Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 01, 2026
Application No. 18/889,330

OPTICAL SYSTEM, OPTICAL APPARATUS, AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING OPTICAL SYSTEM

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Sep 18, 2024
Priority
Apr 04, 2022 — JP 2022-062480 +1 more
Examiner
BRIGGS, NATHANAEL R
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
NIKON Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
76%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
7m
Est. Remaining
88%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 76% — above average
76%
Career Allowance Rate
837 granted / 1098 resolved
+16.2% vs TC avg
Moderate +11% lift
Without
With
+11.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 7m
Avg Prosecution
23 currently pending
Career history
1116
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§103
59.2%
+19.2% vs TC avg
§102
32.2%
-7.8% vs TC avg
§112
6.1%
-33.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1098 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
CTNF 18/889,330 CTNF 82270 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 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 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 – 07-12-aia AIA (a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. 07-15-03-aia AIA Claim (s) 1 and 3-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Hoenle et al. (US 2023/0185057) . Regarding claim 1 , Hoenle discloses an optical system (see figures 1-2, for instance) comprising, in order from an object side (left side of figure 1), a first negative lens (5) having negative refractive power, a second negative lens (8) having negative refractive power, and a rear group (including elements 11, 16 and 19), the optical system satisfying the following conditional expressions: 5.60<TL/f<13.00 (see paragraph [0068]) 0.30<f1/f2<2.00 (see paragraph [0131]) 1.66<Nave12<2.20 (see paragraph [0038]) 80<2ω (see paragraph [0018]) where TL: the total length of the optical system, f: the focal length of the optical system, f1: the focal length of the first negative lens, f2: the focal length of the second negative lens, Nave12: an average of the refractive indices of the first and second negative lenses, 2ω: the total field angle of the optical system. Regarding claim 3 , Hoenle discloses an optical system (see figures 1-2, for instance) comprising, in order from an object side (left side of figure 1), a first negative lens (5) having negative refractive power, a second negative lens (8) having negative refractive power, and a rear group (including elements 11, 16 and 19), the optical system satisfying the following conditional expressions: 1.2<(-f1)/f<5.10 (see paragraph [0131]) 1.91<(-f2)/f<7.00 (see paragraph [0131]) 0.9<T112/f<8.00 (see paragraph [0034]) 80<2ω (see paragraph [0018]) where f1: the focal length of the first negative lens, f: the focal length of the optical system f2: the focal length of the second negative lens T112: the total thickness on the optical axis from an object-side lens surface of the first negative lens to an image-plane-side lens surface of the second negative lens 2ω: the total field angle of the optical system Regarding claim 4 , Hoenle discloses the optical system according to claim 1, wherein the first negative lens (5), the second negative lens (8), and all lenses included in the rear group are each configured as a single lens (see figure 1-2). Regarding claim 5 , Hoenle discloses the optical system according to claim 1, wherein all lenses included in the rear group have positive refractive power ([0027]). Regarding claim 6 , Hoenle discloses the optical system according to claim 1, wherein the following conditional expression is satisfied. 0.5<(r21+r12)/(r21-r12)<8.00 (see Table 2); where r12: the radius of curvature of an image-plane-side lens surface of the first negative lens r21: the radius of curvature of an object-side lens surface of the second negative lens. Regarding claim 7 , Hoenle discloses the optical system according to claim 1, wherein the following conditional expression is satisfied. 1<f3/f<80.00 (see Table 1; [0131]), where f3: the focal length of a lens disposed closest to the object side in the rear group Regarding claim 8 , Hoenle discloses the optical system according to claim 1, wherein the following conditional expression is satisfied. -30.00<f4/f<25.00 ([00131]) where f4: the focal length of a lens component disposed second closest to the object side in the rear group Regarding claim 9 , Hoenle discloses the optical system according to claim 1, wherein the rear group includes an aperture stop (15), and the following conditional expression is satisfied. 2.00<|fs-1|/f<30.00 ([0131]) where fs−1: the focal length of a lens disposed next to the aperture stop on the object side Regarding claim 10 , Hoenle discloses the optical system according to claim 1, wherein the rear group includes an aperture stop (15), and the following conditional expression is satisfied: 3.0<(fs+1)/f<25.00 ([0131]) where fs+1: the focal length of a lens component disposed next to the aperture stop on the image plane side Regarding claim 11 , Hoenle discloses the optical system according to claim 1, wherein the following conditional expression is satisfied. 0.3<(-f1)/fL<2.00 (see paragraph [0131]) where f1: the focal length of the first negative lens fL: the focal length of a lens disposed closest to the image plane side Regarding claim 12 , Hoenle discloses the optical system according to claim 1, wherein the following conditional expression is satisfied. 0.8<D112/f<3.00 (see Table 1) where D112: the distance on the optical axis between an image-plane-side lens surface of the first negative lens and an object-side lens surface of the second negative lens Regarding claim 13 , Hoenle discloses the optical system according to claim 1, wherein the following conditional expression is satisfied. 0.4<-(fn)/fp<1.50 (see paragraph [0131]) where fn: the combined focal length of the first and second negative lenses fp: the focal length of the rear group Regarding claim 14 , Hoenle discloses the optical system according to claim 1, wherein the following conditional expression is satisfied. 0.15<D112/(-f1)<0.80 (see Table 1, and paragraph [0131]) where D112: the distance on the optical axis between an image-plane-side lens surface of the first negative lens and an object-side lens surface of the second negative lens f1: the focal length of the first negative lens Regarding claim 15 , Hoenle discloses the optical system according to claim 1, wherein the following conditional expression is satisfied. 0.5<D112/(-fn)<1.50 (see Table 1, and paragraph [0131]) where D112: the distance on the optical axis between an image-plane-side lens surface of the first negative lens and an object-side lens surface of the second negative lens fn: the combined focal length of the first and second negative lenses Regarding claim 16 , Hoenle discloses the optical system according to claim 1, wherein the following conditional expression is satisfied. 1.66<n1<2.30 (see paragraph [0038]) where n1: the refractive index of the first negative lens Regarding claim 17 , Hoenle discloses the optical system according to claim 1, wherein the following conditional expression is satisfied. 2.2<fL/f<6.00 (see paragraph [0131]) where fL: the focal length of a lens disposed closest to the image plane side Regarding claim 18 , Hoenle discloses an optical apparatus comprising the optical system according to claim 1 (see figures 1-2). Regarding claim 19 , Hoenle discloses the optical apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a light emitter ([0076]) that emits light of a wavelength in the range from visible light to near-infrared light. Regarding claim 20 , Hoenle discloses a method for manufacturing an optical system (see figures 1-2, for instance) including, in order from an object side (left side of figure 1), a first negative lens (5) having negative refractive power, a second negative lens (8) having negative refractive power, and a rear group (including elements 11, 16 and 19), the method comprising disposing lenses so as to satisfy the following conditional expressions: 5.60<TL/f<13.00 (see paragraph [0068]) 0.30<f1/f2<2.00 (see paragraph [0131]) 1.66<Nave12<2.20 (see paragraph [0038]) 80<2ω (see paragraph [0018]) where TL: the total length of the optical system, f: the focal length of the optical system, f1: the focal length of the first negative lens, f2: the focal length of the second negative lens, Nave12: an average of the refractive indices of the first and second negative lenses, 2ω: the total field angle of the optical system . 07-15-03-aia AIA Claim (s) 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kimura (US 2011/0317282) . Regarding claim 2 , Hoenle discloses an optical system (see figure 3, for instance) comprising, in order from an object side (left side of figure 1), a first negative lens (L11) having negative refractive power, a second negative lens (L12) having negative refractive power, and a rear group (including elements L13, L14), the optical system satisfying the following conditional expressions: 0.41<T112/f<3.95 (see Table 2) 0.3<(r31+r22)/(r31-r22)<2.6 (see Table 2) 80<2ω (see Table 2) where T112: the total thickness on the optical axis from an object-side lens surface of the first negative lens to an image-plane-side lens surface of the second negative lens, f: the focal length of the optical system, r22: the radius of curvature of the image-plane-side lens surface of the second negative lens, r31: the radius of curvature of an object-side lens surface of a lens disposed next to the second negative lens on the image plane side, 2ω: the total field angle of the optical system. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHANAEL R BRIGGS whose telephone number is (571)272-8992. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm. 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, Jennifer Carruth can be reached at (571)-272-9791. 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. /NATHANAEL R BRIGGS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871 5/26/2026 Application/Control Number: 18/889,330 Page 2 Art Unit: 2871 Application/Control Number: 18/889,330 Page 3 Art Unit: 2871 Application/Control Number: 18/889,330 Page 4 Art Unit: 2871 Application/Control Number: 18/889,330 Page 5 Art Unit: 2871 Application/Control Number: 18/889,330 Page 6 Art Unit: 2871 Application/Control Number: 18/889,330 Page 7 Art Unit: 2871 Application/Control Number: 18/889,330 Page 8 Art Unit: 2871
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Prosecution Timeline

Sep 18, 2024
Application Filed
Jun 01, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
76%
Grant Probability
88%
With Interview (+11.3%)
2y 7m (~7m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1098 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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