CTNF 18/827,586 CTNF 83534 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia 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 § 102 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-08-aia AIA (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. 07-15 AIA Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102( a)(1 ) as being anticipated by Varma (Pub. No.: US 2021/0167487 A1) . With respect to claim 11: Varma discloses a portable electronic device comprising: a housing (abstract and parag. 0004); a front cover coupled to the housing and defining a front exterior surface of the portable electronic device (abstract and parag. 0004); a display below the front cover; a rear cover coupled to the housing and defining: a first portion of a rear exterior surface of the portable electronic device (abstract and parag. 0003-0004); a protrusion defining a raised sensor array region of the rear cover and a second portion of the rear exterior surface of the portable electronic device (fig. 1B, parag. 0109) ; a microphone port defined through the rear cover in the raised sensor array region (fig. 1D, item 150 and parag. 0120); a first camera hole defined through the protrusion in the raised sensor array region ( (fig. 1D, item 142) ; and a second camera hole defined through the protrusion in the raised sensor array region (fig. 1D, item 144); a camera assembly at least partially within the housing and comprising: a first lens assembly extending at least partially into the first camera hole (fig. 1D, item 142); and a second lens assembly extending at least partially into the second camera hole (fig. 1D, item 144); and a microphone module coupled to the rear cover along an interior surface of the rear cover (fig. 14A, item 1412) and acoustically coupled to the microphone port (fig. 1D, item 150 and parag. 0120), at least a portion of the microphone module positioned outside of the raised sensor array region . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-23-aia AIA The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 1-4, 7-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Varma (Pub. No.: US 2021/0167487 A1) and further in view of MAO (Pub. No.: US 2021/0075896 A1) . With respect to claim 1: Varma discloses a mobile phone comprising a housing (abstract and parag. 0004); a display at least partially within the housing (abstract, parag. 0003-0004); a front cover coupled to the housing and positioned over the display (abstract, parag. 0004); a rear cover coupled to the housing and defining: a first portion of a rear exterior surface of the mobile phone (abstract, parag. 0004); a protrusion defining a raised sensor array region (fig. 1B, parag. 0109), the raised sensor array region defining a second portion of the rear exterior surface (fig. 1B, item 134 represents raise sensor); a first hole defined through the protrusion in the raised sensor array region (fig. 1D, item 142); a second hole defined through the protrusion in the raised sensor array region (fig. 1D, item 144); a first camera lens assembly extending at least partially into the first hole (fig. 1D, item 142); a second camera lens assembly extending at least partially into the second hole (fig. 1D, item 144); Varma does not explicitly disclose a third hole defined through the rear cover outside of the raised sensor array region and a flash module at least partially within the housing and positioned outside the raised sensor array region, the flash module extending at least partially into the third hole; MAO discloses a third hole defined through the rear cover outside of the raised sensor array region and a flash module at least partially within the housing and positioned outside the raised sensor array region, the flash module extending at least partially into the third hole (fig. 2A, item 40 is the third hole having a flash 40 positioned outside of item 11). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of MAO into the teaching of Varma thereby achieving a compact layout and beautiful image appearance. With respect to claim 2: Varma discloses the mobile phone of claim 1, wherein the rear cover further defines a fourth hole defined through the protrusion in the raised sensor array region; and the mobile phone further comprises a microphone module acoustically coupled to the fourth hole (fig. 1D, parag. 0120). With respect to claim 3: Varma discloses the mobile phone of claim 2, wherein at least a portion of the microphone module is positioned outside of the raised sensor array region (parag. 0393 and fig. 14A, item 1412). With respect to claims 4, 15: Varma discloses the mobile phone of claim 3, further comprising a bracket coupled to the rear cover and at least partially defining an acoustic waveguide configured to acoustically couple the microphone module to the fourth hole (parag. 0052, 0102 and 0103). With respect to claim 7: Varma discloses the mobile phone of claim 4, wherein the flash module is coupled to the bracket (fig. 1B, item 136 coupled to 137). With respect to claim 8: Varma discloses the mobile phone of claim 2, wherein: the first hole and the second hole are aligned along a first direction; and the third hole and the fourth hole are aligned along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction (fig. 1B). With respect to claim 9: MAO discloses the mobile phone of claim 1, wherein the first hole and the second hole are aligned along a direction parallel to a lateral side of the mobile phone (fig. 2B). With respect to claim 10: Varma discloses the mobile phone of claim 9, wherein the third hole is equidistant from the first hole and from the second hole (fig. 1D) . 07-22-aia AIA Claim s 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Varma (Pub. No.: US 2021/0167487 A1) as applied to claim 11 above and further in view of LEE (Pub. No.: US 2019/0173988 A1) . With respect to claim 12: The rejection of claim 11 is incorporated; Varma does not explicitly disclose wherein the rear cover further defines a flash hole through the rear cover outside of the raised sensor array region; and the portable electronic device further comprises a flash module coupled to the rear cover and extending at least partially into the flash hole. LEE discloses rear cover further defines a flash hole through the rear cover outside of the raised sensor array region; and the portable electronic device further comprises a flash module coupled to the rear cover and extending at least partially into the flash hole (fig. 2, item 113 represents the flash which is away from 112). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of LEE into the teaching of Varma in order to protect electronic components or the like mounted therein from moisture. With respect to claim 13: Varma discloses the portable electronic device of claim 11, wherein: the camera assembly comprises a camera housing (fig. 1D, item 142 and 144 represents the camera having housing), the camera housing defining a recess along a side of the camera housing (fig. 1D, parag. 0161); and the microphone module comprises a cowling that extends at least partially into the recess (fig. 1D with microphone 150, parag. 0469). With respect to claim 14: Varma discloses the portable electronic device of claim 13, wherein: the portable electronic device further comprises: a first camera associated with the first lens assembly (fig. 1D, item 142); a processing element (parag. 0111); and a flexible circuit element operatively coupling the first camera to the processing element and extending along the side of the camera housing, the flexible circuit element defining a notch aligned with the recess along the side of the camera housing; and the cowling extends at least partially into the notch (parag. 0469) . Allowable Subject Matter 12-151-07 AIA 07-97 12-51-07 Claim s 17-20 allowed. 12-151-08 AIA 07-43 12-51-08 Claim s 5, 6 and 16 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. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AJIBOLA A AKINYEMI whose telephone number is (571)270-1846. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00am-5:00pm, EST. 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, YUWEN PAN can be reached at (571)-272-7855. 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. /AJIBOLA A AKINYEMI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2649 Application/Control Number: 18/827,586 Page 2 Art Unit: 2649 Application/Control Number: 18/827,586 Page 3 Art Unit: 2649 Application/Control Number: 18/827,586 Page 4 Art Unit: 2649 Application/Control Number: 18/827,586 Page 5 Art Unit: 2649 Application/Control Number: 18/827,586 Page 6 Art Unit: 2649 Application/Control Number: 18/827,586 Page 7 Art Unit: 2649 Application/Control Number: 18/827,586 Page 8 Art Unit: 2649
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