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).
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 01/09/2025; 03/06/2026; 04/16/2026; 06/30/2026 have 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)(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.
(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.
Claims 1-3, 5 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Son (US Patent Publication Number 2019/0227282 A1).
Son teaches, as claimed in independent claim 1, an imaging lens system, comprising (Fig. 5), a first lens (310), a second lens (320), a third lens (330), a fourth lens (340), a fifth lens (350), a sixth lens (360), and a seventh lens (370) sequentially disposed from an object side toward an imaging plane, wherein a radius of curvature of an image-side surface (S2 in Table 5) of the first lens (310) is greater than a radius of curvature of an image-side surface (S10 in Table 5) of the fifth lens (350), wherein a radius of curvature of an object-side surface (S3 in Table 5) of the second lens (320) is greater than a radius of curvature of an image-side surface (S6 in Table 5) of the third lens (330), and wherein -4.0 < f2/f < -1.0 and 3.0 < f3/f < 6.0 (Table 5 and Table 7), where f is a focal length of the imaging lens system, f2 is a focal length of the second lens, and f3 is a focal length of the third lens.
Son teaches, as claimed in claim 2, wherein the first lens (310) comprises a convex object-side surface (¶0142 “a first surface of the first lens 310 may be convex in a paraxial region.”, see 310 Fig. 5).
Son teaches, as claimed in claim 3, wherein the second lens (320) comprises a convex object-side surface (¶0143 “a first surface of the second lens 320 may be convex in the paraxial region”, see 320 Fig. 5).
Son teaches, as claimed in claim 5, wherein the fourth lens (340) comprises a concave object-side surface (¶0149 “a first surface of the fourth lens 340 may be concave in a paraxial region” see 340 Fig. 5).
Son teaches, as claimed in claim 7, wherein the seventh lens comprises a concave image side surface (¶0155 “second surface of the seventh lens 370 may be concave in a paraxial region”).
Claims 8-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Jhang (US Patent Publication Number 2022/0163767 A1).
Jhang teaches, as claimed in independent claim 8, an imaging lens system (Fig. 6 and 8), comprising: a first lens (1), a second lens (2), a third lens (3), a fourth lens (4), a fifth lens (5), a sixth lens (6), and a seventh lens (7) sequentially disposed from an object side toward an imaging plane, wherein the third lens (3) comprises a convex image-side (35) surface in a paraxial region (¶0066 “An optical axis region 351 of the object-side surface 35 of the third lens element 3 is convex, and a periphery region 353 thereof is convex”) , wherein a radius of curvature of an image-side surface (image side surface 16 in Fig. 8) of the first lens (1) is greater than a radius of curvature of an object-side surface (object side surface 25 in Fig. 8) of the second lens (2), wherein a radius of curvature of the object-side surface (object side surface 25 in Fig. 8) of the second lens (2) is greater than a radius of curvature of an image-side surface (image side surface 35 In Fig 8) of the third lens (3), wherein a radius of curvature of an object-side surface (object side surface 55 in Fig. 8) of the fifth lens (5) is greater than a radius of curvature of the image-side surface image side surface 35 In Fig 8) of the third lens (3), and wherein -5.0 < f5/f < -1.0 (Fig. 8), where f is a focal length of the imaging lens system and f5 is a focal length of the fifth lens.
Jhang teaches, as claimed in claim 9, wherein the first lens (1) comprises a concave image-side surface (¶0064 “An optical axis region 162 of the image-side surface 16 of the first lens element 1 is concave, and a periphery region 164 thereof is concave”).
Jhang teaches, as claimed in claim 10, wherein the second lens (2) comprises a concave image-side surface. (¶0065 “An optical axis region 262 of the image-side surface 26 of the second lens element 2 is concave, and a periphery region 264 thereof is concave”).
Jhang teaches, as claimed in claim 11, wherein the sixth lens (6) comprises a convex object-side surface (¶0069 “An optical axis region 651 of the object-side surface 65 of the sixth lens element 6 is convex”).
Jhang teaches, as claimed in claim 12, wherein the seventh lens (7) comprises a concave image-side surface (¶0070 “An optical axis region 762 of the image-side surface 76 of the seventh lens element 7 is concave”).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 and 6 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 prior art fails to teach all of the limitations of claim 4, which includes wherein the third lens comprises a convex object-side surface.
The prior art fails to teach all of the limitations of claim 6, which includes wherein the sixth lens comprises a convex object-side surface.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Zhang (US Patent Publication Number 2021/0149166 A1) is considered the closet prior art teaches an imaging lens system, comprising (Fig. 5), a first lens (10), a second lens (20), a third lens (30), a fourth lens (40), a fifth lens (50), a sixth lens (60), and a seventh lens (70) sequentially disposed from an object side toward an imaging plane, wherein a radius of curvature of an image-side surface (12 in Fig. 28) of the first lens (10) is greater than a radius of curvature of an image-side surface (52 in Fig. 28) of the fifth lens (50), wherein a radius of curvature of an object-side surface (21 in Fig. 28) of the second lens (20) is greater than a radius of curvature of an image-side surface (32 in Fig. 28) of the third lens (30), and wherein 3.0 < f3/f < 6.0 (Fig. 28), wherein the third lens (30) comprises a convex object-side surface and wherein the sixth lens comprises a convex object-side surface.
Sun (US Patent Publication Number 2020/0409092 A1) teaches an imaging lens system, comprising, a first lens, a second lens, a third lens, a fourth lens, a fifth lens, a sixth lens, and a seventh lens.
Lai (US Patent Publication Number 2020/0003986 A1) teaches an imaging lens system, comprising, a first lens, a second lens, a third lens, a fourth lens, a fifth lens, a sixth lens, and a seventh lens.
Oinuma (US Patent Publication Number 2019/0187413 A1) teaches an imaging lens system, comprising, a first lens, a second lens, a third lens, a fourth lens, a fifth lens, a sixth lens, and a seventh lens.
Yamazaki (US Patent Publication Number 2020/0409062 A1) teaches an imaging lens system, comprising, a first lens, a second lens, a third lens, a fourth lens, a fifth lens, a sixth lens, and a seventh lens.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOURNEY F SUMLAR whose telephone number is (571)270-0656. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-4pm.
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JOURNEY F. SUMLAR
Examiner
Art Unit 2872
02 September 2026
/SHARRIEF I BROOME/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872
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