DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
2. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of documents required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
3. The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 05/19/2025 and 10/31/2024 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and were considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Claims 7-10 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wang et al. (US-PGPUB 2018/0352129).
Regarding claim 7, Wang discloses a camera module (see fig. 1), comprising:
an image sensor (Sensor 2P is a photosensitive chip; see fig. 1 and paragraph 0005);
a circuit board on which the image sensor is mounted (The sensor 2P is installed on the circuit board 1P; see fig. 1 and paragraphs 0005, 0007);
an optical filter disposed on the image sensor (Optical filter 4P; see fig. 1 and paragraph 0005); and
a sub-housing configured to support the optical filter (Optical filter 4P is installed on the holder 3P; see fig. 1 and paragraph 0005),
wherein a protrusion is disposed on an inner surface of the sub-housing, and the protrusion is spaced apart from a surface of the sub-housing that faces the circuit board (See protrusion of holder 3P below optical filter 4P and at a distance and above the lower surface of holder 3P that faces circuit board 1P; see fig. 1 and paragraphs 0005, 0009 and diagram 1 below).
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Regarding claim 8, Wang discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 7). In addition, Wang discloses the image sensor is connected to the circuit board by a bonding wire (Sensor 2P is electrically connected with the circuit board 1P with conductive elements such as gold wires 8P for data transmission between the sensor 2P and the circuit board 1P; see fig. 1 and paragraph 0007), and the protrusion is disposed around at least a portion of a region where the bonding wire is disposed (The protrusion of holder 3P is located above the bonding wires 8P; see fig. 1, paragraph 0007 and diagram 1 above).
Regarding claim 9, Wang discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 7). In addition, Wang discloses a bonding layer disposed between the sub-housing and the circuit board (Holder 3P is adhered on the circuit board 1P with adhesive material, such as glue; see fig. 1 and paragraph 0010), wherein a portion of an adhesive material constituting the bonding layer is accommodated at a lower portion of the protrusion (The adhesive is located below the protrusion, at the lower surface of holder 3P; see fig. 1).
Regarding claim 10, Wang discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 7). In addition, Wang discloses the protrusion comprises: a first protrusion that is spaced apart by a first distance from the surface of the sub-housing that faces the circuit board (The upper part of holder 3P that has protrusions facing motor 5P; see fig. 1 and paragraph 0005), and a second protrusion that is spaced apart by a second distance from the surface of the sub-housing that faces the circuit board (The protrusion of holder 3P that seats below the optical filter 4P; see fig. 1, paragraph 0005 and Diagram 2 below ).
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Regarding claim 12, Wang discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 7). In addition, Wang discloses the sub-housing comprises a hollow upper surface portion (The upper part of holder 3P that faces motor 5P; see fig. 1 and paragraph 0005), and a base portion that extends downward from an edge of the upper surface portion and is coupled to the circuit board, and the protrusion is disposed on an inner surface of the base portion (The lower part of holder 3P including the protrusion below optical filter 4P and the part of holder part 3P that is connected to circuit board 1P; see fig. 1 and paragraph 0005).
7. Claims 7-10 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kamada (US-PGPUB 2012/0257075).
Regarding claim 7, Kamada discloses a camera module (see fig. 1), comprising:
an image sensor (Solid-state imaging device 10; see fig. 1 and paragraph 0048);
a circuit board on which the image sensor is mounted (The solid-state imaging device 10 is mounted on the substrate 20; see fig. 1 and paragraph 0048);
an optical filter disposed on the image sensor (IR cutoff filter 62; see fig. 1 and paragraph 0056); and
a sub-housing configured to support the optical filter (The part of frame member 50 below lenses 61. Filter 62 bonded and fixed to the frame member 50; see fig. 1 and paragraph 0056),
wherein a protrusion is disposed on an inner surface of the sub-housing, and the protrusion is spaced apart from a surface of the sub-housing that faces the circuit board (See protrusion of frame member 50 below filter 62, near leg 52 and at a distance and above the lower surface of frame 50 that faces substrate 20; see fig. 1 and paragraph 0056 and diagram 3 below).
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Regarding claim 8, Kamada discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 7). In addition, Kamada discloses the image sensor is connected to the circuit board by a bonding wire (The sensor unit 1 is formed by electrically connecting the pads 15 on the solid-state imaging device 10 to the lead islands 25 on the substrate 20 with the bonding wires 30; see fig. 1 and paragraph 0051), and the protrusion is disposed around at least a portion of a region where the bonding wire is disposed (The protrusion of frame 50 is provided near wires 30; see fig. 1, paragraph 0051 and diagram 3 above).
Regarding claim 9, Kamada discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 7). In addition, Kamada discloses a bonding layer disposed between the sub-housing and the circuit board (Leg portion 52 of frame 50 is bonded and fixed to the portion of the substrate 20 that is outside the lead island formation region 25A with an adhesive 57; see fig. 1 and paragraph 0061), wherein a portion of an adhesive material constituting the bonding layer is accommodated at a lower portion of the protrusion (The adhesive 57 is located below the protrusion, at the lower surfaces of frame 50; see fig. 1 and diagram 3 above).
Regarding claim 10, Kamada discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 7). In addition, Kamada discloses the protrusion comprises: a first protrusion that is spaced apart by a first distance from the surface of the sub-housing that faces the circuit board (The protrusion of frame 50 that is below filter 62; see fig. 1), and a second protrusion that is spaced apart by a second distance from the surface of the sub-housing that faces the circuit board (The protrusion of frame 50 near leg 52; see fig. 1, paragraph 0005 and Diagram 4 below ).
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Regarding claim 12, Kamada discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 7). In addition, Kamada discloses the sub-housing comprises a hollow upper surface portion (The upper part of frame 50 that receives lenses 61; see fig. 1 and paragraph 0054), and a base portion that extends downward from an edge of the upper surface portion and is coupled to the circuit board, and the protrusion is disposed on an inner surface of the base portion (The lower part of frame 50 including the protrusion near leg 52; see fig. 1 and diagram 3 above).
Allowable Subject Matter – Part I
7. Claim 11 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Regarding claim 11, the specific limitation of “a groove portion is further disposed on the inner surface of the sub-housing, and the groove portion is spaced further apart from the surface of the sub-housing that faces the circuit board than the protrusion” in the combination as claimed is neither anticipated nor made obvious over the prior art made of record.
Allowable Subject Matter – Part II
8. Claims 1-6 are allowed.
9. The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
10. Regarding claim 1, the prior art does not teach or fairly suggest “…module, comprising: a lens module comprising at least one lens; an image sensor module comprising an image sensor disposed below the lens module, and a circuit board on which the image sensor is mounted; and an optical filter module comprising an optical filter, and a sub-housing configured to support the optical filter, and disposed between the lens module and the image sensor module, wherein a groove portion is disposed on an inner surface of the sub-housing, and the groove portion is spaced apart from a surface of the sub-housing that faces the circuit board…” and used in combination with all of the other limitations of claim 1.
11. Claims 2-6 depend on allowable claim 1. Therefore, the dependent claims are also held allowable.
Citation of Pertinent Art
12. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
Lee (US-PGPUB 2023/0121510) discloses sub-housing 310 include a mounting recess 311, and the IR cut-off filter 350 is coupled to the mounting recess 311.The substrate 320 includes an accommodation portion 323, a step portion 321, and a protrusion portion 325.
Contact Information
13. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CYNTHIA CALDERON whose telephone number is (571)270-3580. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 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, TWYLER HASKINS can be reached at (571)272-7406. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CYNTHIA CALDERON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2639 03/19/2026
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