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
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application Number 15/161,235, filed on May 21, 2016.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on November 7, 2024 has been considered by the examiner.
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)(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.
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Noda (U.S. Patent Publication 2015/0378139).
With regard to independent claim 18, Noda teaches a zoom lens (page 1, paragraph [0002] and Figure 3) comprising, in order from an object, a first lens group (Figure 3, element G1) having a negative refractive power (page 2, paragraph [0047], line 2), a second lens group (Figure 3, element G2) having a positive refractive power (page 2, paragraph [0047], lines 3-42), a third lens group (Figure 3, element G3) having a negative refractive power (page 2, paragraph [0047], lines 4-5), and a fourth lens group (Figure 3, element G4) having a positive refractive power (page 2, paragraph [0047], lines 5-6), the first lens group, the second lens group, the third lens group, and the fourth lens group moving on an optical axis so that zooming is performed by changing respective distances between the first lens group and the second lens group, the second lens group and the third lens group, and the third lens group and the fourth lens group (page 2, paragraph [0047], lines 7-13),the first lens group comprising a negative lens disposed closest to the object, a negative lens, and a positive lens (page 3, paragraph [0053], lines 1-5 and Figure 3, element L11, L12 and L13, respectively), the third lens group consisting of one negative lens (page 4, paragraph [0062], lines 1-3 and Figure 3, element L31),the fourth lens group consisting of one lens (page 4, paragraph [0066], lines 1-3 and Figure 3, element L41), and the following conditional expressions being satisfied: 0.30 < D3W/D3T < 1.10 (page 7, Table 11, wherein D3W = DD[16] (wide Angle) = 2.622; D3T = DD[16] (Telephoto) = 5.623; and D3W/D3T = 0.47) and 2.30 < f4/fw < 8.00 (page 7, Tables 9 and 10, wherein f4 = 13.18 (calculated); fw = 3.67; and f4/fw = 3.59) where D3W denotes an air interval between the third lens group and the fourth lens group in a wide-angle end state, D3T denotes an air interval between the third lens group and the fourth lens group in a telephoto end state, f4 denotes a focal length of the fourth lens group, and fw denotes a focal length of the zoom lens in the wide-angle end state.
Double Patenting
A rejection based on double patenting of the “same invention” type finds its support in the language of 35 U.S.C. 101 which states that “whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process... may obtain a patent therefor...” (Emphasis added). Thus, the term “same invention,” in this context, means an invention drawn to identical subject matter. See Miller v. Eagle Mfg. Co., 151 U.S. 186 (1894); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Ockert, 245 F.2d 467, 114 USPQ 330 (CCPA 1957).
A statutory type (35 U.S.C. 101) double patenting rejection can be overcome by canceling or amending the claims that are directed to the same invention so they are no longer coextensive in scope. The filing of a terminal disclaimer cannot overcome a double patenting rejection based upon 35 U.S.C. 101.
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 as claiming the same invention as that of claim 1 (see claim analysis below) of prior U.S. Patent Number 10,551,601. This is a statutory double patenting rejection.
U.S. Patent Application 18/940650
U.S. Patent Number 10,551,601
Claim 18
A zoom lens comprising, in order from an object,
a first lens group having a negative refractive power,
a second lens group having a positive refractive power,
a third lens group having a negative refractive power,
and a fourth lens group having a positive refractive power,
the first lens group, the second lens group, the third lens group, and the fourth lens group moving on an optical axis so that zooming is performed by changing respective distances between the first lens group and the second lens group, the second lens group and the third lens group, and the third lens group and the fourth lens group,
the first lens group comprising a negative lens disposed closest to the object, a negative lens, and a positive lens,
the third lens group consisting of one negative lens,
the fourth lens group consisting of one lens, and the following conditional expressions being satisfied:
0.30 < D3W/D3T < 1.10
2.30 < f4/fw < 8.00
where D3W denotes an air interval between the third lens group and the fourth lens group in a wide-angle end state, D3T denotes an air interval between the third lens group and the fourth lens group in a telephoto end state, f4 denotes a focal length of the fourth lens group, and fw denotes a focal length of the zoom lens in the wide- angle end state.
Claim 1
A zoom lens comprising, in order from an object,
a first lens group having a negative refractive power,
a second lens group having a positive refractive power,
a third lens group having a negative refractive power,
and a fourth lens group having a positive refractive power,
the first lens group, the second lens group, the third lens group, and the fourth lens group moving on an optical axis so that zooming is performed by changing respective distances between the first lens group and the second lens group, the second lens group and the third lens group, and the third lens group and the fourth lens group,
the first lens group comprising a negative lens disposed closest to the object, a negative lens, and a positive lens,
the third lens group consisting of one negative lens,
the fourth lens group consisting of one lens, and the following conditional expressions being satisfied:
0.30<D3W/D3T<1.10
2.30<f4/fw<8.00
where D3W denotes an air interval between the third lens group and the fourth lens group in a wide-angle end state, D3T denotes an air interval between the third lens group and the fourth lens group in a telephoto end state, f4 denotes a focal length of the fourth lens group, and fw denotes a focal length of the zoom lens in the wide-angle end state.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Kawamura et al (U.S. Patent Publication 2014/0375870), Hagiwara (U.S. Patent Publication 2015/0070520), Kai et al (U.S. Patent Publication 2015/0097989), Ichikawa et al (U.S. Patent Publication 2015/0237266), Izuhara et al (U.S. Patent Publication 2015/0281588) and Kawamura et al (U.S. Patent Publication 2016/0004054) all teach zoom lens systems comprising four lens groups.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DARRYL J COLLINS whose telephone number is (571) 272-2325. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 5:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
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/DARRYL J COLLINS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872
03 August 2026
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