APPLE INC./BSTZ I EXAMINER 1279 OAKMEAD PARKWAY
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE UNITED STATES DEPARTIVIENT OF COMIVIERCE United States Patent and Trademark Office Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS PO. Box 1450 Alexandria1 Virginia 22313- 1450 wwwnsptogov
APPLICATION NO.
FILING DATE
FIRST NAMED INVENTOR
13/229,363
09/09/2011
Steven Webster
45217
7590
I ATTORNEY DOCKET NO.
CONFIRMATION NO.
004860.P10769
9425
05/13/2014
APPLE INC./BSTZ
I
EXAMINER
BLAKELY SOKOLOPF TAYLOR & ZAFMAN LLP
TREHAN, AKSHAY
1279 OAKMEAD PARKWAY SUNNYVALE, CA 94085-4040
I
ARTUNIT
I
PAPER NUMBER
I
DELIVERY MODE
2663
I
MAIL DATE
05/13/2014
PAPER
Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding. The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
PTOL—90A (Rev. 04/07)
Office Action Summary
Application No. 13/229,363
Applicant(s) WEBSTER ET AL.
Examiner
Art Unit
AIA (First Inventor to File)
AKSHAY TREHAN
2663
fig“
-- The MAILING DA TE of this communication appears on the cover sheet with the correspondence address --
Period for Reply
A SHORTENED STATUTORY PERIOD FOR REPLY IS SET TO EXPIRE g MONTHS FROM THE MAILING DATE OF THIS COMMUNICATION. -
Extensions of time may be available under the provisions of 37 CFR1.136(a). In no event, however, may a reply be timely filed after SIX (6) MONTHS from the mailing date of this communication. If NO period for reply is specified above, the maximum statutory period will apply and will expire SIX (6) MONTHS from the mailing date of this communication. Failure to reply within the set or extended period for reply will, by statute, cause the application to become ABANDONED (35 U.S.C. § 133). Any reply received by the Office later than three months after the mailing date of this communication, even if timely filed, may reduce any earned patent term adjustment. See 37 CFR 1 .704(b).
Status 1)IZI Responsive to communication(s) filed on
El A declaration(s)/affidavit(s) under 37 CFR 1.130(b) was/were filed on _. 2a)|Z| This action is FINAL.
2b)|:l This action is non-final.
3)I:I An election was made by the applicant in response to a restriction requirement set forth during the interview on _; the restriction requirement and election have been incorporated into this action.
4)|:| Since this application is in condition for allowance except for formal matters, prosecution as to the merits is closed in accordance with the practice under Exparte Quay/e, 1935 CD. 11, 453 O.G. 213.
Disposition of Claims* 5)IZI Claim(s) 1-3 and 5-22 is/are pending in the application.
5a) Of the above claim(s)
is/are withdrawn from consideration.
6)I:I Claim(s) is/are allowed. 7)|Z| Claim(s) 1-3 and 5-22 is/are rejected. 8)|:I Claim(s) is/are objected to. 9)I:I Claim(s)
are subject to restriction and/or election requirement.
* If any claims have been determined allowable, you may be eligible to benefit from the Patent Prosecution Highway program at a participating intellectual property office for the corresponding application. For more information, please see hitszilwww.usctoeov/natents/init events/neb/indexjsn or send an inquiry to PPI-ifeedback{®usgtc.00v.
Application Papers 10)I:l The specification is objected to by the Examiner. 11)I:l The drawing(s) filed on
is/are: a)I:I accepted or b)I:I objected to by the Examiner.
Applicant may not request that any objection to the drawing(s) be held in abeyance. See 37 CFR 1.85(a). Replacement drawing sheet(s) including the correction is required if the drawing(s) is objected to. See 37 CFR 1.121 (d).
Priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 12)I:| Acknowledgment is made of a claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a)-(d) or (f).
Certified copies: a)I:l All b)|:l Some” c)I:l None of the: 1.I:I Certified copies of the priority documents have been received. 2.|:l
Certified copies of the priority documents have been received in Application No.
3.|:|
Copies of the certified copies of the priority documents have been received in this National Stage application from the International Bureau (PCT Rule 17.2(a)).
** See the attached detailed Office action for a list of the certified copies not received.
Attachment(s)
1) E Notice of References Cited (PTO-892) .
3) D Interview Summary (PTO-413)
.
Paper No(s)/Mai| Date.
.
2) E Information Disclosure Statement(s) (PTO/SB/08a and/or PTO/SB/08b)
Paper No(s)/Mai| Date US. Patent and Trademark Office PTOL—326 (Rev. 11-13)
4) I:I Other:
. Office Action Summary
.
Part of Paper No./Mai| Date 20140421
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Art Unit: 2663
FINAL ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status The present application is being examined under the pre-AlA first to invent provisions.
Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-12 and 18-22 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to the combination of
references being used in the current rejection. Applicant's arguments filed with respect to claims 13-17 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues that it is not obvious to combine/replace the concept of a color splitting prism for a camera with the concept of a color splitting prism for a projector. Applicant's invention claims a prism/light splitter cube 2 per Figure 5 which has dichroic faces for separating the light into multiple colors. The prior art presented shows a camera with a prism for separating light into multiple
colors as taught by Bendell (Figure 1b) AND further that, for a projector, the principle of light can be separated into multiple colors using a prism shaped like a dichroic cube having 4 right isosceles triangles as taught by Doany (Figure 1). Thus the Examiner considers the combination reasonable regardless of one prism being used for a camera and one prism being used for a projector. The type of prism used is not considered to be novel and would have been recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art to be
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Art Unit: 2663 interchangeable to achieve the desired optical properties for bending light into multiple
colors. Further per claim 13, Applicant argues the prior art does not teach the limitation
"the right leg face of the first polyhedron adjoins the left leg face of the second polyhedron at a first interface, wherein the first interface reflects the third color component in the first polyhedron and transmits the first and second color components into the second polyhedron, and the left leg face of the first polyhedron adjoins the right leg face of the fourth polyhedron at a second dichroic interface, wherein the second interface reflects the first color component in the first polyhedron and transmits the second and third color components into the fourth polyhedron. " Examiner interprets this claim language as defining the geometric arrangement, properties and function of light separation for a dichroic splitter cube and thus Bendell in view of Doany meets these limitations because they teach a dichroic splitter cube. Doany, per Figure 1, shows a dichroic splitter cube prism 14 with the geometric arrangement of 4 right isosceles
triangles (first-fourth polyhedrons) adjoining each other to allow for the passage of light as claimed and the optical color separation of light reflected/refracted into 3 different colors(See col.3, line 58 — col.4, line 3). Thus the Examiner maintains the rejection over
the prior art combination previously presented.
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Art Unit: 2663
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action: (a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-3, 5-10 and 18-22 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Bendell (US 4,507,679) in view of Doany (5,644,432) in view of Ito et al. (US 2006/0177208) in view of Bohn et al. (US 2012/0249815) in view of Roddy
(EP 1339238).
As per claim 1, Bendell teaches a digital camera component comprising: a light splitter cube having an entrance face to receive incident light from a camera scene, the cube to split the incident light into first, second, and third color components that emerge
from the cube through a first face, a second face, and a third face of the cube, respectively(Figure 1a, light enters through lens 10, then enters into a “splitter cube” prism 12 and splits the light into three paths which exit three faces of prism and are imaged on a red, green, and blue image sensors, elements 18, 20 and 22. See co|.2, lines 58-68); and first, second and third image sensors, each being positioned to receive a respective
one of the color components that emerge from the first, second and third faces of the cube(Sp|its the light into three paths which exit three faces of prism and are
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Art Unit: 2663 imaged on a red, green, and blue image sensors, elements 18, 20 and 22. See col.2, lines 58-68). To further show that the splitter cube prism can be a dichroic cube formed by 4
right isosceles triangles for splitting the white light into 3 different colors the Examiner evidences Doany which teaches the general concept that light can be deflected on a path into a dichroic cube prism and split the light into red, green and blue |ight(See Figure 1, light W enters dichroic prism 14 and splits into 3 colors (R, G, B) as also stated in col.3, line 58 — col.4, line 3). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to substitute Bendell’s prism with Doany’s prism to arrive at the Applicant’s invention such as to enhance color separation in the analogous art of optics and prisms.
To further show the optical configuration of lenses and prism as Applicant teaches per Figure 5 of specification is well known in the art, the Examiner evidences lto which teaches light entering through a lens 16, deflected 20 and bent 90 degrees
through focus/zoom lenses 18/19, then into a prism 25 in general where light is then directed to image sensors 23/24(See Figure 3). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Ito’s optical configuration with Bendell’s and Doany’s inventions to arrive at the Applicant’s invention such as to enhance optical properties of light in the analogous art of optics for a camera. Thus Ito teaches the limitations “a deflector positioned to deflect the incident light from the camera scene and an optical lens system positioned in a path of the deflected incident light between the
deflector and the entrance face of the light splitter cube” as follows per Figure 3 -- light
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Art Unit: 2663 input through lens 16 “from object scene” into deflector 20 which deflects light 90
degrees down toward prism AND deflector 20 deflects light 90 degrees down through zoom/focus lenses 18/19 toward prism 25. Bendell in view of Doany in view of Ito teaches the digital camera component of
claim 1 but does not specify the optical configuration of deflector, lenses, prism and image sensors can be in a compact device which is housed in a phone as Applicant
teaches per Figure 8 of specification having the dimensionality per limitation “the incident light from the camera scene entering the housing through a face of housing, a depth from the face to an opposite side of the housing being substantially shorter than
length and width of the face”. However, this concept is well known in the art as evidenced by Bohn(Figure 3, Phone 302 which houses an optical configuration where light 314 enters and deflects 90 degrees toward/through an optical focus lens system 324, then into a prism 330 toward an image sensor 326). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Bohn’s invention with the prior art combination presented such as to enhance a compact camera and its components “on a millimeter scale” in a phone to arrive at the Applicant’s claimed invention in the analogous art of camera phones. Further, this compact configuration of optical elements as found in the prior art combination is considered to encompass the limitation “a z-height of the deflector, optical lens system, light splitter cube and image sensors is in the range 3 mm-9 mm.” The Examiner considers the compact millimeter range of compact camera components as suggested by Applicant to be a matter of design choice and further that it would have
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Art Unit: 2663 been obvious to try using any variation of millimeter ranges to achieve a desired image capture on a compact device such as a phone. Thus in view of Bohn’s camera phone
with the prior art combination presented, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to try using the millimeter ranges for the camera components in a phone to arrive at the Applicant’s claimed invention in the analogous art of camera phones. Applicant's invention claims a prism/light splitter cube 2 per Figure 5 which has dichroic faces for separating the light into multiple colors. The prior art presented shows a camera with a prism for separating light into multiple colors as taught by Bendell (Figure 1b) AND further that, for a projector, the principle of light can be separated into
multiple colors using a prism shaped like a dichroic cube having 4 right isosceles triangles as taught by Doany (Figure 1). Thus the Examiner considers the combination reasonable regardless of one prism being used for a camera and one prism being used for a projector. The type of prism used is not considered to be novel and would have been recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art to be interchangeable to achieve the desired optical properties for bending light into multiple colors. However to further show
that a dichroic prism cube can be used in a camera the Examiner evidences a Kodak camera by the inventor Roddy(See figure 5, dichroic splitter x-cube 38 and paragraphs[0027 and 0019] separating light onto 30B, 30B and 30G where the dichroic splitter cube prism 38 by definition teaches the geometric arrangement of 4 right isosceles triangles). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to substitute the concept of Bendell’s prism in a camera with Doany’s projector
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Art Unit: 2663 dichroic prism and Roddy’s camera dichroic prism to arrive at the Applicant’s invention such as to enhance color separation in the analogous art of optics and prisms.
As per claim 2, Bendell in view of Doany in view of lto in view of Bohn in view of Roddy teaches the digital camera component of claim 1 wherein the light splitter cube comprises essentially identically sized first, second, third and fourth transparent polyhedrons, each of the polyhedrons having a right isosceles triangular base, a right isosceles triangular top, and three faces joining corresponding sides of the triangular
base and top, wherein the three faces are a hypotenuse face, a left leg face, and a right leg face(Doany— Per Figure 1, Dichroic splitter cube prism 14 by definition teaches the geometric arrangement of 4 right isosceles triangles. See co|.3, line 58 — co|.4, line 3).
As per claim 3, Bendell in view of Doany in view of lto in view of Bohn in view of Roddy teaches the digital camera component of claim 2 wherein the hypotenuse face of
the first polyhedron is the entrance face of the light splitter cube, the right leg face of the first polyhedron adjoins the left leg face of the second polyhedron at a first dichroic interface, wherein the first interface reflects the third color component in the first polyhedron and transmits the first and second color components into the second polyhedron, and the left leg face of the first polyhedron adjoins the right leg face of the fourth polyhedron at a second dichroic interface, wherein the second interface reflects
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Art Unit: 2663 the first color component in the first polyhedron and transmits the second and third color components into the fourth po|yhedron(App|icant’s claim language is interpreted as
defining the geometric arrangement and function of light separation of a dichroic splitter cube and thus Bendell in view of Doany meets these limitations because they teach a dichroic splitter cube. Doany- Per Figure 1, Dichroic splitter cube prism 14 by definition teaches the geometric arrangement of 4 right isosceles triangles and color separation of light reflected/refracted into 3 different colors.
See co|.3, line 58 — co|.4, line 3).
As per claim 5, Bendell in view of Doany in view of lto in view of Bohn in view of Roddy teaches the digital camera component of claim 1 wherein the deflector is oriented to deflect the incident light by about ninety degrees(|to- Figure 3, deflector 20 deflects light 90 degrees down through zoom/focus lenses 18/19 toward prism
25).
As per claim 6, Bendell in view of Doany in view of lto in view of Bohn in view of Roddy teaches the digital camera component of claim 1 specifying the optical configuration of deflector, lenses, prism and image sensors can be in a compact device which is housed in a phone as Applicant teaches per Figure 8 of specification. This
concept is well known in the art as evidenced by Bohn(Figure 3, Phone 302 which houses an optical configuration where light 314 enters and deflects 90 degrees toward/through an optical focus lens system 324, then into a prism 330 toward an
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Art Unit: 2663 image sensor 326). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Bohn’s invention with the prior art combination presented such as to enhance a compact camera and its components “on a millimeter scale” in a phone to arrive at the Applicant’s claimed invention in the analogous art of camera phones. Further, this compact configuration of optical elements as found in the prior art combination is considered to encompass the limitation “a z-height of the deflector, optical lens system, light splitter cube and image sensors is in the range 3 mm-9 mm.” The Examiner considers the compact millimeter range of compact camera components as suggested by Applicant to be a matter of design choice and further that it would have been obvious to try using any variation of millimeter ranges to achieve a desired image capture on a compact device such as a phone. Thus in view of Bohn’s camera phone
with the prior art combination presented, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to try using the millimeter ranges for the camera components in a phone to arrive at the Applicant’s claimed invention in the analogous art of camera phones.
As per claim 7, Bendell in view of Doany in view of lto in view of Bohn in view of Roddy teaches the digital camera component of claim 6 specifying the optical configuration of deflector, lenses, prism and image sensors can be in a compact device which is housed in a phone as Applicant teaches per Figure 8 of specification. This
concept is well known in the art as evidenced by Bohn(Figure 3, Phone 302 which houses an optical configuration where light 314 enters and deflects 90 degrees toward/through an optical focus lens system 324, then into a prism 330 toward an
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Art Unit: 2663 image sensor 326). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Bohn’s invention with the prior art combination presented such as to enhance a compact camera and its components “on a millimeter scale” in a phone to arrive at the Applicant’s claimed invention in the analogous art of camera phones. Further, this compact configuration of optical elements as found in the prior art combination is considered to encompass the limitation “x-length of the deflector, optical lens system, light splitter cube and image sensors is in the range 18 mm-32 mm.” The Examiner considers the compact millimeter range of compact camera components as suggested by Applicant to be a matter of design choice and further that it would have been obvious to try using any variation of millimeter ranges to achieve a desired image capture on a compact device such as a phone. Thus in view of Bohn’s camera phone
with the prior art combination presented, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to try using the millimeter ranges for the camera components in a phone to arrive at the Applicant’s claimed invention in the analogous art of camera phones.
As per claim 8, Bendell in view of Doany in view of lto in view of Bohn in view of Roddy teaches the digital camera component of claim 1 wherein the optical lens system is a zoom lens(|to- Figure 3, 18/19 lenses which can be zoom and focus. Paragraphs[0018, 0021 and 0030]).
As per claim 9, Bendell in view of Doany in view of lto in view of Bohn in view of Roddy teaches the digital camera component of claim 1 wherein the optical lens system
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Art Unit: 2663 is an auto focus |ens(lto- Figure 3, 18/19 lenses which can be zoom and focus. Paragraphs[0018, 0021 and 0030]).
As per claim 10, Bendell in view of Doany in view of Ito in view of Bohn in view of Roddy teaches the digital camera component of claim 1 wherein the optical lens system
is a fixed focus |ens(lto- Figure 3, fixed focus lens 17).
As per claim 18, Bendell teaches a portable device and a digital camera integrated inside the housing, the digital camera having a deflector positioned to deflect light from a camera scene by about ninety degrees, a light splitter having an entrance
face to receive the deflected light, the light splitter to split the incident light into first, second, and third color components that emerge through a first exit face, a second exit face, and a third exit face, respectively(Figure 1a, light enters through lens 10, then enters into a “splitter cube” prism 12 and splits the light into three paths which exit three faces of prism and are imaged on a red, green, and blue image sensors, elements 18, 20 and 22. See col.2, lines 58-68), and first, second and third image
sensors, each being positioned to face the first, second and third exit faces(Splits the light into three paths which exit three faces of prism and are imaged on a red, green, and blue image sensors, elements 18, 20 and 22. See col.2, lines 58-68), To further show that the splitter cube prism can be a dichroic cube formed by 4
right isosceles triangles for splitting the white light into 3 different colors the Examiner evidences Doany which teaches the general concept that light can be deflected on a
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Art Unit: 2663 path into a dichroic cube prism and split the light into red, green and blue |ight(See Figure 1, light W enters dichroic prism 14 and splits into 3 colors (R, G, B) as also stated in co|.3, line 58 — co|.4, line 3). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to substitute Bendell’s prism with Doany’s prism to arrive at the Applicant’s invention such as to enhance color separation in the analogous art of optics and prisms. To further show the optical configuration of lenses and prism as Applicant
teaches per Figure 5 of specification is well known in the art, the Examiner evidences lto which teaches light entering through a lens 16, deflected 20 and bent 90 degrees through focus/zoom lenses 18/19, then into a prism 25 in general where light is then directed to image sensors 23/24(See Figure 3). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Ito’s optical configuration with Bendell’s and Doany’s inventions to arrive at the Applicant’s invention such as to enhance optical
properties of light in the analogous art of optics for a camera. lto further shows an optical lens system positioned in a path of the incident light between the deflector and the entrance face of the light splitter(|to- Figure 3, deflector 20 deflects light 90 degrees down through zoom/focus lenses 18/19 toward prism
25). The prior art combination does not state “a portable wireless communications device comprising: an outer housing and cellular network wireless communications circuitry integrated inside the outer housing”. However, this concept is well known in the art as evidenced by Bohn(Figure 3, Phone 302 which houses an optical
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Art Unit: 2663 configuration where light 314 enters and deflects 90 degrees toward/through an optical focus lens system 324, then into a prism 330 toward an image sensor 326). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Bohn’s
invention with the prior art combination presented such as to enhance a camera in a phone to arrive at the Applicant’s claimed invention in the analogous art of camera phones. Applicant's invention claims a prism/light splitter cube 2 per Figure 5 which has dichroic faces for separating the light into multiple colors. The prior art presented shows a camera with a prism for separating light into multiple colors as taught by Bendell (Figure 1b) AND further that, for a projector, the principle of light can be separated into
multiple colors using a prism shaped like a dichroic cube having 4 right isosceles triangles as taught by Doany (Figure 1). Thus the Examiner considers the combination reasonable regardless of one prism being used for a camera and one prism being used for a projector. The type of prism used is not considered to be novel and would have
been recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art to be interchangeable to achieve the desired optical properties for bending light into multiple colors. However to further show
that a dichroic prism cube can be used in a camera the Examiner evidences a Kodak camera by the inventor Roddy(See figure 5, dichroic splitter x-cube 38 and paragraphs[0027 and 0019] separating light onto 30B, 30B and 30G where the dichroic splitter cube prism 38 by definition teaches the geometric arrangement
of 4 right isosceles triangles). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to substitute the concept of Bendell’s prism in a camera with Doany’s
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Art Unit: 2663 projector dichroic prism and Roddy’s camera dichroic prism to arrive at the Applicant’s invention such as to enhance color separation in the analogous art of optics and prisms.
As per claim 19, Bendell in view of Doany in view of lto in view of Bohn in view of Roddy teaches the portable wireless communications device of claim 18 but may not
specify the housing of the camera phone to show a z-height of 6mm-13mm per Applicant camera phone per Figure 8 of specification. However, the camera phone housing taught by Bohn (Figure 3, phone 322) is considered to be fairly comparable to Applicant’s camera phone housing and thus is
considered to encompass the limitation “wherein the outer housing has a z-height of 6 mm-13 mm.” The Examiner considers the compact millimeter range of the camera housing as suggested by Applicant to be a matter of design choice and further that it would have been obvious to try using any variation of millimeter ranges to achieve a desired size for a compact device such as a phone. Thus in view of Bohn’s camera
phone with the prior art combination presented, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to try using the millimeter ranges for the camera phone housing to arrive at the Applicant’s claimed invention in the analogous art of camera phones.
As per claim 20, Bendell in view of Doany in view of lto in view of Bohn in view of Roddy teaches the portable wireless communications device of claim 18 further
comprising: a piano-concave lens whose planar side faces the camera scene and is positioned to bring the light from the camera scene to the deflector(lto- Figure 3, lens
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Art Unit: 2663 16); and a convex-concave lens whose convex side faces the deflector and is positioned between the deflector and the optical lens system(|to- Figure 3, convexconcave lens 18 is between deflector 20 and optical lens system 19).
As per claim 21, Bendell in view of Doany in view of lto in view of Bohn in view of Roddy teaches the portable wireless communications device of claim 18 wherein the first, second and third color components are additive primary color components(Bende|l- Figure 1b, prism 12 separates light into red, green and blue
colors. See co|.2, line 58 — co|.3, line 4. Doany— color separation into red, green, blue as stated in co|.3, line 58 — co|.4, line 3).
As per claim 22, Bendell in view of Doany in view of lto in view of Bohn in view of Roddy teaches the portable wireless communications device of claim 21 wherein the first, second, and third color components are blue, green, and red components(Bende|l-
Figure 1b, prism 12 separates light into red, green and blue colors. See co|.2, line 58 — co|.3, line 4. Doany— color separation into red, green, blue as stated in co|.3, line 58 — co|.4, line 3).
Claims 13, 14 and 17 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Bendell (US 4,507,679) in view of Doany (5,644,432) in view of Ito et al. (US 2006/0177208).
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As per claim 13, Bendell teaches a digital camera module comprising: a light splitter to split the incident light into first, second and third color components(Figure 1a, light enters through lens 10, then enters into a “splitter cube” prism 12 and splits
the light into three paths which exit three faces of prism and are imaged on a red, green, and blue image sensors, elements 18, 20 and 22. See co|.2, lines 58-68), the
splitter further having a first exit face, a second exit face, and a third exit face, first, second and third image sensors, each being positioned to face the first, second and third exit faces(Sp|its the light into three paths which exit three faces of prism and are imaged on a red, green, and blue image sensors, elements 18, 20 and 22. See co|.2, lines 58-68). To further show that the splitter cube prism can be a dichroic cube formed by 4
right isosceles triangles for splitting the white light into 3 different colors the Examiner evidences Doany which teaches the general concept that light can be deflected on a path into a dichroic cube prism and split the light into red, green and blue light(See Figure 1, light W enters dichroic prism 14 and splits into 3 colors (R, G, B) as also stated in co|.3, line 58 — co|.4, line 3). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to substitute Bendell’s prism with Doany’s prism to arrive at the Applicant’s invention such as to enhance color separation in the analogous art of optics and prisms.
To further show the optical configuration of lenses and prism as Applicant teaches per Figure 5 of specification is well known in the art, the Examiner evidences lto which teaches light entering through a lens 16, deflected 20 and bent 90 degrees
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Art Unit: 2663
through focus/zoom lenses 18/19, then into a prism 25 in general where light is then directed to image sensors 23/24(See Figure 3). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Ito’s optical configuration with Bendell’s and Doany’s inventions to arrive at the Applicant’s invention such as to enhance optical
properties of light in the analogous art of optics for a camera. lto further shows an optical lens system positioned in a path of the incident light between the deflector and the entrance face of the light splitter(|to- Figure 3, deflector 20 deflects light 90 degrees down through zoom/focus lenses 18/19 toward prism
25). Regarding the limitation “the light splitter being formed of essentially identical
first, second, third and fourth transparent polyhedrons, each of the polyhedrons having a right isosceles triangular base, a right isosceles triangular top, and three faces joining corresponding sides of the triangular base and top, wherein the three faces are a
hypotenuse face, a left leg face, and a right leg face, wherein the hypotenuse face of the first polyhedron is the entrance face of the light splitter, the right leg face of the first polyhedron adjoins the left leg face of the second polyhedron at a first dichroic interface, wherein the first interface reflects the third color component in the first polyhedron and
transmits the first and second color components into the second polyhedron, and the left leg face of the first polyhedron adjoins the right leg face of the fourth polyhedron at a second dichroic interface, wherein the second interface reflects the first color component in the first polyhedron and transmits the second and third color components into the fourth polyhedron”(App|icant’s claim language is interpreted as defining the
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Art Unit: 2663 geometric arrangement and function of light separation of a dichroic splitter cube and thus Bendell in view of Doany meets these limitations because they teach a dichroic splitter cube. Doany- Per Figure 1, Dichroic splitter cube prism 14 by
definition teaches the geometric arrangement of 4 right isosceles triangles and color separation of light reflected/refracted into 3 different colors. See col.3, line 58 — col.4, line 3).
As per claim 14, Bendell in view of Doany in view of Ito teaches the digital camera module of claim 13 wherein the deflector is oriented to deflect the incident light by about ninety degrees(lto- Figure 3, deflector 20 deflects light 90 degrees down through zoom/focus lenses 18/19 toward prism 25).
As per claim 17, Bendell in view of Doany in view of Ito teaches the digital camera module of claim 14 further comprising: a piano-concave lens whose planar side faces the camera scene and is positioned to bring the light from the camera scene to
the deflector(lto- Figure 3, lens 16); and a convex-concave lens whose convex side faces the deflector and is positioned between the deflector and the optical lens system(lto- Figure 3, convex-concave lens 18 is between deflector 20 and optical lens system 19).
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Art Unit: 2663
Claims 15 and 16 are rejected under pre-AlA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Bendell (US 4,507,679) in view of Doany (5,644,432) in view of Ito et
al. (US 2006/0177208) in View of Bohn et al. (US 2012/0249815).
As per claim 15, Bendell in view of Doany in view of Ito teaches the digital
camera module of claim 14 but does not specify the optical configuration of deflector, lenses, prism and image sensors can be in a compact device which is housed in a phone as Applicant teaches per Figure 8 of specification. However, this concept is well known in the art as evidenced by Bohn(Figure 3, Phone 302 which houses an optical configuration where light 314 enters and deflects 90 degrees toward/through an optical focus lens system 324, then into a
prism 330 toward an image sensor 326). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Bohn’s invention with the prior art combination presented such as to enhance a compact camera and its components “on a millimeter scale” in a phone to arrive at the Applicant’s claimed invention in the analogous art of camera phones. Further, this compact configuration of optical elements as found in the prior art combination is considered to encompass the limitation “a z-height of the deflector, optical lens system, light splitter cube and image sensors is in the range 3 mm-9 mm.” The Examiner considers the compact millimeter range of compact camera components as suggested by Applicant to be a matter of design choice and further that it would have been obvious to try using any variation of millimeter ranges to achieve a desired image
Application/Control Number: 13/229,363
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Art Unit: 2663 capture on a compact device such as a phone. Thus in view of Bohn’s camera phone
with the prior art combination presented, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to try using the millimeter ranges for the camera components in a phone to arrive at the Applicant’s claimed invention in the analogous art of camera phones.
As per claim 16, Bendell in view of Doany in view of lto teaches the digital
camera module of claim 14 but does not specify the optical configuration of deflector, lenses, prism and image sensors can be in a compact device which is housed in a phone as Applicant teaches per Figure 8 of specification. However, this concept is well known in the art as evidenced by Bohn(Figure 3, Phone 302 which houses an optical configuration where light 314 enters and deflects 90 degrees toward/through an optical focus lens system 324, then into a prism 330 toward an image sensor 326).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Bohn’s invention with the prior art combination presented such as to enhance a compact camera and its components “on a millimeter scale” in a phone to arrive at the Applicant’s claimed invention in the analogous art of camera phones. Further, this compact configuration of optical elements as found in the prior art combination is considered to encompass the limitation “x-length of the deflector, optical lens system, light splitter cube and image sensors is in the range 18 mm-32 mm.” The Examiner considers the compact millimeter range of compact camera components as suggested by Applicant to be a matter of design choice and further that it would have been obvious to try using any variation of millimeter ranges to achieve a desired image
Application/Control Number: 13/229,363
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Art Unit: 2663 capture on a compact device such as a phone. Thus in view of Bohn’s camera phone
with the prior art combination presented, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to try using the millimeter ranges for the camera components in a phone to arrive at the Applicant’s claimed invention in the analogous art of camera phones.
Claim 11 is rejected under pre-AlA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Bendell (US 4,507,679) in view of Doany (5,644,432) in view of Ito et al. (US
2006/0177208) in view of Bohn et al. (US 2012/0249815) in view of Roddy (EP 1339238) in view of Cho et al. (2011/0181955).
As per claim 11, Bendell in view of Doany in view of lto in view of Bohn in view of Roddy teaches the digital camera component of claim 1 having a deflector and part of a camera shake system in general(lto- Figure 3, deflector 20, camera shake
mechanisms 27/28) but does not specify wherein the deflector comprises a folding mirror that is coupled to be tilted or rolled by a powered actuator under automatic control, as part of an optical image stabilization (OIS) mechanism. However, this concept is well known in the art as evidenced by Cho which teaches a lens configuration similar to Applicant’s where a powered deflector is used for image
stabilization(Figure 10d, deflector 103, actuator for rolling/tilting 102B. Paragraphs[0008 and 0087]). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to substitute lto’s deflector with Cho’s powered deflector to arrive at the Applicant’s invention such as to enhance image stabilization in the analogous art of
Application/Control Number: 13/229,363
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Art Unit: 2663 cameras and optics.
Claim 12 is rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Bendell (US 4,507,679) in view of Doany (5,644,432) in view of Ito et al. (US
2006/0177208) in view of Bohn et al. (US 2012/0249815) in view of Roddy (EP 1339238) in view of Tiao (US 2006/0055016).
As per claim 12, Bendell in view of Doany in view of Ito in view of Bohn in view of Roddy teaches the digital camera component of claim 1 where the images sensors are electrically connected to a circuit layer(Bende||- Figure 3, Various circuit layer at outputs of image sensors 314, 317 and 311.); wherein each of the image sensors are a clear image sensor having an array of photocells(|to- paragraph[0022] states prism separates light into different colors which then enters the various image sensors which is considered to be an unfiltered/clear image sensor); protected by a transparent cover plate that is located in front of the sensor(|to- Figure 4- image sensor 23 has a transparent cover plate as shown). To further show the camera packaging substrate layer for each image sensor can be covered with micro lenses and can be protected by a transparent cover plate that is located in front of the sensor and that leaves an air gap between the cover plate and the micro lenses are well known in the art, the Examiner evidences Tiao(Figure 3F — Transparent cover 10 protects over image sensor 20 which has a micro lens layer 21 above it and an air gap 40 between the cover and micro lens. Figure 3E - circuit
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Art Unit: 2663
board 70). Thus it would have obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Tiao’s camera packaging techniques with the camera packing modules taught by the prior art combination presented to arrive at the Applicant’s claimed invention such as to
enhance imaging properties in the analogous art of cameras. The prior art combination recognizes that the use of a color separation prism does not require color filters in general, but Applicant may argue that the prior art combination may not teach the absence of color filters between the micro lens and
image sensor, although Tiao’s teachings of this do appear to show the absence of color filters per their drawings. However, Official Notice (MPEP § 2144.03) is taken that both the concepts and advantages of using a clear image sensor without the need of a
color filter are well known and expected in the art. At the time the invention was made, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art to have used a clear image
sensor with a micro lens array in order to achieve certain image processing aspects.
Conclusion Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in
this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37
CFR1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not
Application/Control Number: 13/229,363
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Art Unit: 2663
mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any
extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
Contacts Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AKSHAY TREHAN whose telephone number is (571 )270-5252. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Twyler Haskins can be reached on (571)272-7406. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571 -273-8300. 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). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272—1000.
Application/Control Number: 13/229,363 Art Unit: 2663
/AKSHAY TREHAN/ Examiner, Art Unit 2663
/TWYLER HASKINS/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2663
Page 26
APPLICATION NO.
FILING DATE
FIRST NAMED INVENTOR
13/229,363
09/09/2011
Steven Webster
45217
7590
I ATTORNEY DOCKET NO.
CONFIRMATION NO.
004860.P10769
9425
05/13/2014
APPLE INC./BSTZ
I
EXAMINER
BLAKELY SOKOLOPF TAYLOR & ZAFMAN LLP
TREHAN, AKSHAY
1279 OAKMEAD PARKWAY SUNNYVALE, CA 94085-4040
I
ARTUNIT
I
PAPER NUMBER
I
DELIVERY MODE
2663
I
MAIL DATE
05/13/2014
PAPER
Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding. The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
PTOL—90A (Rev. 04/07)
Office Action Summary
Application No. 13/229,363
Applicant(s) WEBSTER ET AL.
Examiner
Art Unit
AIA (First Inventor to File)
AKSHAY TREHAN
2663
fig“
-- The MAILING DA TE of this communication appears on the cover sheet with the correspondence address --
Period for Reply
A SHORTENED STATUTORY PERIOD FOR REPLY IS SET TO EXPIRE g MONTHS FROM THE MAILING DATE OF THIS COMMUNICATION. -
Extensions of time may be available under the provisions of 37 CFR1.136(a). In no event, however, may a reply be timely filed after SIX (6) MONTHS from the mailing date of this communication. If NO period for reply is specified above, the maximum statutory period will apply and will expire SIX (6) MONTHS from the mailing date of this communication. Failure to reply within the set or extended period for reply will, by statute, cause the application to become ABANDONED (35 U.S.C. § 133). Any reply received by the Office later than three months after the mailing date of this communication, even if timely filed, may reduce any earned patent term adjustment. See 37 CFR 1 .704(b).
Status 1)IZI Responsive to communication(s) filed on
El A declaration(s)/affidavit(s) under 37 CFR 1.130(b) was/were filed on _. 2a)|Z| This action is FINAL.
2b)|:l This action is non-final.
3)I:I An election was made by the applicant in response to a restriction requirement set forth during the interview on _; the restriction requirement and election have been incorporated into this action.
4)|:| Since this application is in condition for allowance except for formal matters, prosecution as to the merits is closed in accordance with the practice under Exparte Quay/e, 1935 CD. 11, 453 O.G. 213.
Disposition of Claims* 5)IZI Claim(s) 1-3 and 5-22 is/are pending in the application.
5a) Of the above claim(s)
is/are withdrawn from consideration.
6)I:I Claim(s) is/are allowed. 7)|Z| Claim(s) 1-3 and 5-22 is/are rejected. 8)|:I Claim(s) is/are objected to. 9)I:I Claim(s)
are subject to restriction and/or election requirement.
* If any claims have been determined allowable, you may be eligible to benefit from the Patent Prosecution Highway program at a participating intellectual property office for the corresponding application. For more information, please see hitszilwww.usctoeov/natents/init events/neb/indexjsn or send an inquiry to PPI-ifeedback{®usgtc.00v.
Application Papers 10)I:l The specification is objected to by the Examiner. 11)I:l The drawing(s) filed on
is/are: a)I:I accepted or b)I:I objected to by the Examiner.
Applicant may not request that any objection to the drawing(s) be held in abeyance. See 37 CFR 1.85(a). Replacement drawing sheet(s) including the correction is required if the drawing(s) is objected to. See 37 CFR 1.121 (d).
Priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 12)I:| Acknowledgment is made of a claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a)-(d) or (f).
Certified copies: a)I:l All b)|:l Some” c)I:l None of the: 1.I:I Certified copies of the priority documents have been received. 2.|:l
Certified copies of the priority documents have been received in Application No.
3.|:|
Copies of the certified copies of the priority documents have been received in this National Stage application from the International Bureau (PCT Rule 17.2(a)).
** See the attached detailed Office action for a list of the certified copies not received.
Attachment(s)
1) E Notice of References Cited (PTO-892) .
3) D Interview Summary (PTO-413)
.
Paper No(s)/Mai| Date.
.
2) E Information Disclosure Statement(s) (PTO/SB/08a and/or PTO/SB/08b)
Paper No(s)/Mai| Date US. Patent and Trademark Office PTOL—326 (Rev. 11-13)
4) I:I Other:
. Office Action Summary
.
Part of Paper No./Mai| Date 20140421
Application/Control Number: 13/229,363
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Art Unit: 2663
FINAL ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status The present application is being examined under the pre-AlA first to invent provisions.
Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-12 and 18-22 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to the combination of
references being used in the current rejection. Applicant's arguments filed with respect to claims 13-17 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues that it is not obvious to combine/replace the concept of a color splitting prism for a camera with the concept of a color splitting prism for a projector. Applicant's invention claims a prism/light splitter cube 2 per Figure 5 which has dichroic faces for separating the light into multiple colors. The prior art presented shows a camera with a prism for separating light into multiple
colors as taught by Bendell (Figure 1b) AND further that, for a projector, the principle of light can be separated into multiple colors using a prism shaped like a dichroic cube having 4 right isosceles triangles as taught by Doany (Figure 1). Thus the Examiner considers the combination reasonable regardless of one prism being used for a camera and one prism being used for a projector. The type of prism used is not considered to be novel and would have been recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art to be
Application/Control Number: 13/229,363
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Art Unit: 2663 interchangeable to achieve the desired optical properties for bending light into multiple
colors. Further per claim 13, Applicant argues the prior art does not teach the limitation
"the right leg face of the first polyhedron adjoins the left leg face of the second polyhedron at a first interface, wherein the first interface reflects the third color component in the first polyhedron and transmits the first and second color components into the second polyhedron, and the left leg face of the first polyhedron adjoins the right leg face of the fourth polyhedron at a second dichroic interface, wherein the second interface reflects the first color component in the first polyhedron and transmits the second and third color components into the fourth polyhedron. " Examiner interprets this claim language as defining the geometric arrangement, properties and function of light separation for a dichroic splitter cube and thus Bendell in view of Doany meets these limitations because they teach a dichroic splitter cube. Doany, per Figure 1, shows a dichroic splitter cube prism 14 with the geometric arrangement of 4 right isosceles
triangles (first-fourth polyhedrons) adjoining each other to allow for the passage of light as claimed and the optical color separation of light reflected/refracted into 3 different colors(See col.3, line 58 — col.4, line 3). Thus the Examiner maintains the rejection over
the prior art combination previously presented.
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Art Unit: 2663
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action: (a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-3, 5-10 and 18-22 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Bendell (US 4,507,679) in view of Doany (5,644,432) in view of Ito et al. (US 2006/0177208) in view of Bohn et al. (US 2012/0249815) in view of Roddy
(EP 1339238).
As per claim 1, Bendell teaches a digital camera component comprising: a light splitter cube having an entrance face to receive incident light from a camera scene, the cube to split the incident light into first, second, and third color components that emerge
from the cube through a first face, a second face, and a third face of the cube, respectively(Figure 1a, light enters through lens 10, then enters into a “splitter cube” prism 12 and splits the light into three paths which exit three faces of prism and are imaged on a red, green, and blue image sensors, elements 18, 20 and 22. See co|.2, lines 58-68); and first, second and third image sensors, each being positioned to receive a respective
one of the color components that emerge from the first, second and third faces of the cube(Sp|its the light into three paths which exit three faces of prism and are
Application/Control Number: 13/229,363
Page 5
Art Unit: 2663 imaged on a red, green, and blue image sensors, elements 18, 20 and 22. See col.2, lines 58-68). To further show that the splitter cube prism can be a dichroic cube formed by 4
right isosceles triangles for splitting the white light into 3 different colors the Examiner evidences Doany which teaches the general concept that light can be deflected on a path into a dichroic cube prism and split the light into red, green and blue |ight(See Figure 1, light W enters dichroic prism 14 and splits into 3 colors (R, G, B) as also stated in col.3, line 58 — col.4, line 3). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to substitute Bendell’s prism with Doany’s prism to arrive at the Applicant’s invention such as to enhance color separation in the analogous art of optics and prisms.
To further show the optical configuration of lenses and prism as Applicant teaches per Figure 5 of specification is well known in the art, the Examiner evidences lto which teaches light entering through a lens 16, deflected 20 and bent 90 degrees
through focus/zoom lenses 18/19, then into a prism 25 in general where light is then directed to image sensors 23/24(See Figure 3). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Ito’s optical configuration with Bendell’s and Doany’s inventions to arrive at the Applicant’s invention such as to enhance optical properties of light in the analogous art of optics for a camera. Thus Ito teaches the limitations “a deflector positioned to deflect the incident light from the camera scene and an optical lens system positioned in a path of the deflected incident light between the
deflector and the entrance face of the light splitter cube” as follows per Figure 3 -- light
Application/Control Number: 13/229,363
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Art Unit: 2663 input through lens 16 “from object scene” into deflector 20 which deflects light 90
degrees down toward prism AND deflector 20 deflects light 90 degrees down through zoom/focus lenses 18/19 toward prism 25. Bendell in view of Doany in view of Ito teaches the digital camera component of
claim 1 but does not specify the optical configuration of deflector, lenses, prism and image sensors can be in a compact device which is housed in a phone as Applicant
teaches per Figure 8 of specification having the dimensionality per limitation “the incident light from the camera scene entering the housing through a face of housing, a depth from the face to an opposite side of the housing being substantially shorter than
length and width of the face”. However, this concept is well known in the art as evidenced by Bohn(Figure 3, Phone 302 which houses an optical configuration where light 314 enters and deflects 90 degrees toward/through an optical focus lens system 324, then into a prism 330 toward an image sensor 326). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Bohn’s invention with the prior art combination presented such as to enhance a compact camera and its components “on a millimeter scale” in a phone to arrive at the Applicant’s claimed invention in the analogous art of camera phones. Further, this compact configuration of optical elements as found in the prior art combination is considered to encompass the limitation “a z-height of the deflector, optical lens system, light splitter cube and image sensors is in the range 3 mm-9 mm.” The Examiner considers the compact millimeter range of compact camera components as suggested by Applicant to be a matter of design choice and further that it would have
Application/Control Number: 13/229,363
Page 7
Art Unit: 2663 been obvious to try using any variation of millimeter ranges to achieve a desired image capture on a compact device such as a phone. Thus in view of Bohn’s camera phone
with the prior art combination presented, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to try using the millimeter ranges for the camera components in a phone to arrive at the Applicant’s claimed invention in the analogous art of camera phones. Applicant's invention claims a prism/light splitter cube 2 per Figure 5 which has dichroic faces for separating the light into multiple colors. The prior art presented shows a camera with a prism for separating light into multiple colors as taught by Bendell (Figure 1b) AND further that, for a projector, the principle of light can be separated into
multiple colors using a prism shaped like a dichroic cube having 4 right isosceles triangles as taught by Doany (Figure 1). Thus the Examiner considers the combination reasonable regardless of one prism being used for a camera and one prism being used for a projector. The type of prism used is not considered to be novel and would have been recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art to be interchangeable to achieve the desired optical properties for bending light into multiple colors. However to further show
that a dichroic prism cube can be used in a camera the Examiner evidences a Kodak camera by the inventor Roddy(See figure 5, dichroic splitter x-cube 38 and paragraphs[0027 and 0019] separating light onto 30B, 30B and 30G where the dichroic splitter cube prism 38 by definition teaches the geometric arrangement of 4 right isosceles triangles). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to substitute the concept of Bendell’s prism in a camera with Doany’s projector
Application/Control Number: 13/229,363
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Art Unit: 2663 dichroic prism and Roddy’s camera dichroic prism to arrive at the Applicant’s invention such as to enhance color separation in the analogous art of optics and prisms.
As per claim 2, Bendell in view of Doany in view of lto in view of Bohn in view of Roddy teaches the digital camera component of claim 1 wherein the light splitter cube comprises essentially identically sized first, second, third and fourth transparent polyhedrons, each of the polyhedrons having a right isosceles triangular base, a right isosceles triangular top, and three faces joining corresponding sides of the triangular
base and top, wherein the three faces are a hypotenuse face, a left leg face, and a right leg face(Doany— Per Figure 1, Dichroic splitter cube prism 14 by definition teaches the geometric arrangement of 4 right isosceles triangles. See co|.3, line 58 — co|.4, line 3).
As per claim 3, Bendell in view of Doany in view of lto in view of Bohn in view of Roddy teaches the digital camera component of claim 2 wherein the hypotenuse face of
the first polyhedron is the entrance face of the light splitter cube, the right leg face of the first polyhedron adjoins the left leg face of the second polyhedron at a first dichroic interface, wherein the first interface reflects the third color component in the first polyhedron and transmits the first and second color components into the second polyhedron, and the left leg face of the first polyhedron adjoins the right leg face of the fourth polyhedron at a second dichroic interface, wherein the second interface reflects
Application/Control Number: 13/229,363
Page 9
Art Unit: 2663 the first color component in the first polyhedron and transmits the second and third color components into the fourth po|yhedron(App|icant’s claim language is interpreted as
defining the geometric arrangement and function of light separation of a dichroic splitter cube and thus Bendell in view of Doany meets these limitations because they teach a dichroic splitter cube. Doany- Per Figure 1, Dichroic splitter cube prism 14 by definition teaches the geometric arrangement of 4 right isosceles triangles and color separation of light reflected/refracted into 3 different colors.
See co|.3, line 58 — co|.4, line 3).
As per claim 5, Bendell in view of Doany in view of lto in view of Bohn in view of Roddy teaches the digital camera component of claim 1 wherein the deflector is oriented to deflect the incident light by about ninety degrees(|to- Figure 3, deflector 20 deflects light 90 degrees down through zoom/focus lenses 18/19 toward prism
25).
As per claim 6, Bendell in view of Doany in view of lto in view of Bohn in view of Roddy teaches the digital camera component of claim 1 specifying the optical configuration of deflector, lenses, prism and image sensors can be in a compact device which is housed in a phone as Applicant teaches per Figure 8 of specification. This
concept is well known in the art as evidenced by Bohn(Figure 3, Phone 302 which houses an optical configuration where light 314 enters and deflects 90 degrees toward/through an optical focus lens system 324, then into a prism 330 toward an
Application/Control Number: 13/229,363
Page 10
Art Unit: 2663 image sensor 326). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Bohn’s invention with the prior art combination presented such as to enhance a compact camera and its components “on a millimeter scale” in a phone to arrive at the Applicant’s claimed invention in the analogous art of camera phones. Further, this compact configuration of optical elements as found in the prior art combination is considered to encompass the limitation “a z-height of the deflector, optical lens system, light splitter cube and image sensors is in the range 3 mm-9 mm.” The Examiner considers the compact millimeter range of compact camera components as suggested by Applicant to be a matter of design choice and further that it would have been obvious to try using any variation of millimeter ranges to achieve a desired image capture on a compact device such as a phone. Thus in view of Bohn’s camera phone
with the prior art combination presented, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to try using the millimeter ranges for the camera components in a phone to arrive at the Applicant’s claimed invention in the analogous art of camera phones.
As per claim 7, Bendell in view of Doany in view of lto in view of Bohn in view of Roddy teaches the digital camera component of claim 6 specifying the optical configuration of deflector, lenses, prism and image sensors can be in a compact device which is housed in a phone as Applicant teaches per Figure 8 of specification. This
concept is well known in the art as evidenced by Bohn(Figure 3, Phone 302 which houses an optical configuration where light 314 enters and deflects 90 degrees toward/through an optical focus lens system 324, then into a prism 330 toward an
Application/Control Number: 13/229,363
Page 11
Art Unit: 2663 image sensor 326). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Bohn’s invention with the prior art combination presented such as to enhance a compact camera and its components “on a millimeter scale” in a phone to arrive at the Applicant’s claimed invention in the analogous art of camera phones. Further, this compact configuration of optical elements as found in the prior art combination is considered to encompass the limitation “x-length of the deflector, optical lens system, light splitter cube and image sensors is in the range 18 mm-32 mm.” The Examiner considers the compact millimeter range of compact camera components as suggested by Applicant to be a matter of design choice and further that it would have been obvious to try using any variation of millimeter ranges to achieve a desired image capture on a compact device such as a phone. Thus in view of Bohn’s camera phone
with the prior art combination presented, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to try using the millimeter ranges for the camera components in a phone to arrive at the Applicant’s claimed invention in the analogous art of camera phones.
As per claim 8, Bendell in view of Doany in view of lto in view of Bohn in view of Roddy teaches the digital camera component of claim 1 wherein the optical lens system is a zoom lens(|to- Figure 3, 18/19 lenses which can be zoom and focus. Paragraphs[0018, 0021 and 0030]).
As per claim 9, Bendell in view of Doany in view of lto in view of Bohn in view of Roddy teaches the digital camera component of claim 1 wherein the optical lens system
Application/Control Number: 13/229,363
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Art Unit: 2663 is an auto focus |ens(lto- Figure 3, 18/19 lenses which can be zoom and focus. Paragraphs[0018, 0021 and 0030]).
As per claim 10, Bendell in view of Doany in view of Ito in view of Bohn in view of Roddy teaches the digital camera component of claim 1 wherein the optical lens system
is a fixed focus |ens(lto- Figure 3, fixed focus lens 17).
As per claim 18, Bendell teaches a portable device and a digital camera integrated inside the housing, the digital camera having a deflector positioned to deflect light from a camera scene by about ninety degrees, a light splitter having an entrance
face to receive the deflected light, the light splitter to split the incident light into first, second, and third color components that emerge through a first exit face, a second exit face, and a third exit face, respectively(Figure 1a, light enters through lens 10, then enters into a “splitter cube” prism 12 and splits the light into three paths which exit three faces of prism and are imaged on a red, green, and blue image sensors, elements 18, 20 and 22. See col.2, lines 58-68), and first, second and third image
sensors, each being positioned to face the first, second and third exit faces(Splits the light into three paths which exit three faces of prism and are imaged on a red, green, and blue image sensors, elements 18, 20 and 22. See col.2, lines 58-68), To further show that the splitter cube prism can be a dichroic cube formed by 4
right isosceles triangles for splitting the white light into 3 different colors the Examiner evidences Doany which teaches the general concept that light can be deflected on a
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Art Unit: 2663 path into a dichroic cube prism and split the light into red, green and blue |ight(See Figure 1, light W enters dichroic prism 14 and splits into 3 colors (R, G, B) as also stated in co|.3, line 58 — co|.4, line 3). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to substitute Bendell’s prism with Doany’s prism to arrive at the Applicant’s invention such as to enhance color separation in the analogous art of optics and prisms. To further show the optical configuration of lenses and prism as Applicant
teaches per Figure 5 of specification is well known in the art, the Examiner evidences lto which teaches light entering through a lens 16, deflected 20 and bent 90 degrees through focus/zoom lenses 18/19, then into a prism 25 in general where light is then directed to image sensors 23/24(See Figure 3). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Ito’s optical configuration with Bendell’s and Doany’s inventions to arrive at the Applicant’s invention such as to enhance optical
properties of light in the analogous art of optics for a camera. lto further shows an optical lens system positioned in a path of the incident light between the deflector and the entrance face of the light splitter(|to- Figure 3, deflector 20 deflects light 90 degrees down through zoom/focus lenses 18/19 toward prism
25). The prior art combination does not state “a portable wireless communications device comprising: an outer housing and cellular network wireless communications circuitry integrated inside the outer housing”. However, this concept is well known in the art as evidenced by Bohn(Figure 3, Phone 302 which houses an optical
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Art Unit: 2663 configuration where light 314 enters and deflects 90 degrees toward/through an optical focus lens system 324, then into a prism 330 toward an image sensor 326). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Bohn’s
invention with the prior art combination presented such as to enhance a camera in a phone to arrive at the Applicant’s claimed invention in the analogous art of camera phones. Applicant's invention claims a prism/light splitter cube 2 per Figure 5 which has dichroic faces for separating the light into multiple colors. The prior art presented shows a camera with a prism for separating light into multiple colors as taught by Bendell (Figure 1b) AND further that, for a projector, the principle of light can be separated into
multiple colors using a prism shaped like a dichroic cube having 4 right isosceles triangles as taught by Doany (Figure 1). Thus the Examiner considers the combination reasonable regardless of one prism being used for a camera and one prism being used for a projector. The type of prism used is not considered to be novel and would have
been recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art to be interchangeable to achieve the desired optical properties for bending light into multiple colors. However to further show
that a dichroic prism cube can be used in a camera the Examiner evidences a Kodak camera by the inventor Roddy(See figure 5, dichroic splitter x-cube 38 and paragraphs[0027 and 0019] separating light onto 30B, 30B and 30G where the dichroic splitter cube prism 38 by definition teaches the geometric arrangement
of 4 right isosceles triangles). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to substitute the concept of Bendell’s prism in a camera with Doany’s
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Art Unit: 2663 projector dichroic prism and Roddy’s camera dichroic prism to arrive at the Applicant’s invention such as to enhance color separation in the analogous art of optics and prisms.
As per claim 19, Bendell in view of Doany in view of lto in view of Bohn in view of Roddy teaches the portable wireless communications device of claim 18 but may not
specify the housing of the camera phone to show a z-height of 6mm-13mm per Applicant camera phone per Figure 8 of specification. However, the camera phone housing taught by Bohn (Figure 3, phone 322) is considered to be fairly comparable to Applicant’s camera phone housing and thus is
considered to encompass the limitation “wherein the outer housing has a z-height of 6 mm-13 mm.” The Examiner considers the compact millimeter range of the camera housing as suggested by Applicant to be a matter of design choice and further that it would have been obvious to try using any variation of millimeter ranges to achieve a desired size for a compact device such as a phone. Thus in view of Bohn’s camera
phone with the prior art combination presented, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to try using the millimeter ranges for the camera phone housing to arrive at the Applicant’s claimed invention in the analogous art of camera phones.
As per claim 20, Bendell in view of Doany in view of lto in view of Bohn in view of Roddy teaches the portable wireless communications device of claim 18 further
comprising: a piano-concave lens whose planar side faces the camera scene and is positioned to bring the light from the camera scene to the deflector(lto- Figure 3, lens
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Art Unit: 2663 16); and a convex-concave lens whose convex side faces the deflector and is positioned between the deflector and the optical lens system(|to- Figure 3, convexconcave lens 18 is between deflector 20 and optical lens system 19).
As per claim 21, Bendell in view of Doany in view of lto in view of Bohn in view of Roddy teaches the portable wireless communications device of claim 18 wherein the first, second and third color components are additive primary color components(Bende|l- Figure 1b, prism 12 separates light into red, green and blue
colors. See co|.2, line 58 — co|.3, line 4. Doany— color separation into red, green, blue as stated in co|.3, line 58 — co|.4, line 3).
As per claim 22, Bendell in view of Doany in view of lto in view of Bohn in view of Roddy teaches the portable wireless communications device of claim 21 wherein the first, second, and third color components are blue, green, and red components(Bende|l-
Figure 1b, prism 12 separates light into red, green and blue colors. See co|.2, line 58 — co|.3, line 4. Doany— color separation into red, green, blue as stated in co|.3, line 58 — co|.4, line 3).
Claims 13, 14 and 17 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Bendell (US 4,507,679) in view of Doany (5,644,432) in view of Ito et al. (US 2006/0177208).
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As per claim 13, Bendell teaches a digital camera module comprising: a light splitter to split the incident light into first, second and third color components(Figure 1a, light enters through lens 10, then enters into a “splitter cube” prism 12 and splits
the light into three paths which exit three faces of prism and are imaged on a red, green, and blue image sensors, elements 18, 20 and 22. See co|.2, lines 58-68), the
splitter further having a first exit face, a second exit face, and a third exit face, first, second and third image sensors, each being positioned to face the first, second and third exit faces(Sp|its the light into three paths which exit three faces of prism and are imaged on a red, green, and blue image sensors, elements 18, 20 and 22. See co|.2, lines 58-68). To further show that the splitter cube prism can be a dichroic cube formed by 4
right isosceles triangles for splitting the white light into 3 different colors the Examiner evidences Doany which teaches the general concept that light can be deflected on a path into a dichroic cube prism and split the light into red, green and blue light(See Figure 1, light W enters dichroic prism 14 and splits into 3 colors (R, G, B) as also stated in co|.3, line 58 — co|.4, line 3). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to substitute Bendell’s prism with Doany’s prism to arrive at the Applicant’s invention such as to enhance color separation in the analogous art of optics and prisms.
To further show the optical configuration of lenses and prism as Applicant teaches per Figure 5 of specification is well known in the art, the Examiner evidences lto which teaches light entering through a lens 16, deflected 20 and bent 90 degrees
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Art Unit: 2663
through focus/zoom lenses 18/19, then into a prism 25 in general where light is then directed to image sensors 23/24(See Figure 3). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Ito’s optical configuration with Bendell’s and Doany’s inventions to arrive at the Applicant’s invention such as to enhance optical
properties of light in the analogous art of optics for a camera. lto further shows an optical lens system positioned in a path of the incident light between the deflector and the entrance face of the light splitter(|to- Figure 3, deflector 20 deflects light 90 degrees down through zoom/focus lenses 18/19 toward prism
25). Regarding the limitation “the light splitter being formed of essentially identical
first, second, third and fourth transparent polyhedrons, each of the polyhedrons having a right isosceles triangular base, a right isosceles triangular top, and three faces joining corresponding sides of the triangular base and top, wherein the three faces are a
hypotenuse face, a left leg face, and a right leg face, wherein the hypotenuse face of the first polyhedron is the entrance face of the light splitter, the right leg face of the first polyhedron adjoins the left leg face of the second polyhedron at a first dichroic interface, wherein the first interface reflects the third color component in the first polyhedron and
transmits the first and second color components into the second polyhedron, and the left leg face of the first polyhedron adjoins the right leg face of the fourth polyhedron at a second dichroic interface, wherein the second interface reflects the first color component in the first polyhedron and transmits the second and third color components into the fourth polyhedron”(App|icant’s claim language is interpreted as defining the
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Art Unit: 2663 geometric arrangement and function of light separation of a dichroic splitter cube and thus Bendell in view of Doany meets these limitations because they teach a dichroic splitter cube. Doany- Per Figure 1, Dichroic splitter cube prism 14 by
definition teaches the geometric arrangement of 4 right isosceles triangles and color separation of light reflected/refracted into 3 different colors. See col.3, line 58 — col.4, line 3).
As per claim 14, Bendell in view of Doany in view of Ito teaches the digital camera module of claim 13 wherein the deflector is oriented to deflect the incident light by about ninety degrees(lto- Figure 3, deflector 20 deflects light 90 degrees down through zoom/focus lenses 18/19 toward prism 25).
As per claim 17, Bendell in view of Doany in view of Ito teaches the digital camera module of claim 14 further comprising: a piano-concave lens whose planar side faces the camera scene and is positioned to bring the light from the camera scene to
the deflector(lto- Figure 3, lens 16); and a convex-concave lens whose convex side faces the deflector and is positioned between the deflector and the optical lens system(lto- Figure 3, convex-concave lens 18 is between deflector 20 and optical lens system 19).
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Claims 15 and 16 are rejected under pre-AlA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Bendell (US 4,507,679) in view of Doany (5,644,432) in view of Ito et
al. (US 2006/0177208) in View of Bohn et al. (US 2012/0249815).
As per claim 15, Bendell in view of Doany in view of Ito teaches the digital
camera module of claim 14 but does not specify the optical configuration of deflector, lenses, prism and image sensors can be in a compact device which is housed in a phone as Applicant teaches per Figure 8 of specification. However, this concept is well known in the art as evidenced by Bohn(Figure 3, Phone 302 which houses an optical configuration where light 314 enters and deflects 90 degrees toward/through an optical focus lens system 324, then into a
prism 330 toward an image sensor 326). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Bohn’s invention with the prior art combination presented such as to enhance a compact camera and its components “on a millimeter scale” in a phone to arrive at the Applicant’s claimed invention in the analogous art of camera phones. Further, this compact configuration of optical elements as found in the prior art combination is considered to encompass the limitation “a z-height of the deflector, optical lens system, light splitter cube and image sensors is in the range 3 mm-9 mm.” The Examiner considers the compact millimeter range of compact camera components as suggested by Applicant to be a matter of design choice and further that it would have been obvious to try using any variation of millimeter ranges to achieve a desired image
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Art Unit: 2663 capture on a compact device such as a phone. Thus in view of Bohn’s camera phone
with the prior art combination presented, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to try using the millimeter ranges for the camera components in a phone to arrive at the Applicant’s claimed invention in the analogous art of camera phones.
As per claim 16, Bendell in view of Doany in view of lto teaches the digital
camera module of claim 14 but does not specify the optical configuration of deflector, lenses, prism and image sensors can be in a compact device which is housed in a phone as Applicant teaches per Figure 8 of specification. However, this concept is well known in the art as evidenced by Bohn(Figure 3, Phone 302 which houses an optical configuration where light 314 enters and deflects 90 degrees toward/through an optical focus lens system 324, then into a prism 330 toward an image sensor 326).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Bohn’s invention with the prior art combination presented such as to enhance a compact camera and its components “on a millimeter scale” in a phone to arrive at the Applicant’s claimed invention in the analogous art of camera phones. Further, this compact configuration of optical elements as found in the prior art combination is considered to encompass the limitation “x-length of the deflector, optical lens system, light splitter cube and image sensors is in the range 18 mm-32 mm.” The Examiner considers the compact millimeter range of compact camera components as suggested by Applicant to be a matter of design choice and further that it would have been obvious to try using any variation of millimeter ranges to achieve a desired image
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Art Unit: 2663 capture on a compact device such as a phone. Thus in view of Bohn’s camera phone
with the prior art combination presented, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to try using the millimeter ranges for the camera components in a phone to arrive at the Applicant’s claimed invention in the analogous art of camera phones.
Claim 11 is rejected under pre-AlA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Bendell (US 4,507,679) in view of Doany (5,644,432) in view of Ito et al. (US
2006/0177208) in view of Bohn et al. (US 2012/0249815) in view of Roddy (EP 1339238) in view of Cho et al. (2011/0181955).
As per claim 11, Bendell in view of Doany in view of lto in view of Bohn in view of Roddy teaches the digital camera component of claim 1 having a deflector and part of a camera shake system in general(lto- Figure 3, deflector 20, camera shake
mechanisms 27/28) but does not specify wherein the deflector comprises a folding mirror that is coupled to be tilted or rolled by a powered actuator under automatic control, as part of an optical image stabilization (OIS) mechanism. However, this concept is well known in the art as evidenced by Cho which teaches a lens configuration similar to Applicant’s where a powered deflector is used for image
stabilization(Figure 10d, deflector 103, actuator for rolling/tilting 102B. Paragraphs[0008 and 0087]). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to substitute lto’s deflector with Cho’s powered deflector to arrive at the Applicant’s invention such as to enhance image stabilization in the analogous art of
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Art Unit: 2663 cameras and optics.
Claim 12 is rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Bendell (US 4,507,679) in view of Doany (5,644,432) in view of Ito et al. (US
2006/0177208) in view of Bohn et al. (US 2012/0249815) in view of Roddy (EP 1339238) in view of Tiao (US 2006/0055016).
As per claim 12, Bendell in view of Doany in view of Ito in view of Bohn in view of Roddy teaches the digital camera component of claim 1 where the images sensors are electrically connected to a circuit layer(Bende||- Figure 3, Various circuit layer at outputs of image sensors 314, 317 and 311.); wherein each of the image sensors are a clear image sensor having an array of photocells(|to- paragraph[0022] states prism separates light into different colors which then enters the various image sensors which is considered to be an unfiltered/clear image sensor); protected by a transparent cover plate that is located in front of the sensor(|to- Figure 4- image sensor 23 has a transparent cover plate as shown). To further show the camera packaging substrate layer for each image sensor can be covered with micro lenses and can be protected by a transparent cover plate that is located in front of the sensor and that leaves an air gap between the cover plate and the micro lenses are well known in the art, the Examiner evidences Tiao(Figure 3F — Transparent cover 10 protects over image sensor 20 which has a micro lens layer 21 above it and an air gap 40 between the cover and micro lens. Figure 3E - circuit
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Art Unit: 2663
board 70). Thus it would have obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Tiao’s camera packaging techniques with the camera packing modules taught by the prior art combination presented to arrive at the Applicant’s claimed invention such as to
enhance imaging properties in the analogous art of cameras. The prior art combination recognizes that the use of a color separation prism does not require color filters in general, but Applicant may argue that the prior art combination may not teach the absence of color filters between the micro lens and
image sensor, although Tiao’s teachings of this do appear to show the absence of color filters per their drawings. However, Official Notice (MPEP § 2144.03) is taken that both the concepts and advantages of using a clear image sensor without the need of a
color filter are well known and expected in the art. At the time the invention was made, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art to have used a clear image
sensor with a micro lens array in order to achieve certain image processing aspects.
Conclusion Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in
this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37
CFR1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not
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mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any
extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
Contacts Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AKSHAY TREHAN whose telephone number is (571 )270-5252. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Twyler Haskins can be reached on (571)272-7406. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571 -273-8300. 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). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272—1000.
Application/Control Number: 13/229,363 Art Unit: 2663
/AKSHAY TREHAN/ Examiner, Art Unit 2663
/TWYLER HASKINS/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2663
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