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(s) 1, 2, 5, 11 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kaihotsu et al (US Patent 5661540).
Regarding claim 1, Kaihotsu et al teach (Figs. 1-19) A light-receiving lens array for forming an image of light from an object on a reading line extending in a main scanning direction, the light- receiving lens array comprising: a plurality of light-receiving lenses (6a) arrayed in the main scanning direction; and a pair of holding plates (6b and 6c) each extending along the main scanning direction and sandwiching the plurality of light-receiving lenses (see figure 6A) in a sub-scanning direction, wherein each of the light-receiving lenses has a first surface and a second surface abutting on the pair of holding plates.
Regarding claim 2, Kaihotsu et al teach (see at least figures 6) the first surface and the second surface of each of the light-receiving lenses are bonded to the pair of holding plates.
Regarding claim 5, Kaihotsu et al teach (Fig. 6A) an aperture member (12) having an opening through which light transmitted through the light-receiving lens passes, wherein a width of the aperture member in the sub-scanning direction coincides with an interval between the first surface and the second surface.
Regarding claim 11, Kaihotsu et al teach optical axes of the plurality of light-receiving lenses are all on an identical plane and parallel to each other.
Regarding claim 12, Kaihotsu et al teach (Fig. 10) the light-receiving lens array according to claim 1; and a plurality of light-receiving elements (1) that receive light transmitted through the plurality of light-receiving lenses.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 4, 6-10 and 13-16 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.
Conclusion
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/TONY KO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2878
TK
