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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 9/17/2025 was filed 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.
1: Claim(s) 1-12, 17 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2022/0159191 A1 Mizuni et al in view of USPN 4,937,609 Wakabayashi.
2: As for Claim 1, Mizuni et al teaches in Paragraphs [0038, 0082-0084 and 0096] and depicts in Figure 1 A lens apparatus attachable to and detachable from an image pickup apparatus, the lens apparatus comprising: a first lens (soft focus lens) configured to change an aberration; and one or more processors (121) that, upon execution of instructions, operate to: acquire a value relating to a state corresponding to an amount of the aberration using first information (lens setting values are used to determine the level of aberration), and transmit the value to the image pickup apparatus (the camera CPU 121 receives the aberration amount information in step S120.). However, Mizuni et al does not teach the lens is configured to be inserted into and removed from an optical path and the information is relating to whether the first lens is inserted into the optical path.
Wakabayashi depicts in Figure 2 and teaches on Column 4, Lines 29-38 a camera for performing a soft focus function and teaches an optical element (30 and 20) for performing soft focus can be removable from the optical path in order to improve the range of soft focus effect.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the removable soft focus optical elements of Wakabayashi into the camera system of Mizuni et al in order to improve the soft focus by enabling the lens to be removable from the optical path in order to improve the range of soft focus effect.
3: As for Claim 2, Mizuni et al in view of Wakabayashi teaches an optical system that can adjust the aberration of a soft focus lens and transmits the states of the lens settings to the camera for aberration processing and AF control. Therefore, Mizuni et al in view of Wakabayashi teaches wherein the first information (information including lens setting positions) includes information indicating that the first lens is in a first state in which the first lens is inserted into the optical path, or in a second state in which the first lens is removed from the optical path (lens insertion and removal is taught by Wakabayashi as discussed in Claim 1), and wherein the amount of the aberration in a case where the first lens is in the second state (removed from optical path) is smaller than that in a case where the first lens is in the first state (inserted).
4: As for Claim 3, Mizuni et al teaches in Paragraphs [0042, 0043, 0082 and 0087] wherein the one or more processors (121) obtain the value (aberration level) using second information (a focusing state, a zooming state, an F-number, a set pupil distance, and a pixel size.) on a state of the lens apparatus. Mizuni et al teaches when performing AF, the camera CPU 121 calculates a correction value from an image height on the image sensor 107 and a correction value calculation coefficient that corresponds to a combination of a focusing state, a zooming state, an F-number, a set pupil distance, and a pixel size.
5: As for Claim 4, Mizuni et al teaches in Paragraphs [0039 and 0042] and depicts in Figure 1 further comprising a second lens (105) configured to move during focusing, wherein the second information includes information on a position of the second lens (105). Mizuni et al teaches when performing AF, the camera CPU 121 calculates a correction value from an image height on the image sensor 107 and a correction value calculation coefficient that corresponds to a combination of a focusing state, a zooming state, an F-number, a set pupil distance, and a pixel size.
6: As for Claim 5, Mizuni et al teaches in Paragraphs [0039 and 0042] and depicts in Figure 1 further comprising a third lens (103) configured to move during zooming, wherein the second information includes information on a position of the third lens (103). Mizuni et al teaches when performing AF, the camera CPU 121 calculates a correction value from an image height on the image sensor 107 and a correction value calculation coefficient that corresponds to a combination of a focusing state, a zooming state, an F-number, a set pupil distance, and a pixel size.
7: As for Claim 6, Mizuni et al teaches in Paragraphs [0039 and 0042] and depicts in Figure 1 further comprising: a second lens (105) configured to move during focusing, and a third lens (103) that moves during zooming, wherein the second information includes information on a position of the second lens (105) and information on a position of the third lens (103). Mizuni et al teaches when performing AF, the camera CPU 121 calculates a correction value from an image height on the image sensor 107 and a correction value calculation coefficient that corresponds to a combination of a focusing state, a zooming state, an F-number, a set pupil distance, and a pixel size.
8: As for Claim 7, Mizuni et al teaches in Paragraphs [0039 and 0087] and depicts in Figure 1 further comprising an aperture stop (102) configured to adjust a light amount, wherein the second information (F-Number) includes information on an aperture amount (F-Number) of the aperture stop.
9: As for Claim 8, Mizuni et al teaches in Paragraphs [0082 and 0089] and depicts in Figure 1 wherein the one or more memories (lens memory 152) store a table (data stored in memory is viewed broadly as in a table form) indicating a relationship between the first information and the value (camera setting valued are correlated to different aberration levels), and wherein the one or more processors (121) operate to obtain the value (aberration amount is received from the lens) from the one or more memories (152).
10: As for Claim 9, Mizuni et al teaches in Paragraphs [0039 and 0083] and depicts in Figure 1 the image pickup apparatus comprising: an image sensor (107); and one or more processors (121) that, upon execution of an instruction, operate to receive the value from the lens apparatus (the camera CPU 121 receives the aberration amount information in step S120.).
11: As for Claim 10, Mizuni et al teaches in Paragraphs [0038, 0082-0084 and 0096] and depicts in Figure 1 an image pickup apparatus comprising: an image sensor (107); a first lens (soft fucus lens) configured to change an aberration; and one or more processors (121) that, upon execution of an instruction, operate to acquire a value (aberration level) relating to a state corresponding to an amount of the aberration (small, medium or large) using first information (lens potion information). However, Mizuni et al does not teach the lens is configured to be inserted into and removed from an optical path and the information is relating to whether the first lens is inserted into the optical path.
Wakabayashi depicts in Figure 2 and teaches on Column 4, Lines 29-38 a camera for performing a soft focus function and teaches an optical element (30 and 20) for performing soft focus can be removable from the optical path in order to improve the range of soft focus effect.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the removable soft focus optical elements of Wakabayashi into the camera system of Mizuni et al in order to improve the soft focus by enabling the lens to be removable from the optical path in order to improve the range of soft focus effect.
12: As for Claim 11, Mizuni et al teaches in Paragraphs [0083-0086] wherein the one or more processors (121) operate to: perform autofocus processing, and change a parameter (AF band) for the autofocus processing based on a relationship between the value (aberration amount) and a first threshold value (determination if the aberration amount is small, medium or large).
13: As for Claim 12, Mizuni et al teaches in Paragraph [0085] wherein the one or more processors (121) operate to: set the parameter to a first parameter (different AF bands are selected) in a case where the value is less than the first threshold value (different aberration levels are calculated), and set the parameter (AF band) to a second parameter (Level 2 or 3) if the value is greater than the first threshold value (outside aberration amount corresponding to level 1).
14: As for Claim 17, Mizuni et al teaches in Paragraphs [0048 and 0085] wherein the one or more processors (121) operate to: perform autofocus processing (phase difference AF), and change a method of the autofocus processing (different spatial frequency areas are used based on the aberration amount) based on a relationship between the value and a first threshold value (determination if the aberration amount is small, medium or large).
15: As for Claim 18, Mizuni et al teaches in Paragraph [0085] wherein the one or more processors operate to: set the method to a first method (different methods correspond to different spatial frequency band use) in a case where the value is less than the first threshold value (determination if the aberration level walls within different ranges), and set the method to a second method in a case where the value is greater than the first threshold value. Mizuni et al teaches the camera CPU 121 determines whether the aberration amount indicated by the aberration amount information is small, medium, or large. Mizuni et al further teaches the camera CPU 121 selects the defocus amount in the spatial frequency area based on the category of the aberration amount.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-16, 19 and 20 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES M HANNETT whose telephone number is (571)272-7309. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 AM-5:00 PM Monday thru Thursday.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Twyler Haskins can be reached at 571-272-7406 The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JAMES M HANNETT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2639
JMH
September 24, 2026
