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 statements (IDS) submitted on 4/29/2025 and 6/12/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being 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.
Claims 1 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lee US 2015/0277000.
Re claim 1, Lee discloses a dome camera (200) with an infrared (IR) diffuse reflection prevention function, comprising: a lens module (camera module 210 includes a lens); a plurality of IR light-emitting diodes (220) which are installed to be spaced apart from each other around an outer circumference of the lens module (210) and emit IR light; a housing (camera module 210 includes a body/housing – figures 3A,3B) in which the lens module (210) is accommodated and mounted and which protects the lens module from an outside; a dome cover (230) mounted to protrude from a front surface of the housing and formed of a transparent material not to block a field of view of the lens module (210) accommodated and mounted in the housing (figures 3A, 3B; paragraphs 45-46); and an IR diffuse reflection prevention bushing (250) which prevents the IR light emitted by the IR light-emitting diodes (220) and diffusely reflected on an inner circumference of the dome cover (230) from being incident on the lens module (210), wherein a front side (top side of IR shielding means 250) of the IR diffuse reflection prevention bushing (250) is in close contact with the inner circumference of the dome cover (230), and a rear side (bottom side of IR shielding means 250) of the IR diffuse reflection prevention bushing (250) is inserted and mounted between the lens module (210) and the IR light-emitting diodes (220)(figures 3A,3B; paragraphs 47-48).
Re claim 3, Lee further discloses that the IR diffuse reflection prevention bushing (250) includes a step which is formed on the rear side (bottom) of the IR diffuse reflection bushing (250) inserted and mounted between the lens module (210) and the IR light emitting diodes (220) and prevents the IR diffuse reflection prevention bushing (250) from being separate from the lens module (210) (IR shielding means 250 includes protrusions 252 along the domed cover so the shielding means is firmly combined with the domed cover) (figure 7; paragraph 55).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 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:
Re claim 2, the prior art fails to teach or suggest, a dome camera with an infrared (IR) diffuse reflection prevention function having the specific configurations disclosed in claim 2, wherein the dome camera with an infrared (IR) diffuse reflection prevention function comprises: a lens module; a plurality of IR light-emitting diodes which are installed to be spaced apart from each other around an outer circumference of the lens module and emit IR light; a housing in which the lens module is accommodated and mounted and which protects the lens module from an outside; a dome cover mounted to protrude from a front surface of the housing and formed of a transparent material not to block a field of view of the lens module accommodated and mounted in the housing; and an IR diffuse reflection prevention bushing which prevents the IR light emitted by the IR light-emitting diodes and diffusely reflected on an inner circumference of the dome cover from being incident on the lens module, wherein a front side of the IR diffuse reflection prevention bushing is in close contact with the inner circumference of the dome cover, and a rear side of the IR diffuse reflection prevention bushing is inserted and mounted between the lens module and the IR light-emitting diodes, wherein the front side of the IR diffuse reflection prevention bushing in close contact with the inner circumference of the dome cover is coated with urethane to reduce a frictional force between the inner circumference of the dome cover and the front side of the IR diffuse reflection prevention bushing so that a surveillance direction of the lens module is prevented from being changed when the dome cover is mounted. The prior art fails to specifically disclose a dome camera with an infrared (IR) diffuse reflection prevention function including a lens module, a plurality of IR light-emitting diodes, a dome cover and an IR diffuse reflection prevention bushing configured and arranged in the exact configuration disclosed in the specification and the claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
KR 20100008194 discloses a dome-type camera including an infrared anti-diffuse reflection function.
Yoo et al. US 11,050,907 discloses a dome surveillance camera including an infrared hood that prevents infrared light from being reflected.
Urano et al. US 2016/0255251 discloses a dome camera including a ring-shaped light shield cover.
Contacts
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Kelly L. Jerabek whose telephone number is (571) 272-7312. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday (8:00 AM - 5:00 PM).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, George Eng can be reached at (571) 272-7495. The fax phone number for submitting all Official communications is (571) 273-7300. The fax phone number for submitting informal communications such as drafts, proposed amendments, etc., may be faxed directly to the Examiner at (571) 273-7312.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice .
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
/KELLY L JERABEK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2699
