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 2/21/2025 and 02/26/2025 have been considered by the examiner.
Specification
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because the abstract exceeds 150 words. Also, the terms “i”, “fi”,“n”, “f”, “HFOV” need to be defined in the abstract. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory 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 nonstatutory 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 nonstatutory 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 nonstatutory 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.
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Claim 1 is rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 12,174,343 B1 in view of US 9, 250,422 B2 .
Instant Application 19/060416
U.S. Patent No. 12,174,343 B1
Considered Obvious
Claim 1. An imaging optical system wherein a number of lenses is four, an aperture stop is located closer to an image than a lens closest to an object and closer to the object than the lens closest to the image, a single aspheric lens in which radius of curvature of each of both surfaces is infinity in a paraxial region and which has a power of the third-order aberration region in a peripheral area is provided at a position that is not adjacent to the aperture stop, the lens closest to the object is a negative lens or the aspheric lens in which radius of curvature of each of both surfaces is infinity in the paraxial region and which has a power of the third-order aberration region in the peripheral area, at least one positive lens is located closer to the image than the aperture stop, the relationship
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92
313
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is satisfied where i represents a natural number, fi represents focal length of the i-th lens from the object side, f represents focal length of the whole system and n represents the number of the lenses, a bundle of rays that enters the imaging optical system and reaches the maximum image height and a bundle of rays that enters the imaging optical system and has the principal ray parallel to the optical axis do not intersect with each other within the lens closest to the object, and the relationship
400< HFOV < 800
is satisfied where HFOV represents angle that the principal ray of bundle of rays that enters the imaging optical system and reaches the maximum image height forms with the optical axis.
Claim 1. An imaging optical system wherein the number of lenses is three to seven, an aperture stop is located within the imaging optical system, one to four lenses each of which is an aspheric lens in which radius of curvature of each of both surfaces is infinity in the paraxial region and which has a power of the third-order aberration region in the peripheral area are provided, the first lens from the object side is a negative lens or an aspheric lens in which radius of curvature of each of both surfaces is infinity in the paraxial region and which has a negative power of the third-order aberration region in the peripheral area, the lens adjacent to the aperture stop on the image side is a positive lens, the relationship
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109
370
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is satisfied where i represents a natural number, fi represents focal length of the i- th lens from the object side, f represents focal length of the whole system and n represents the number of the lenses, a bundle of rays that enters the imaging optical system and reaches the maximum value of image height and a bundle of rays that enters the imaging optical system and has the principal ray parallel to the optical axis do not intersect with each other within the first lens from the object side, and the relationship
400< HFOV < 800
is satisfied where HFOV represents angle that the principal ray of bundle of rays that enters the imaging optical system and reaches the maximum value of image height forms with the optical axis.
,an aperture stop is located closer to an image than a lens closest to an object and closer to the object than the lens closest to the image; single aspheric lens not adjacent to the aperture stop
Claim 4. An imaging optical system wherein a number of lenses is three, each of the three lenses is referred to as a first lens, a second lens and a third lens from an object side, an aperture stop is located between the second lens and the third lens, a single aspheric lens in which radius of curvature of each of both surfaces is infinity in a paraxial region and which has a power of a third-order aberration region in a peripheral area is provided at a position that is not adjacent to the aperture stop, the first lens is the aspheric lens in which radius of curvature of each of both surfaces is infinity in the paraxial region and which has a power of the third-order aberration region in the peripheral area, the third lens is a positive lens, the relationship
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media_image2.png
109
370
media_image2.png
Greyscale
is satisfied where i represents a natural number, fi represents focal length of the i-th lens from the object side, f represents focal length of a whole system and n represents the number of the lenses, a bundle of rays that enters the imaging optical system and reaches a maximum image height and a bundle of rays that enters the imaging optical system and has a principal ray parallel to the optical axis do not intersect with each other within the first lens, and the relationship
400<HFOV <800
is satisfied where HFOV represents angle that the principal ray of bundle of rays that enters the imaging optical system and reaches the maximum image height forms with the optical axis.
U.S. Patent No. 12,174,343 B1 fails to teach an aperture stop is located closer to an image than a lens closest to an object and closer to the object than the lens closest to the image; single aspheric lens not adjacent to the aperture stop, In a related art, US 9, 250,422 B2
teaches an aperture stop (Fig. 26, AS) is located closer to an image than a lens (1) closest to an object and closer to the object than the lens (23) closest to the image; single aspheric lens (2) not adjacent to the aperture stop (AS).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill of the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the imaging optical system, as taught by U.S. Patent No. 12,174,343 B1, with the aperture stop is located closer to an image than a lens closest to an object and closer to the object than the lens closest to the image, as taught by US 9, 250,422 B2 for the purpose of providing a way of improving the aberration correction (Coll. 11, lines 37-38).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 1 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the double patenting rejection set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art fails to teach all of the limitations of independent claim 1 which includes the lens closest to the object is a negative lens or the aspheric lens in which radius of curvature of each of both surfaces is infinity in the paraxial region and which has a power of the third-order aberration region in the peripheral area.
Claims 2 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 fails to teach all of the limitations of claim 2 which includes wherein the lens that is adjacent to the aperture stop and located closer to the image than the aperture stop is a positive lens.
Claim 3 is allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art fails to teach all of the limitations of independent claim 3 which includes the lens closest to the object is a negative lens or the aspheric lens in which radius of curvature of each of both surfaces is infinity in the paraxial region and which has a power of the third-order aberration region in the peripheral area.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Liao et al. (US Patent Publication Number 2018/0003924 A1) considered the closet prior art discloses an imaging optical system wherein the number of lenses is four (Fig. 4A 410-440), an aperture stop is located closer to an image than a lens closest to an object and closer to the object than the lens closest to the image (Fig. 4A, 400 is between lenses 410 and 420), single aspheric lens (all four lenses 410, 420, 430, and 440 are aspheric, Table 9), the first lens from the object side is a negative lens (Fig. 4A, 4th embodiment, lens 410 is negative (-9.39) Table 9), the lens adjacent to the aperture stop on the image side is a positive lens (see Table 9),
the relationship.
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109
370
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(Table 9, expression calculated = 0.48) and the relationship 40°<HFOV<80° (Table 9, HFOV =57.0°) are satisfied.
Cho (US Patent Number 9,869,922 B2) teaches an optical imaging system wherein the number of lenses is four, an aperture stop is located closer to an image than a lens closest to an object and closer to the object than the lens closest to the image.
Gong (US Patent Publication Number 2017/0276906 A1) teaches an optical imaging system wherein the number of lenses is four an aperture stop is located closer to an image than a lens closest to an object and closer to the object than the lens closest to the image.
Taniyama (US Patent Publication Number 2008/0180813 A1) teaches an optical imaging system wherein the number of lenses is four.
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
16 September 2026
/SHARRIEF I BROOME/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872
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