DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on January 16, 2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
This Office Action is in response to the applicant’s amendment filed on January 16, 2026. Claims 1-24 and 34-35 have been canceled. Claims 25 and 36 have been amended.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 25 and 36 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 25-33 and 36-45 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang (US 10,184,630 B1) in view of Pesu et al. (US 7,277,626 B2), Chien (US 8,303,150 B2) and Blocker et al. (US 5,437,540).
With regard to claim 36, the device of Wang discloses a device comprising: a housing (2) having a socket portion (Fig. 1); a pair of electrical plug blades (21) coupled to the housing and configured to be plugged into an electrical outlet in the wall (Fig. 1); a decorative cover assembly (Fig. 1) coupled to the housing and concealing at least part of the socket portion (Fig. 5), wherein the decorative cover assembly comprises: an outer cover (31); a backplate (32) coupled to the outer cover, the backplate being a single component having a plurality of apertures (non-shading patterns 35) formed therein, wherein the backplate (32) is located on a same side as the pair of electrical plug blades (21, Fig. 5) such that the plurality of apertures (35) are configured to face the wall when the electrical plug blades are plugged into the electrical outlet (Fig. 8); the plurality of apertures comprising a first aperture located proximate a lateral end of the backplate (lateral patterns of the snowflake, Fig. 7) and a second aperture located proximate a top end of the backplate (top patterns of the snowflake, Fig. 7).
Wang does not disclose that the device is a fragrance dispenser comprising a receptacle configured to receive a bottle having a fragranced liquid therein.
However, Pesu teaches a fragrance dispenser (100) comprising a housing having a socket portion defining a receptacle configured to receive a bottle (114) having a fragranced liquid therein and a decorative cover assembly (Fig. 4).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Wang, by incorporating fragrance dispenser (100) as taught by Pesu on the same side of the backplate of Wang, doing it would provide a combined nightlight and air freshener (Col. 3 lines 36-37).
Wang does not disclose that a plurality of films, each film in the plurality of films being positioned across a respective aperture in the plurality of apertures, and including a first film positioned across the first aperture and a second film positioned across the second aperture; and a plurality of light sources, each light source in the plurality of light sources being positioned between the backplate and the outer cover and being directed at a respective aperture and the film positioned thereacross, and including a first light source directed at the first aperture and the first film and a second light source directed at the second aperture and the second film; wherein each film in the plurality of films has an opaque portion and a translucent portion together defining an image, the image being positioned across the respective aperture, the first film having a first image and the second film having a second image; wherein light from each respective light source projects through the translucent portion of a respective film to form an illuminated version of the image on the wall; wherein light from the first light source projects through the translucent portion of the first film to form an illuminated version of the first image on the wall and laterally to a side of the decorative cover assembly; and wherein light from the second light source projects through the translucent portion of the second film to form an illuminated version of the second image on the wall and above the decorative cover assembly.
However, Chien teaches an image projection device comprising, a plurality of apertures, a plurality of films, and a plurality of light sources (Figs. 3-4), and the film positioned there across and including a first light source directed at the first aperture and the first film and a second light source directed at the second aperture and the second film (Figs. 3-4 and 34), each film in the plurality of films being positioned across a respective aperture in the plurality of apertures and including a first film positioned across the first aperture and a second film positioned across the second aperture; wherein each film in the plurality of films has an opaque portion (messages in Fig. 4) and a translucent portion together defining an image, the image being positioned across the respective aperture, the first film having a first image and the second film having a second image; and wherein light from each respective light source projects through the translucent portion of a respective film to form an illuminated version of the image on an wall; wherein light from the first light source projects through the translucent portion of the first film to form an illuminated version of the first image on the wall and laterally to a side of the decorative cover assembly (Santa Figs. 3-4) and wherein light from the second light source projects through the translucent portion of the second film to form an illuminated version of the second image on the wall and above the decorative cover assembly (Figs. 3-4 and 34).
Blocker also teaches an image projection device comprising films, each film in the plurality of films has an opaque portion and a translucent portion together defining an image (Col. 7 lines 35-44).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the decorative cover assembly of Wang, by replacing the snowflake pattern and the light source of Wang with a plurality of message films as taught by Chien and Blocker, doing it would provide ability to project an advertisement, seasonal image, promotion, message, electronic photo album, or other desired image to a preferred location (Col. 1 lines 29-31).
With regard to claim 37, the device of Wang as modified by Pesu, Chien and Blocker discloses the invention as disclosed in the rejection of claim 36 above. Wang further discloses that the decorative cover assembly further comprises a printed circuit board (41) on which each of the light sources is held.
With regard to claim 38, the device of Wang as modified by Pesu, Chien and Blocker discloses the invention as disclosed in the rejection of claim 36 above. Wang further discloses that a collar (22) coupling the decorative cover assembly to the housing (Fig. 8).
With regard to claim 39, the device of Wang as modified by Pesu, Chien and Blocker discloses the invention as disclosed in the rejection of claim 36 above. Wang further discloses that each light source has a different color than the other light sources in the plurality of light sources (Col. 2 lines 61-64).
With regard to claim 40, the device of Wang as modified by Pesu, Chien and Blocker discloses the invention as disclosed in the rejection of claim 36 above. Pesu further discloses that the illuminated versions of the image forms first and second images form a scene together with the decorative cover assembly (Col. 6 lines 61-65).
With regard to claim 41, the device of Wang as modified by Pesu, Chien and Blocker discloses the invention as disclosed in the rejection of claim 36 above. Wang further discloses that each light source has a different color than the other light sources in the plurality of light sources, such that each illuminated version of the image has a different color than the illuminated versions of the other images (Col. 2 lines 61-64).
With regard to claim 42, the device of Wang as modified by Pesu, Chien and Blocker discloses the invention as disclosed in the rejection of claim 36 above. Chien further discloses that each film is held in place with respect to the respective aperture by way of an interference fit (Figs. 4 and 34).
With regard to claim 43, the device of Wang as modified by Pesu, Chien and Blocker discloses the invention as disclosed in the rejection of claim 36 above. Chien further discloses that each aperture (Fig. 34) in the plurality of apertures comprises a perimeter having one or more cutouts (85), each film in the plurality of films comprises a perimeter having one or more projections (85a), and the one or more cutouts in a given film interface with the one or more projections in a corresponding aperture to hold the given film in the corresponding aperture (Fig. 34).
It is noted by the Examiner that it has been held that a mere reversal of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. In re Einstein, 8 USPQ 167. A person skilled in the art that the modification is obvious since a mere reversal of the essential working does not produce a new and unexpected result. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the applicant's invention to employ the film defined with one or more cutouts and the aperture with one or more projections in corresponding to the cutouts, since a mere reversal of the essential working does not produce a new and unexpected result (MPEP 2144.04 VI A Reversal of Parts).
With regard to claim 44, the device of Wang as modified by Pesu, Chien and Blocker discloses the invention as disclosed in the rejection of claim 36 above. Chien and Blocker further disclose that each film is transparent, and the opaque portion is a printed portion on the film.
With regard to claim 45, the device of Wang as modified by Pesu, Chien and Blocker discloses the invention as disclosed in the rejection of claim 36 above. Chien and Blocker further disclose that the illuminated version of the image comprises non-illuminated sections within illuminated sections.
With regard to claims 25-33, the device of Wang as modified by Pesu, Chien and Blocker discloses the invention as disclosed in the rejection of claims 36-42 above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOEL ZHOU whose telephone number is (571)270-1163. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9AM-5PM.
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JOEL . ZHOU
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3752
/QINGZHANG ZHOU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3752
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