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 .
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged. Applicant has not complied with one or more conditions for receiving the benefit of an earlier filing date under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) as follows:
The later-filed application must be an application for a patent for an invention which is also disclosed in the prior application (the parent or original nonprovisional application or provisional application). The disclosure of the invention in the parent application and in the later-filed application must be sufficient to comply with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, except for the best mode requirement. See Transco Products, Inc. v. Performance Contracting, Inc., 38 F.3d 551, 32 USPQ2d 1077 (Fed. Cir. 1994).
The disclosure of the prior-filed application, Application No. 63/642721, fails to provide adequate support or enablement in the manner provided by 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph for one or more claims of this application. The prior-filed application is not directed towards the same field of endeavor as the current application. The application number appears to have included a typographical error, as application 63/624721 does provide support for the claimed subject matter.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the attachment of a video camera with the accessory mount must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
In the drawings as filed, there does not appear to be any structure which a person skill in the art as of filing date would recognize as allowing for the connection of a video camera to the accessory mount side of the device.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
With regard to claim 10: The claim lists “the attachment section” twice in the list of elements which a slit passes through. The second “attachment section” appears to be intended to say “the accessory section” as the claim later indicates slit should be continuous through the accessory section.
Claim 11 recites the limitation "the slit" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The claim makes reference to claim 8, which does not include mention of a slit element. Claim 10 does make reference to a slit, and for the purpose of examination with regard to the prior art claim 11 is being treated as though it were dependent upon claim 10.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 1-6, 8-9, and 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nakamura et al (JP 2021107880 A1, English machine translation attached).
With regard to claim 1: Nakamura discloses a device (accessory adapter 1) which comprises: an attachment section which includes a connector 11 which extends around an inner circumference of the attachment section (best visible in Figure 8, see ¶0017) and an accessory section connected by a step to the attachment section (a front portion of the adapter, step is best visible in the cross section of Figure 10), the accessory section having dimensions which hold one or more accessories to a camera lens (the accessory section is dimensioned to accept optical filters and threaded lens hoods via threaded portion 12 and a lens hood via tapered section 13, see ¶0023 and ¶0031).
With regard to claim 2: The accessories of Nakamura include a lens filter (see ¶0031).
With regard to claims 3-4: The accessories of Nakamura includes a rim disposed around the accessory section and including a projection extending from the accessory section (camera hood 4 can take the form of a camera hood which has a rim that “slips on” to the accessory section to allow for the rest of the hood to extend from the projection section, see ¶0019 and ¶0031 discussing connection using this mechanism).
With regard to claim 5: The accessories of Nakamura include a rim disposed around the accessory section (camera hood 4, see ¶0023 and Figure 11).
With regard to claim 6: The accessory section of Nakamura includes an accessory mount structure (threaded portion 12 and tapered section 13 each are accessory mounting structures).
With regard to claim 8: Nakamura discloses that the accessory mount connects to a light emitting device (see ¶0032 disclosing use of a ring light).
With regard to claim 9: Nakamura discloses the attachment of a lens hood (see ¶0018-0019).
With regard to claims 14 and 15: The connector of Nakamura is disclosed as interacting with a camera lens to secure the attachment section to the camera lens, see ¶0016-0017, with this interaction taking the form of a tongue (protrusion 11b, which is positioned to the rear side of the interface, separated from protrusion 11a by a groove section) which interacts with a groove section (the space behind lens side protrusion 22 on the lens) to secure the attachment section to the camera lens as described in ¶0017 and ¶0021. This form of connection is commonly known in the art of photography as a “bayonet mount”.
Claims 1-2 and 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Schorman (US PGPub 2018/0059355 A1).
With regard to claims 1-2: Schorman disclose a device which comprises an attachment section including a connector which extends around an inner circumference of the attachment section (attachment section is mount portion 108, which includes a connector in the form of a cylindrical wall 142 which is provided with gripping protrusions 144, see ¶0047) and an accessory section 106 connected by a step (wall 110) to the attachment section, the accessory section having dimensions which allow it to hold a camera filter to the camera lens, see ¶0044-0046 and 0048.
With regard to claims 12-14: The device of Schorman is disclosed as being entirely formed of a flexible material, specifically a elastomeric rubber composition per ¶0051 (note that ¶0051 indicates that the device may be made of “a unitary rubber construction” in contrast with devices made of multiple materials, indicating that the entire device has the same flexible composition) which means that all parts of the device are capable of flexing around a camera lens. Mounting of the device involves expanding the mount portion to insert the objective end of camera lens which is then circumferentially enclosed by the device (see ¶0049), the mount section then interacting with the camera lens (via friction as disclosed in ¶0047)
Claims 1-2, 13-14, and 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Leung et al (US Patent 12,235,511 B2).
With regard to claims 1-2: Leung disclose a device which comprises an attachment section (a “second side” 110b of the device, which is shown as being the lower side of the device in Figures 5-7) including a connector (formed of elements 131) which extends around an inner circumference of the attachment section and an accessory section 113 which is connected by a step to the attachment section (step is visible in the cross sections of Figures 6-7) the accessory section having dimension which hold one or more accessories to a camera lens (see column 8 lines 21-40 and column 11 lines 47-50 describing attachment of a photographic accessory in the form of a camera filter to the inner threaded region 113 of the device).
With regard to claims 13-14 and 16-17: The device of Leung is disclosed as expanding circumferentially to enclose a portion of the camera lens to secure the attachment section to the camera lens, with the inner diameter of the device being able to expand to twice the diameter of the un-stressed state such that the device is able to attach to a 67mm camera lens, 72mm camera lens, 77mm camera lens, and a 82mm camera lens. See disclosure in column 13 line 28 through column 14 line 2 discussing continuous movement of the connecting portions from a 40mm diameter configuration to a 105mm diameter configuration, meaning the adapter is capable of connecting to the claimed lens outer diameters.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 18-20 are allowed.
Claim 7 is 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.
Claims 10-11 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
With regard to claim 7: The prior art does not teach devices which allow for the attachment of a video camera to an accessory attachment connection side of a device having the claimed connection structure and accessory section configured to hold a camera filter to a camera lens as claimed (claim 7 depends upon claims 1, 2, and 6).
With regard to claims 10-11: While the prior art does teach the use of slits positioned in attachment sections to allow for a device to be slipped onto the periphery of a camera lens, see for example DE 2020 15006513 U which has visible expansion slits around ring snap connection 5. These slits however do not form continuous slits which extend through the attachment section, the step, and the accessory section.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Vos (US PGPub 2025/0208492 A1), Jamison et al (US Patent 10,345,682 B1), Alfille (US Patent 4,502,760), and Huber (US Paetnt 4,124,859) are directed towards lens filter mounting systems which attach to a camera lens using a connector arranged on an internal periphery of the devices.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Leon W Rhodes Jr whose telephone number is (571)270-5774. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00AM - 6:00PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Walter Lindsay can be reached at (571) 272-1674. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LEON W RHODES, JR/Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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