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 .
Request for Information Under 37 CFR §1.105
Applicant and the assignee of this application are required under 37 CFR 1.105 to provide the following information that the examiner has determined is reasonably necessary to the examination of this application.
In response to this requirement, please provide answers to each of the following interrogatories eliciting factual information:
1) Cooper Lighting Solutions published a video on Youtube entitled “Sports Lighting Layout Simplified with LightARchitect” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy5DKZQy9vA, published May 26, 2022). The video shows that the Light Architect software includes features such as selecting the templates, overlaying the templates onto the satellite view, and running the calculations that are the subject of the present application (see screenshot below). When were the template features made available in the software, and were they available before March 3rd, 2021?
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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) 1-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cooper Lighting Solutions, “Light Architect App – Satellite View Step-by-Step Tutorial” (herein after Cooper), in view of Harrison et al. (US 2022/0189139) (hereinafter Harrison), and further in view of designresourcesdownload.com, “Architecture CAD Drawings Download Site” (hereinafter Design Resources).
Regarding claims 1 and 11, Cooper teaches a method and lighting design device comprising a display screen and controller configured to perform the method (pg. 3, touch screen computing device), the method comprising:
displaying, by a user device, a satellite view image on a display screen, wherein the satellite view image includes an area (Pgs. 4-19, the user selects the “use satellite view” option in the Light Architect App and it displays a satellite view image on the display screen that include an area, specifically in this example a parking lot of a car dealership);
displaying, by the user device, a menu of lighting design (pgs. 22-24, displaying a menu of lighting designs),
wherein a lighting design is selected from the menu of lighting designs (pgs. 24-25, the galleon lighting design is selected from the lightings designs menu); and
displaying, by the user device, the lighting design on the display screen, and aligning the lighting design to be overlaid on the area, wherein the lighting design includes a frame and one or more light pole markers, wherein each light pole marker of the one or more light pole markers corresponds to a light pole and one or more light fixtures attached to the light pole, and wherein the frame matches an outline of the area (pg 53, the lighting design is on the display screen with the frame around 5 light pole markers where each light pole marker corresponds to a light pole and one or more light fixtures attached to the light pole, and the frame matches the outline of the parking lot area) .
Cooper does not explicitly teach the use of lighting design templates. However, Harrison teaches automated design deployment and an operation platform for lighting installations including use of lighting design templates (fig. 7, library of templates 246; ph. [0262], “the library of templates 246 may be provided on the platform with content that facilitates the development of a lighting design. Templates may be created for types of environments (offices, lobbies, guest rooms, bathrooms, etc.), for industries, for workflows, for overall aesthetic effects, and for many other purposes. Templates may be linked to requirements, such as various requirements described below. In embodiments, the library of templates 246 may include ones for hotels, high-end residential lighting installations, restaurants, casinos, educational environments, healthcare environments, enterprise workplaces, manufacturing facilities, warehouses, and many others.”; ph. [0263], “Whether starting with a template or not, the lighting design environment 238 may be used to explore various design elements and variations. The user may discover, for example, by trying different lighting objects 226, that a particular lighting design will work with a given lighting space object… Thus, the user may experiment with various settings and configurations of the lighting objects 226 to explore the environment. In embodiments, the user may also change lighting space objects in the lighting design environment 238”). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date would have been motivated to modify Cooper in the manner taught by Harrison in order to give users a good starting point for designing the lighting environment and speeding up the design workflow.
This Cooper/Harrison combination does not explicitly teach that the area is a sports area and the lighting design templates correspond to different sports. However, Design Resources teaches that the area is a sports area and the lighting design templates correspond to different sports (pg. 1, shows templates of basketball stadiums, hockey, baseball, etc.; pg. 24, Stadium Design Layout V5; pages 39 and 41, depicting Stadium Design Layout V5 including the lighting design template). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date would have been motivated to apply the Cooper/Harrison combination to sports fields, as taught by Design Resources, in order to increase the utility of the system and increase revenue beyond the environments listed in ph. [0262] of Harrison.
Regarding claim 2, the Cooper/Harrison/Design Resources combination teaches the method of claim 1. Design Resources further teaches the sports area is a football field, a baseball field, a soccer field, a tennis court, a basketball court, or an empty field (pg. 1, cad templates including especially “free stadium plans” show football field, a baseball field, a soccer field, a tennis court, a basketball court, or an empty field).
Regarding claims 3 and 12, the Cooper/Harrison/Design Resources combination teaches the method of claim 1 and device of claim 11. Copper further teaches identifying an existing lighting design based on the lighting design template and parameters associated with the lighting design template; displaying, by the user device, a value assignable to a parameter of the parameters associated with the lighting design template; and assigning the value to the parameter in response to a user input selecting the value (pgs. 31-39, the lighting element is identified/selected, they user can and does change the number of heads, mounting angle and arm length, as well as the lumen package color temperature and the optics, and then applies the changes).
Regarding claim 4, the Cooper/Harrison/Design Resources combination teaches the method of claim 3. Copper further teaches changing, by the user device, a number of the one or more light pole markers displayed on the user device to the value, wherein the parameter is a number of light poles corresponding to the one or more light pole markers (pg. 31, add fixture button; pgs. 40-44, changes the number of light pole parkers displayed to have 5 light poles).
Regarding claim 5, the Cooper/Harrison/Design Resources combination teaches the method of claim 3. Copper further teaches wherein the parameter includes a height of one or more light poles corresponding to the one or more light pole markers, wherein the value is assigned as the height of the one or more light poles (pg. 34, “Arm Length (Feet)”).
Regarding claim 6, the Cooper/Harrison/Design Resources combination teaches the method of claim 3. Copper further teaches comprising changing, by the user device, a size of the lighting design template, wherein the parameter is a size of the area (pgs. 49-54, the size of the area is changeable to limit the area required to have the calculations performed in). , Design Resources teaches that the area is a sports area and the lighting design templates correspond to different sports (pg. 1, shows templates of basketball stadiums, hockey, baseball, etc.; pg. 24, Stadium Design Layout V5; pages 39 and 41, depicting Stadium Design Layout V5 including the lighting design template). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date would have been motivated to apply the Cooper/Harrison combination to sports fields, as taught by Design Resources, in order to increase the utility of the system and increase revenue beyond the environments listed in ph. [0262] of Harrison.
Regarding claims 7 and 13, the Cooper/Harrison/Design Resources combination teaches the method of claim 3 and device of claim 11. Copper further teaches determining illuminance information at least based the existing lighting design; and displaying, by the user device, the illuminance information overlaid on the area, wherein the illuminance information indicates illuminance on the area (pgs. 48, 49, 55-58).
Regarding claim 8, the Cooper/Harrison/Design Resources combination teaches the method of claim 7. Design Resources further teaches comprising displaying, by the user device, a second lighting design template overlaid on a second sports area included in the satellite view image (pgs. 39 and 41, second sports area on left being the swimming pool with lighting design as opposed to the basketball court on the right).
Regarding claim 9, the Cooper/Harrison/Design Resources combination teaches the method of claim 7, Cooper second illuminance information at least based on a second existing lighting design, wherein the second existing lighting design is selected based on the second existing lighting design template and second parameters associated with the second existing lighting design template (pg. 48, first illuminance information; pgs. 54-58, second illuminance information at least based on second existing lighting design second parameters associated with the second existing lighting design template). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to duplicate the steps of claim 7 to cover other areas such as having illuminance information for the swimming pool area of Design Resources and second illuminance information for the basketball court area. See MPEP §2144.04(VI)(B)(“the court held that mere duplication of parts has no patentable significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced.”).
Regarding claim 10, the Cooper/Harrison/Design Resources combination teaches the method of claim 1. Copper further teaches generating, by the user device, a report that includes lighting design information for use in implementing the existing lighting design (pgs. 59-64, generates a report that includes lighting design formation for use in implementing the existing lighting design and then lets you email a PDF of the report).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Johnson (US 2021/0217072) teaches luminaire selection and architectural design.
Lanz (US 2020/0049319) teaches high power led floodlight lamps to illuminate sports fields.
Boudreau et al. (US 2020/0257831) teaches a LED lighting simulation system.
Seuntien et al. (US Pat. 10,467,670) teaches assisting a user in selecting a lighting device.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRIAN W WATHEN whose telephone number is (571)270-5570. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5:30pm.
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BRIAN W. WATHEN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2151
/BRIAN W WATHEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2151
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