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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017/0212409 to Kim (“Kim”).
Regarding claim 1, Kim teaches a driving mechanism for moving an optical element, comprising:
a fixed part (reference number 130, see Figure 2);
a movable part, movably connected to the fixed part for holding the optical element (reference number 110 is a movable part that holds the lens body tube 120, see paragraph [0033]); and
a driving assembly, configured for moving the movable part relative to the fixed part (the driving assembly is made up of coils and magnets to generate a driving force on the moving part 110, see paragraph [0059]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-20 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.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: with regard to claim 2, Kim (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017/0212409) teaches “a substrate and a circuit board, wherein the fixed part includes a base and a housing connected to each other, the substrate is affixed to the base, the circuit board is affixed in a cavity of the substrate, and the driving assembly includes a first magnetic element disposed on the movable part and a first coil disposed on the substrate…” See Figure 2 showing the substrate, reference number 174, the coil 173, and a circuit board 175 within a cavity. However, Kim does not teach the above with, “…wherein the circuit board and the first coil are disposed on opposite sides of the substrate,” and rather has both the circuit board and coil on the same side of the substrate.
Further in the prior art, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0147271 to Zhao et al. describes a similar driving mechanism as the instant claims recite, with similar structure and moving parts. However, Zhao also does not teach the quoted portion above.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0244621 to Sue teach a set of coils on an opposite (back) side of a substrate as compared with the circuitry including image sensor on another (front) side of the substrate, however it moving and magnetic structure differs from what is claimed.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AMY R HSU whose telephone number is (571)270-3012. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Lin Ye can be reached at (571)272-7372. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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AMY R. HSU
Examiner
Art Unit 2664
/AMY R HSU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2638