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) was filed with the application on 6/4/2025. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1, 15, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kwon (US Patent Pub. # 2021/0286193) in view of Im (US Patent Pub. # 2023/0239560).
As to claim 1, Kwon discloses a reflective module (reflection module 1100) comprising:
a housing (cover 1030) having an internal space (first space 1080) (Para 140 and 148);
a rotation guide (reflection module 1100) disposed in the internal space (1080) and configured to rotate about a first axis (second axis A2 (an axis parallel to the Y axis)), relative to the housing (Para 146 and 147);
a reflective member holder (carrier 1110) comprising a reflective member (reflective member 1150) and supported by the rotation guide (1100) (Para 146 and 147); and
a damper (first auxiliary member 1160) protruding toward the internal space (1080), wherein the damper (1160) comprises:
a first damper (1160) disposed adjacently to the first axis (A2) (Para 243-246); and
a second damper (1160 is on both ends of the 1110) disposed in a position spaced apart (other end) from the first damper (end) (Para 243-246).
Kwon does not teach a damper protruding from a bottom surface of the housing. Im teaches a damper (damper 120) protruding from a bottom surface of the housing (frame 110 (housing 20)) (Para 74). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have provided a damper as taught by Im to the camera module of Kwon, to remove a risk that the reflective module may be damaged due to such an impact, and there is a risk that a loud impact sound (noise and strange sound) (Para 7 of Im).
As to claim 15, Kwon in view of Im teaches a camera module comprising: a reflective module according to claim 1 (See the rejection above in regards to claim 1); and a lens module (lens module 1200) comprising a plurality of lenses (plurality of lenses) disposed in an optical axis (optical axis direction (Z-axis)) direction and configured to be movable in the optical axis direction (Z-axis) (Para 97 of Kwon).
As to claim 16, Kwon teaches wherein the reflective module (reflection module 1100) is configured to be rotatable about the first axis (Y-axis) and a second axis (X-axis) perpendicular to the first axis (Y-axis), and wherein both the first axis (Y-axis) and the second axis (X-axis) are perpendicular to the optical axis direction (Z-axis) (Para 147).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-14 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kwon (US Patent Pub. # 2025/0377580) relates to a reflective module and a camera module including the reflective module.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER K PETERSON whose telephone number is (571)270-1704. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7AM-4PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sinh N Tran can be reached at 571-2727564. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHRISTOPHER K PETERSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2637 9/17/2026
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