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 Objections
Claim 10 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 10, line 6 should end in a semicolon instead of a colon.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hosoe (US 2019/0154949 A1).
Claim 1, Hosoe teaches an imaging device (camera 10001; paragraph 0175 and Fig. 82A) comprising:
a lens attachment portion to which a lens can be attached or detached (lens mount 105; Fig. 1);
a heat source (heat source elements; paragraph 0295);
a main body including the heat source and the lens attachment portion (camera 10001; see Fig. 76 and paragraph 0475, 0294-0295);
a heat transfer member that transfers heat of the heat source (duct 10164 formed with fin shaped portions for increasing heat transfer efficiency; paragraph 0488); and
a fan housing provided on an upper portion of the main body (fan unit 10053; paragraph 0495 and Fig. 79-82), the fan housing including a fan (fans 10531; paragraph 0511 and Fig. 80), a heat sink that dissipates the heat from the heat transfer member (cover portion 10052 adjacent to ventilation ports of camera 10001; paragraph 0493), an intake port for drawing air (ventilation ports 10163 as air inlet port; paragraph 0499 and Fig. 75B), and an exhaust port for discharging air (see airflow path C through fans 10531; Fig. 82B), wherein
the fan housing is a protruding portion having multiple surfaces protruding from the main body (see fans protruding from housing; Fig. 82), and
wherein the intake port and the exhaust port are provided on different surfaces from each other among the multiple surfaces (see air inlet ventilation ports 10163 and fans 10531; paragraph 84B and Fig. 80B, respectively).
Claim 2 Hosoe further teaches wherein the protruding portion has a forward protruding portion which protrudes in a direction in which the lens attached to the lens attachment portion extends, at the upper portion of the lens attachment portion (see base portion 10051 protruding in the direction of an attached lens at an upper portion of the lens attachment portion, see Figs. 81 and 82A).
Claim 4, Hosoe further teaches wherein the plurality of surfaces includes an upper surface, a side surface, and a lower surface (see Figs. 82, 90A).
Claim 5, Hosoe further teaches wherein the plurality of surfaces includes an upper surface, a side surface, and a lower surface, and wherein the lower surface is a lower surface of the forward protruding portion (see Figs. 82, 90A).
Claim 7, Hosoe further teaches wherein the intake port intakes air toward a first axial direction and the exhaust port exhausts air toward a second axial direction which is 90 degrees different from the first axial direction (see Fig. 5).
Claim 9, Hosoe further teaches wherein the number of the intake port is one and the number of the exhaust port is two (see vent 10163 and dual fans 10531 in Figs. 76 and 79A, respectively).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hosoe in view of Nozaki (US 2009/0016710 A1).
Claim 10, Hosoe teaches an imaging device (camera 10001; paragraph 0175 and Fig. 82A) comprising:
a lens attachment portion to which a lens can be attached or detached (lens mount 105; Fig. 1);
a heat source (heat source elements; paragraph 0295);
a main body including the heat source and the lens attachment portion (camera 10001; see Fig. 76 and paragraph 0475, 0294-0295);
a heat transfer member that transfers heat from the heat source (duct 10164 formed with fin shaped portions for increasing heat transfer efficiency; paragraph 0488); and
a fan housing provided on an upper center portion of the main body (fan unit 10053; paragraph 0495 and Fig. 79-82), the fan housing including a fan (fans 10531; paragraph 0511 and Fig. 80), and a heat sink that dissipates the heat from the heat transfer member (cover portion 10052 adjacent to ventilation ports of camera 10001; paragraph 0493), an intake port for drawing air, and an exhaust port for discharging air (ventilation ports 10163 as air inlet port; paragraph 0499 and Fig. 75B), wherein the fan housing protrudes from the body housing portion (see fans protruding from housing; Fig. 82) and is a protruding portion having a plurality of surfaces including an upper surface and a side surface (see Fig. 82),
but Hosoe is silent regarding a grip provided on a side of the main body.
Nozaki teaches a grip provided on a side of a main body (grip portion G; paragraph 0214 and Fig. 15).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have used the teaching of Nozaki with that of Hosoe in order to allow a user to easily hold a camera (see paragraph 0192 of Hosoe).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 6, and 8 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. See PTO-892 attached.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHIAWEI A CHEN whose telephone number is (571)270-1707. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 12:00pm - 9:00pm EST.
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.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sinh Tran can be reached at (571)272-7564. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/CHIAWEI CHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2637