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 .
This communication is in response to amendment received on 06/25/2026.
Claims 1 – 20 are presented for examination.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 06/25/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant’s argument “The rejection is respectfully traversed. Nevertheless, and in order to advance the claims to speedy allowance, Applicant files herewith an eTerminal Disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321 (d) and signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b). ”. Examiner respectfully notes that the eTerminal Disclaimer has not been submitted.
Double Patenting
The no statutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A no statutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on no statutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a no statutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1 – 20 are rejected on the ground of no statutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims (1, 12, 13), 2, 3 4,11, 7,8,16 – 20, 22, 23, 26, 3, 14, 15, 28 and 29 respectively of U.S. Patent No. 11,693,064. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims 1 - 20 in the instant application define an invention that is merely an obvious variation of an invention claimed in the U.S. Patent No. 11,693,064.
18/950,238
1. A system, comprising: a voice coil motor (VCM) comprising a magnet-coil arrangement for providing a relative movement therebetween to obtain a relative position; a Hall sensor located within the coil for sensing the relative movement; a temperature sensor located in proximity of the Hall sensor for providing temperature sensing; and a controller having two or more channels coupled to the VCM, to the Hall sensor and to the temperature sensor and configured to control the relative movement between the magnet and the coil of the VCM and to provide, based on the temperature sensing, a temperature correction input to the Hall sensor for compensating a temperature effect on the Hall sensor sensing of the relative movement, wherein the Hall sensor includes a Hall sensor input and a Hall sensor output and wherein the controller channels include an interface for operative coupling to the Hall sensor input and output, wherein the controller channels interface includes a first Hall sensor channel comprising a first current module coupled to the Hall sensor input and a first voltage sense module coupled to the Hall sensor output and sensing the Hall output voltage, and a second Hall sensor channel comprising a second current module coupled to the temperature sensor and a second voltage sense module coupled to the temperature sensor and sensing the temperature sensor output voltage correlated with the temperature, and wherein the second current module coupled to the temperature sensor and the second voltage sense module coupled to the temperature sensor are electrically coupled together.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is coupled to the temperature sensor through existing unused controller channels.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the temperature sensor is located within the coil.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the temperature sensor is a semiconductor diode.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein the temperature sensor is a thermistor.
6. The system of claim 1, including at least one additional temperature sensor to form a plurality of temperature sensors.
7. The system of claim 6, wherein the temperature correction is based on temperature sensing of at least two of the plurality of temperature sensors.
8. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller has two channels.
9.The system of claim 1, wherein the controller has three channels.
10. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller has four or more channels.
11. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller has a built-in Hall signal processing circuit.
12. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller has an area smaller than 25mm².
13. The system of claim 1, the controller has an area smaller than 15mm².
14. The system of claim 1, wherein the Hall sensor and the temperature sensor are thermally- coupled.
15. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is integrated into another electronic component.
16. The system of claim 2, wherein the temperature sensor is positioned in proximity to the Hall sensor within the coil.
17. The system of claim 2, including at least one additional temperature sensor to form a plurality of temperature sensors.
18.The system of claim 17, wherein the temperature correction is based on temperature sensing of at least two of the plurality of temperature sensors.
19. A mobile device comprising the system of claim 1.
20. The mobile device of claim 19, wherein the mobile device is a smartphone.
11,693,064
1. A system, comprising: a voice coil motor (VCM) comprising a magnet-coil arrangement for providing a relative movement therebetween to obtain a relative position; a Hall sensor located within the coil for sensing the relative movement; a temperature sensor located in proximity of the Hall sensor for providing temperature sensing; and a controller having two or more channels coupled to the VCM, to the Hall sensor and to the temperature sensor and configured to control the relative movement between the magnet and the coil of the VCM and to provide, based on the temperature sensing, a temperature correction input to the Hall sensor for compensating a temperature effect on the Hall sensor sensing of the relative movement.
12. The system of claim 1, wherein the Hall sensor includes a Hall sensor input and a Hall sensor output and wherein the controller channels include an interface for operative coupling to the Hall sensor input and output.
13. The system of claim 12, wherein the controller channels interface includes a first Hall sensor channel comprising a first current module coupled to the Hall sensor input and a first voltage sense module coupled to the Hall sensor output and sensing the Hall output voltage, and a second Hall sensor channel comprising a second current module coupled to the temperature sensor and a second voltage sense module coupled to the temperature sensor and sensing the temperature sensor output voltage correlated with the temperature.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is coupled to the temperature sensor through existing unused controller channels.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the temperature sensor is positioned in proximity to the Hall sensor within a coil.
4. The system of claim 2, wherein the temperature sensor is a semiconductor diode or a thermistor.
11. The system of claim 1, wherein the temperature sensor is a thermistor.
7. The system of claim 2, including at least one additional temperature sensor to form a plurality of temperature sensors.
8. The system of claim 7, wherein the temperature correction is based on temperature sensing of at least two of the plurality of temperature sensors.
16. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller has two channels.
17. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller has three channels.
18. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller has four or more channels.
19. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller has a built-in Hall signal processing circuit.
20. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller has an area smaller than 25 mm.sup.2.
22. The system of claim 1, the controller has an area smaller than 15 mm.sup.2.
23. The system of claim 1, wherein the Hall sensor and the temperature sensor are thermally-coupled.
26. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is integrated into another electronic component.
3. The system of claim 2, wherein the temperature sensor is positioned in proximity to the Hall sensor within the coil.
14. The system of claim 1, including at least one additional temperature sensor to form a plurality of temperature sensors.
15. The system of claim 14, wherein the temperature correction is based on temperature sensing of at least two of the plurality of temperature sensors.
28. A mobile device comprising the system of claim 1.
29. The mobile device of claim 28, wherein the mobile device is a smartphone.
18/950,238
1. A system, comprising: a voice coil motor (VCM) comprising a magnet-coil arrangement for providing a relative movement therebetween to obtain a relative position; a Hall sensor located within the coil for sensing the relative movement; a temperature sensor located in proximity of the Hall sensor for providing temperature sensing; and a controller having two or more channels coupled to the VCM, to the Hall sensor and to the temperature sensor and configured to control the relative movement between the magnet and the coil of the VCM and to provide, based on the temperature sensing, a temperature correction input to the Hall sensor for compensating a temperature effect on the Hall sensor sensing of the relative movement, wherein the Hall sensor includes a Hall sensor input and a Hall sensor output and wherein the controller channels include an interface for operative coupling to the Hall sensor input and output, wherein the controller channels interface includes a first Hall sensor channel comprising a first current module coupled to the Hall sensor input and a first voltage sense module coupled to the Hall sensor output and sensing the Hall output voltage, and a second Hall sensor channel comprising a second current module coupled to the temperature sensor and a second voltage sense module coupled to the temperature sensor and sensing the temperature sensor output voltage correlated with the temperature, and wherein the second current module coupled to the temperature sensor and the second voltage sense module coupled to the temperature sensor are electrically coupled together.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is coupled to the temperature sensor through existing unused controller channels.
8. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller has two channels.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the temperature sensor is located within the coil.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the temperature sensor is a semiconductor diode.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein the temperature sensor is a thermistor.
6. The system of claim 1, including at least one additional temperature sensor to form a plurality of temperature sensors.
7. The system of claim 6, wherein the temperature correction is based on temperature sensing of at least two of the plurality of temperature sensors.
9.The system of claim 1, wherein the controller has three channels.
10. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller has four or more channels.
11. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller has a built-in Hall signal processing circuit.
12. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller has an area smaller than 25mm².
13. The system of claim 1, the controller has an area smaller than 15mm².
14. The system of claim 1, wherein the Hall sensor and the temperature sensor are thermally- coupled.
15. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is integrated into another electronic component.
16. The system of claim 2, wherein the temperature sensor is positioned in proximity to the Hall sensor within the coil.
17. The system of claim 2, including at least one additional temperature sensor to form a plurality of temperature sensors.
18.The system of claim 17, wherein the temperature correction is based on temperature sensing of at least two of the plurality of temperature sensors.
19. A mobile device comprising the system of claim 1.
20. The mobile device of claim 19, wherein the mobile device is a smartphone.
12,174,272
1. A camera actuator, comprising: a magnet-coil arrangement for providing a relative movement between a magnet and a coil to obtain a relative position; a Hall sensor located within the coil for sensing the relative movement; a temperature sensor located in proximity of the Hall sensor for providing temperature sensing; and a camera actuator controller coupled to the Hall sensor and having a plurality of sensor channels, each sensor channel comprising a voltage sense module and a current module, wherein the camera actuator controller and the temperature sensor are operationally coupled through an unused sensor channel, wherein the camera actuator controller is configured to control the relative movement by controlling a current flow through the coil, and to provide, based on the temperature sensing, a temperature correction input to the Hall sensor for compensating a temperature effect on the Hall sensor sensing, and wherein the voltage sense module and the current module in the unused sensor channel are electrically coupled together.
5. The camera actuator of claim 1, wherein the magnet-coil arrangement is included in a voice coil-motor.
2. The camera actuator of claim 1, wherein the temperature sensor and the Hall sensor are located within the coil.
3. The camera actuator of claim 1, wherein the temperature sensor is a semiconductor diode.
4. The camera actuator of claim 1, wherein the temperature sensor is a thermistor.
7. The camera actuator of claim 1, including at least one additional temperature sensor to form a plurality of temperature sensors.
8. The camera actuator of claim 7, wherein the temperature correction is based on temperature sensing of at least two of the plurality of temperature sensors.
9. The camera actuator of claim 1, wherein the camera actuator controller has three channels.
10. The camera actuator of claim 1, wherein the camera actuator controller has four or more channels.
11. The camera actuator of claim 1, wherein the camera actuator controller has a built-in Hall signal processing circuit.
12. The camera actuator of claim 1, wherein the camera actuator controller has an area smaller than 25 mm.sup.2.
14. The camera actuator of claim 1, wherein the camera actuator controller has an area smaller than 15 mm.sup.2.
15. The camera actuator of claim 1, wherein the Hall sensor and the temperature sensor are thermally-coupled.
17. The camera actuator of claim 1, wherein the camera actuator controller is integrated into another electronic component.
2. The camera actuator of claim 1, wherein the temperature sensor and the Hall sensor are located within the coil.
7. The camera actuator of claim 1, including at least one additional temperature sensor to form a plurality of temperature sensors.
8. The camera actuator of claim 7, wherein the temperature correction is based on temperature sensing of at least two of the plurality of temperature sensors.
18. The mobile device comprising the camera actuator of claim 1.
19. The mobile device of claim 18, wherein the mobile device is a smartphone.
Claims 1 – 20 are rejected on the ground of no statutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims (1,5), 1, 2, 3,4, 7 – 8, 1, 9 – 12, 14, 15, 17, 2, 7, 8, 18 and 19 respectively of U.S. Patent No. 12,174,272. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims 1 - 20 in the instant application define an invention that is merely an obvious variation of an invention claimed in the U.S. Patent No. 12,174,272.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to REENA AURORA whose telephone number is (571)272-2263. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 8:00AM-5:00PM.
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/REENA AURORA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2858
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