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 .
Election/Restrictions
The restriction requirement between two groups, as set forth in the Office action mailed on 7/08/25, has been reconsidered in view of the amended claims, therefore, the restriction requirement is hereby withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by a reference (KR 101446836 B1) refer to as KR101 and an English attachment.
Claim 1, KR101 discloses a misuse warning module (Figs. 10, 11), comprising:
a detection circuit (Ra1, Rc, Cf, Fig. 10), electrically connected to a power loop of a LED lamp (La1-Lan are connected between a positive terminal and negative terminal of a bridge diode DB), and configured to detect a type of an external power supply signal (see English attachment: see P[0047]…unknown ballast…; and see first paragraph of Summary of the Invention:…a fluorescent lamp-compatible LED lamp capable of easily discriminating whether or not it is suitable for an unknown ballast….a conventional magnetic and electronic fluorescent ballast…) and current level of the power loop to generate a detection signal (signal between Rc and Cf); and
a warning circuit (Sr, Rp, and Lp), configured to receive the detection signal and generate a warning when the LED lamp is not properly installed (see English attachment: P[0048]…the status monitoring function of the present invention provides an alarm to the outside when an abnormal voltage is applied…).
Claim 2, KR101 discloses misuse warning module of claim 1, wherein the detection circuit comprising: a first detection circuit (Ra1, Rc, Cf, Fig. 10), electrically connected to the power loop of the LED lamp, and configured to detect the current level (Ra1 is current sensing resistor which sense current level) of the power loop, output a first detection signal (high which turn on switch SW, see Fig. 11) when the current level is greater than a set threshold (see English attachment: [0050] …when a VLED greater than the reference voltage is applied…; and P[0047]…when the power supply voltage of the LED lamp is supplied from the unknown ballast to a voltage higher than the steady state, the charging voltage across Cf increases, The shunt regulator Sr operates and the LED Lp is turn on…), and output a second detection signal (low which does not turn on the switch SW, Fig. 11) when the current level is lower than or equal to the set threshold (when input, Fig. 11, is lower than or equal to the reference voltage).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-12 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 13-17 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
with respect to claim 13, in addition to other limitations in the claim, the prior art fails to teach, disclose or render obvious the applicant’s invention as claimed, particularly the feature describing: an impedance adjusting module, electrically connected to the first pin and the second pin, and configured to adjust impedance of the power loop to affect the determination of the installation detection module, wherein when a first resistor is connected in series in the power loop, the installation detection module limits the current of the power loop and the LED lamp cannot be lit normally; and when at least two or more of the LED lamps are connected in parallel, the installation detection module does not limit the current of the power loop and the plurality of the LED lights are lit normally; and wherein, the external power supply signal is supplied to the LED lamp through the power loop, and the first resistor is connected in series with the plurality of LED lamps.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Bae Hyun Kook (KR 20130130925A) and Shen et al. (CN 204028258 U) disclose a LED lamp comprises a detection circuit, electrically connected to a power loop of a LED lamp, and configured to detect a type of an external power supply signal and current level of the power loop to generate a detection signal; and a warning circuit, configured to receive the detection signal and generate a warning when the LED lamp is not properly installed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANH Q TRAN whose telephone number is (571)272-1813. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9AM - 5PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Alexander H Taningco can be reached at 571-272-8048. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANH Q TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2844 12/3/25