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
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on January 17, 2025 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.
Claims 1-13 and 15-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Wenren (U.S. Patent Publication 2019/0107690).
With regard to independent claim 1, Wenren teaches an optical imaging system (Figure 9) comprising: a first lens (Figure 9, element E1) having a positive refractive power (page 12, Table 15, f1 data), a convex object-side surface in a paraxial region thereof (page 11, Table 13, radius of curvature data for surface S1) and a concave image-side surface in the paraxial region thereof (page 11, Table 13, radius of curvature data for surface S2); a second lens (Figure 9, element E2) having a refractive power (page 12, Table 15, f2 data), a convex object-side surface in a paraxial region thereof (page 11, Table 13, radius of curvature data for surface S3) and a concave image-side surface in the paraxial region thereof (page 11, Table 13, radius of curvature data for surface S4); a third lens (Figure 9, element E3) having a refractive power (page 12, Table 15, f3 data); a fourth lens (Figure 9, element E4) having a refractive power (page 12, Table 15, f4 data), a convex object-side surface in a paraxial region thereof (page 11, Table 13, radius of data for surface S7), and a concave image-side surface in a paraxial region thereof (page 11, Table 13, radius of data for surface S8); a fifth lens (Figure 9, element E5) having a refractive power (page 12, Table 15, f5 data); a sixth lens (Figure 9, element E6) having a refractive power (page 12, Table 15, f6 data); a seventh lens (Figure 9, element E7) having a positive refractive power (page 12, Table 15, f7 data); and an eighth lens (Figure 9, element E8) having a negative refractive power (page 12, Table 15, f8 data), wherein the first to eighth lenses are sequentially arranged in ascending numerical order along the optical axis of the optical imaging system from an object side of the optical imaging system toward an imaging plane of the optical imaging system (Figure 9), the optical imaging system has a total of eight lenses (Figure 9), -0.5 < (|Ri|-|Rj|)/(|Ri|+|Rj|) < 0.5 is satisfied, where Ri is a radius of curvature of the object-side surface of the seventh lens, and Rj is a radius of curvature of the image-side surface of the seventh lens (page 11, Table 13, radius of curvature data for surfaces S13 and S14, wherein Ri = 8.0768, Rj = 8.3277 and (|Ri|-|Rj|)/(|Ri|+|Rj|) = -0.02), and 1.64 < Nmax ≤ 1.75 is satisfied, wherein Nmax is a largest refractive index among a refractive index of the second lens, a refractive index of the third lens, and a refractive index of the fourth lens (page 11, Table 13, refractive index data, wherein N2 = 1.55; N3 = 1.55; and N4 = Nmax = 1.67).
With regard to dependent claim 2, Wenren teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to independent claim 1, and further teaches such an optical imaging system wherein f14 > f is satisfied, where f14 is a synthesized focal distance of the first to fourth lenses, and f is an overall focal length of the optical imaging system (page 11, Table 13 and page 12, Table 15, wherein f = 4.07 and f14 = 5.92 (calculated, using the formula f = f1f2/(f1+f2-d12)).
With regard to dependent claim 3, Wenren teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to independent claim 1, and further teaches such an optical imaging system wherein TTL/IMGHT < 2.0 is satisfied, where TTL is a distance from the object-side surface of the first lens to an imaging plane, and IMGHT is a half of a diagonal length of the imaging plane (Figure 10C and page 12, Table 15, TTL data, wherein IMGHT = 3.5; TTL = 5.52; and TTL/IMGHT = 1.58).
With regard to dependent claim 4, Wenren teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to independent claim 1, and further teaches such an optical imaging system wherein FOV ≥ 70° is satisfied, where FOV is a viewing angle of the optical imaging system (page 12, Table 15, HFOV data, wherein FOV = (2)HFOV = 78.2°).
With regard to dependent claim 5, Wenren teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to independent claim 1, and further teaches such an optical imaging system wherein 1.64 < Nmax < 1.75 is satisfied, where Nmax is a largest refractive index among a refractive index of the second lens, a refractive index of the third lens, and a refractive index of the fourth lens (page 11, Table 13, refractive index data for lens 4, wherein Nmax = 1.67).
With regard to dependent claim 6, Wenren teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to independent claim 1, and further teaches such an optical imaging system wherein 0.8 < |Ri/Rj| ≤ 1.2 (page 11, Table 13, radius of curvature data for surfaces S13 and S14, wherein Ri = 8.0768, Rj = 8.3277 and |Ri/Rj| = 0.97)
With regard to dependent claim 7, Wenren teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to independent claim 1, and further teaches such an optical imaging system wherein 4.0 mm < f < 4.5 mm is satisfied, wherein f is an overall focal length of the optical imaging system (page 12, Table 15, wherein f = 4.07 mm).
With regard to dependent claim 8, Wenren teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to independent claim 1, and further teaches such an optical imaging system wherein the third lens has positive refractive power (page 12, Table 15, f3 data, wherein f3 = 3.57 mm).
With regard to dependent claim 9, Wenren teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to independent claim 1, and further teaches such an optical imaging system wherein the third lens has a convex object-side surface in a paraxial region thereof (page 11, Table 13, radius of curvature data for surface S5).
With regard to dependent claim 10, Wenren teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to independent claim 1, and further teaches such an optical imaging system wherein the fourth lens has a negative refractive power (page 12, Table 15, f4 data, wherein f4 = -7.65 mm).
With regard to dependent claim 11, Wenren teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to independent claim 1, and further teaches such an optical imaging system wherein the fifth lens has a convex object-side surface in a paraxial region thereof (page 11, Table 13, radius of curvature data for surface S9).
With regard to dependent claim 12, Wenren teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to dependent claim 11, and further teaches such an optical imaging system wherein the fifth lens has a concave image-side surface in a paraxial region thereof (page 11, Table 13, radius of curvature data for surface S10).
With regard to dependent claim 13, Wenren teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to independent claim 1, and further teaches such an optical imaging system wherein the fifth lens has a negative refractive power (page 12, Table 15, f5 data, wherein f5 = -104.91 mm).
With regard to dependent claim 15, Wenren teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to independent claim 1, and further teaches such an optical imaging system wherein the sixth lens has a concave object-side surface in a paraxial region thereof (page 11, Table 13, radius of curvature data for surface S11).
With regard to dependent claim 16, Wenren teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to independent claim 1, and further teaches such an optical imaging system wherein the eighth lens has a concave image-side surface in a paraxial region thereof (page 11, Table 13, radius of curvature data for surface S16).
With regard to dependent claim 17, Wenren teaches all of the claimed limitations of the instant invention as outlined above with respect to independent claim 1, and further teaches such an optical imaging system wherein the eighth lens has a convex object-side surface in a paraxial region thereof (page 11, Table 13, radius of curvature data for surface S15).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 14 is 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 a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art taken either singularly or in combination fails to anticipate or fairly suggest the limitations of the independent claims, in such a manner that a rejection under 35 U.S.C. §102 or §103 would be proper. Although Wenren (U.S. Patent Publication 2019/0107690) teaches and optical imaging system as outlined above with respect to independent claim 1, Wenren fails to teach such an optical imaging system wherein the sixth lens has a concave object-side surface in a paraxial region thereof, as claimed in dependent claim 14.
Conclusion
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
05 October 2026
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