Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shinoda (US 20200152442)
Shinoda discloses
1. A lighting device, comprising:
at least two discharge light modules 11, including at least one first discharge light module and at least one second discharge light module, wherein each discharge light module contains at least one excitable gas, which emits electromagnetic radiation pursuant to electric excitation (par. 4, 18); and
multiple electrodes (32X, 32Y, 73X, 73Y), wherein at least one pair of electrodes is assigned to each discharge light module for applying an electric field to the at least one excitable gas within the respective discharge light module (par. 4, 42+);
wherein the two electrodes of each pair of electrodes are spaced apart from each other along a longitudinal direction of the respective discharge light module (Fig. 2-7);
wherein the pairs of electrodes include at least one first pair of electrodes, which is assigned to the at least one first discharge light module, and at least one second pair of electrodes, which is assigned to the at least one second discharge light module (Fig. 2-7); and
wherein a distance between the two electrodes of the at least one first pair of electrodes is smaller than a distance between the two electrodes of the at least one second pair of electrodes (Fig. 6).
Shinoda is silent to the lighting device can be used as an interior lighting device.
However, this is considered an obvious extension of the prior art’s teachings as it is merely an intended use of the device.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date the invention was made to use the prior art device in an aircraft as a design choice.
Shinoda is further silent to wherein the lighting device is configured such that it emits UV light only after there are no humans present within the aircraft.
It is respectfully submitted that Shinoda mentions that the generated UV radiation can be used for disinfection effects, i.e. by wrapping two or three light source devices 70 around the pipe in series, an ultraviolet irradiation area is lengthened, and the disinfection effects are enhanced … by lighting the plurality of gas discharge light-emitting tubes 11 of the light source device 70, running water in the running water pipe 81 is irradiated with ultraviolet light from an entire circumference of the pipe and is subjected to a disinfection treatment (par. 59-60)
Thus, although not expressly stated, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date the invention was made that since the generated UV radiation can eliminate bacteria or harmful organisms, it can also harm useful organisms on human body, and therefore the UV radiation for disinfection should occur only there are no human in the vicinity. Furthermore, this limitation is an intended use thus carries minimum patentable weight.
2.1, comprising: at least two first pairs of electrodes and at least two first discharge light modules, wherein at least one of the at least two first pairs of electrodes is assigned to each of the at least two first discharge light modules, respectively; and at least two second pairs of electrodes and least two second discharge light modules, wherein at least one of the at least two second pairs of electrodes is assigned to each of the at least two second discharge light modules, respectively; wherein the distance between the two electrodes of each of the at least two first pairs of electrodes is smaller than the distance between the two electrodes of each of the at least two second pairs of electrodes (Figs. 5-7).
3.1, wherein the distance between the two electrodes of the at least one first pair of electrodes is between 2 mm and 7 mm (par. 34-36).
5.1, wherein the at least two discharge light modules are supported by a common support (21, Fig. 1), in particular by a common support plate, or wherein the interior aircraft lighting device comprises two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine or ten discharge light modules.
6.1, wherein at least two pairs of electrodes are assigned to a particular first discharge light module, or wherein at least two pairs of electrodes are assigned to a particular second discharge light module (Figs. 1-7).
7.1, wherein the electromagnetic radiation, emitted by the at least one excitable gas, includes electromagnetic radiation in the range of ultraviolet light in the range from 210 nm to 230 nm (UV light inherently known to be within range of 10-400 nm).
8.1, including an electric power supply for supplying electric power to each pair of electrodes, wherein the electric power is in particular supplied with a voltage (U) between 1000 V and 5000 V (Shinoda, par. 7, 42)
9. A passenger aircraft comprising: at least one interior aircraft lighting device according to claim 1 (see discussion regarding claims above.).
10. The passenger aircraft according to claim 9, further comprising: a lavatory and/or a galley, wherein at least one interior aircraft lighting device is installed within the lavatory and/or within the galley of the aircraft (this is an intended use in known aircrafts having lavatory and gallery).
11. The passenger aircraft according to claim 9, further comprising: at least one passenger seat and at least one passenger service unit arranged above the at least one passenger seat; wherein at least one interior aircraft lighting device is arranged for irradiating at least a portion of the at least one passenger seat and/or the at least one passenger service unit with electromagnetic radiation, which is emitted by the at least two discharge light modules of the at least one interior aircraft lighting device (this is an intended use of the prior art lighting device in known aircrafts).
Re claim 12-14, see discussion regarding claims above.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shinoda (US 20200152442) in view of Yagyu (US 20220059336 )
Re claim 4.1, Shinoda is silent to wherein the at least two discharge light modules are arranged next to each other in a side-by-side arrangement such that electromagnetic radiation, which is emitted by one of the at least two discharge light modules, excites the at least one excitable gas in at least one other discharge light module; wherein the at least two discharge light modules are in particular arranged in a parallel configuration, so that the longitudinal directions of the discharge light modules are oriented basically parallel to each other
Yagyu discloses an excited lamp 12 emits light L12 that has high energy to turn on the next lamps (Yagyu, Fig. 7, par. 77+)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date the invention was made to incorporate the teachings of Yagyu to manage the excited output light more effectively
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments have been considered but are moot in view of new ground of rejection.
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 CFR 1.136(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 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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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 mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THIEN MAI whose telephone number is (571)272-8283. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Steven Paik can be reached at 571-272-2404. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/THIEN T MAI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
Prosecution Insights