In addition to Makida et al and Yamamoto, Makida et al discloses (Fig. 1 and ABSTRACT) wherein the lens group closest to the object side in the front group (G1 and G2) includes at least one positive lens that has an Abbe number of 70 or more based on a d-line (See LENS DATA TABLE)
Regarding Claim 17,
In addition to Makida et al and Yamamoto, Makida et al discloses (Fig. 1 and ABSTRACT) wherein the lens group closest to the object side in the front group (G1 and G2) includes at least one negative lens that has an Abbe number of 60 or less based on a d-line (See LENS DATA TABLE).
Regarding Claim 18,
In addition to Makida et al and Yamamoto, Makida et al discloses (Fig. 1 and ABSTRACT) wherein a lens group closest to the object side in the intermediate group (G3) includes at least one positive lens that has an Abbe number of 40 or less based on a d-line (See LENS DATA TABLE).
Regarding Claim 19,
In addition to Makida et al and Yamamoto, Makida et al discloses (Fig. 1 and ABSTRACT) wherein a lens group closest to the object side in the intermediate group (G3) includes at least one positive lens (L31) and at least two negative lenses (L32 and L34).
Regarding Claim 20,
In addition to Makida et al and Yamamoto, Makida et al discloses (Fig. 1 and ABSTRACT) the zoom lens according to claim 1.
Conclusion
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/LUCY P CHIEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871
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