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
Applicant’s election of Species I, claims 1-7 and 10-22 in the reply filed on 19 December 2025 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Claim and Specification Status
The Examiner acknowledges the amendments to claims 1, 5, 14-15 and 20 in the response filed by the Applicant on 19 December 2025.
The Examiner acknowledges the cancellation of claims 8-9 in the response filed by the Applicant on 19 December 2025.
The Examiner acknowledges the addition of new claims 21-22 in the response filed by the Applicant on 19 December 2025.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 28 July 2023 and 1 October 2025 have been considered by the examiner and made of record in the application file.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference characters are not mentioned in the description: Reference character “150” as shown in Fig. 5 and Fig. 9 and reference character “A1” as shown in Fig. 2. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference characters in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
Applicant is reminded of the proper content of an abstract of the disclosure.
A patent abstract is a concise statement of the technical disclosure of the patent and should include that which is new in the art to which the invention pertains. The abstract should not refer to purported merits or speculative applications of the invention and should not compare the invention with the prior art.
If the patent is of a basic nature, the entire technical disclosure may be new in the art, and the abstract should be directed to the entire disclosure. If the patent is in the nature of an improvement in an old apparatus, process, product, or composition, the abstract should include the technical disclosure of the improvement. The abstract should also mention by way of example any preferred modifications or alternatives.
Where applicable, the abstract should include the following: (1) if a machine or apparatus, its organization and operation; (2) if an article, its method of making; (3) if a chemical compound, its identity and use; (4) if a mixture, its ingredients; (5) if a process, the steps.
Extensive mechanical and design details of an apparatus should not be included in the abstract. The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph within the range of 50 to 150 words in length.
See MPEP § 608.01(b) for guidelines for the preparation of patent abstracts.
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because the abstract exceeds 150 words. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 11 and Claim 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 11 recites the limitation "the front side portion" in lines 7 and 8. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. “the front side portion” will be interpreted as “a front side portion” for the purpose of examination.
Claim 11 further recites the limitation "the front and rear side portion" in line 17. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. “the front side and rear side portions” will be interpreted as “the front side portion” and “a rear side portion” for the purpose of examination.
Claim 16 recites the limitation "the substrate" in line 6. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. “the substrate” will be interpreted as “the circuit board” for the purpose of examination.
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.
Claims 1-7 and 11-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seong Jin Hwang et al. (US 2019/0137046 A1; hereinafter “Hwang”) in view of Shinji Tokutomi (JP 2004-039778 A; hereinafter “Tokutomi”).
Regarding Claim 1, Hwang teaches a lighting device comprising:
a circuit board (401, Fig. 53, para [0365] describes a circuit board 401);
a plurality of light emitting device packages disposed on the circuit board (100, Fig. 53, para [0380] describes light emitting devices 100 disposed on the circuit board 401);
a resin layer covering the plurality of light emitting device packages (650, Fig. 53, para [0380] describes a resin member 650 disposed on the light emitting device packages 100); and
a diffusion layer that diffuses light on the resin layer (230, Fig. 53, para [0372] describes an optical member 230 that may diffuse and transmit incident light wherein the diffusion layer 230 is located over the resin layer 650),
wherein each of the plurality of light emitting device packages (100) includes:
a body having a first side portion facing an upper surface of the circuit board (11, Fig. 90, para [0475] describes a first side portion 11 which may be a side surface corresponding to the circuit board), a second side portion opposite to the first side portion (12, Fig. 90, para [0475] describes a second side portion 12 opposite to the first side portion 11), third and fourth side portions on both sides of the first and second side portions (13 and 14, Fig. 90, para [0475] describes third side portion 13 and fourth side portion 14 adjacent to the first side portion 11 and second side portion 12), a front side portion (15, Fig. 90, para [0476] describes a front side portion 15), and a rear side portion (16, Fig. 90, para [0476] describes a rear side portion 16), and a cavity in which a part of the front side portion is opened (20, Fig. 90, para [0476] describes a cavity 20 which may be disposed in the front side portion 15);
a plurality of lead frames (30 and 40, Fig. 90-Fig.92, para [0477 and para [0478] describe first lead frame 30 and second lead frame 40) each having a plurality of frames disposed on a bottom of the cavity (31 and 41, Fig. 90-Fig. 92, para [0477] describes wherein first lead frame 30 includes a first lead portion 31 disposed at the bottom of the cavity 20 and para [0479] describes wherein second lead frame 40 includes a second lead portion 41 disposed at the bottom of the cavity 20) and a bonding portion bent from each of the plurality of frames toward the first side portion (32 and 42, Fig. 90-Fig. 92, para [0477] describes wherein first lead frame 30 includes a first bonding portion 32 bent from the first lead portion 31 and protrudes to the first side portion 11 and para [0479] describes wherein second lead frame 40 includes a second bonding portion 42 bent from the second lead portion 41 and protrudes to the first side portion 11); and
a plurality of light emitting chips electrically connected to the plurality of frames on the bottom of the cavity (71, Fig. 90-Fig. 92, para [0480] describes a plurality of light emitting chips 71 that may be connected to the first and second lead frames 41 and 41 by wires 72 and 73);
wherein the third side portion and the fourth side portion of the body are disposed on both sides of the body in a first direction (13 and 14, Fig. 90, para [0475] describes the third side portion 13 and fourth side portion 14 being disposed on opposite sides of the body in an X direction),
wherein the front and rear side portions of the body are orthogonal to the first direction and are disposed on both sides of the body in a second direction (15 and 16, Fig. 90, para [0476] describes the front side portion 15 and read side portion 16 being on opposite sides of the body wherein they can be seen as orthogonal to the direction as they protrude into the Y direction as shown in Fig. 90), and
wherein the length of the body in the first direction is a distance between the third and fourth side portions (D2, Fig. 90, para [0475] describes wherein a length of the body D2 in the first direction is a length of the first and second side portion 11 and 12 wherein the first and second side portions are disposed between the third and fourth side portions 13 and 14 resulting in a length D2 being the distance between the third and fourth side portions).
Hwang fails to explicitly disclose wherein the cavity at the front side portion of the body has a length equal to a length of the body in the first direction.
However, Tokutomi teaches a similar lighting device wherein the cavity at the front side portion of the body has a length equal to a length of the body in the first direction (3A and 3B, annotated Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, para [0022] of the PE2E machine translation describes wherein a transparent member 3 which fills a cavity in a reflecting body 4 from which a light emitting chip 4 is disposed, extends to a left side 3a and right side 3b which is flush with a length L of the body 4, resulting in a cavity at a front side portion having a length L equal to a length of the body 4 in a first direction FD).
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Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Hwang with Tokutomi to further disclose a lighting device comprising a cavity which extends an entire length of a body in a first direction in order to provide the advantage of enabling a lighting device to produce incident light almost uniformly over an entire light guide plate further preventing unevenness to occur in the luminance of a light emitting surface of a light emitting element (Tokutomi, para [0023] of the PE2E machine translation).
Regarding Claim 2, the combination of Hwang and Tokutomi teaches the lighting device of claim 1, wherein the cavity includes a first bottom supporting portion disposed on any one frame adjacent to the third side portion (Hwang, 23, Fig. 91, para [0481] describes a bottom supporting portion 23 disposed around the cavity adjacent to the third side portion 13 and disposed on a portion of the lead frame 30) and a second bottom supporting portion disposed on any other frame adjacent to the fourth side portion (Hwang, 24, Fig. 91, para [0481] describes a bottom supporting portion 24 disposed around the cavity adjacent to the fourth side portion 14 and disposed on a portion of the lead frame 40), and
wherein the first and second bottom supporting portions are disposed concave from the front side portion on both bottoms of the cavity in the first direction (Hwang, Fig. 91 depicts wherein first bottom supporting portion 23 and second bottom supporting portion 24 are disposed concave from the front side portion 15 on both bottoms of the cavity 20 in the first X direction).
Regarding Claim 3, the combination of Hwang and Tokutomi teaches the lighting device of claim 1, comprising a molding member in the cavity (Tokutomi, 3, Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, para [0019] of the PE2E Machine Translation describes a transparent member 3 which fills a space in which the light emitting chip 2 is disposed),
wherein a length of the molding member is equal to a length of the cavity in the first direction (Tokutomi, 3, annotated Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, para [0019] of the PE2E Machine Translation describes a transparent member 3 which fills a space in which the light emitting chip 2 is disposed wherein a resulting space has a first side 3a and second side 3b which extends the entire length of the cavity in the first direction FD).
Regarding Claim 4, the combination of Hwang and Tokutomi teaches the lighting device of claim 3, wherein a front surface of the molding member is exposed to the front side portion (Tokutomi, 3c, Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, para [0019] of the PE2E machine translation describes a front side surface 3c of the molding portion wherein a front surface of the molding surface 3c is a same surface as a front surface of the body portion 4) and a both side surface of the molding member in the first direction are exposed to outside of the third and fourth side portions of the body, respectively (Tokutomi, 3a and 3b, Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, para [0019] of the PE2E machine translation describes a left side surface 3a of the molding member 3 which is exposed on a left side portion of the body 4 corresponding to a third side portion of the body 4 and a right side surface 3b of the molding member 3 which is exposed on a right side portion of the body 4 corresponding to a fourth side portion of the body 4).
Regarding Claim 5, the combination of Hwang and Tokutomi teaches the lighting device of claim 1, further comprising: a light transmitting layer (Hwang, 440, Fig. 39, para [0232] describes an exit portion comprising an upper surface of the resin member 450 wherein the exit portion 440 may comprise a light extraction structure) and a light blocking portion (Hwang, 442, Fig. 39, para [0232] describes a reflective portion 442 comprising an upper surface of the resin member 450) between the resin layer and the diffusion layer (Hwang, 442, Fig. 38, para [0232] describes the reflective portion 442 wherein Fig. 28 depicts reflective portion 442 as an upper layer on the resin member 450 separating resin member 450 from diffusion layer 230 shown in Fig. 53),
wherein the light blocking portion vertically overlaps the light emitting device package in a third direction orthogonal to the first and second directions (Hwang, Fig. 38 and Fig. 39 depicts light blocking portion 442 overlapped with light emitting device package 100 in a vertical Z direction which is orthogonal to the first X direction and the second y direction).
Regarding Claim 6, the combination of Hwang and Tokutomi teaches the lighting device of claim 5, wherein the light blocking portion covers a front of the light emitting device package (442, Fig. 39 depicts light blocking portion 442 covering a front surface of the light emitting package 100 wherein this is further illustrated through light blocking portion reflecting light transmitted from the front surface of the light emitting device in Fig. 39 and further wherein para [0236] further describes that reflective portion may cover a minimum distance K0 extending beyond the emitting region 101 from the front surface of the light emitting device 100), and
wherein the light blocking portion includes first (446, Fig. 38, para [0270] and para [0271] describes wherein light blocking portion 442 may include a first side reflective portion 446) and second sub-light blocking portions (447, Fig. 38, para [0270] and para [0271] describes wherein light blocking portion 442 may include a second side reflective portion 447) respectively covering third and fourth side portions of the body of the light emitting device package (446 and 447, Fig. 38 depicts first sub-light blocking portion 446 and second sub-light blocking portion 447 covering respective sides of the light emitting device package 100 in an X direction wherein the sides in the X direction represent the third side 13 and fourth side 14 of the light emitting device package 100).
Regarding Claim 7, the combination of Hwang and Tokutomi teaches the lighting device of claim 6, wherein the first (446) and second sub-light blocking portions (447) are spaced apart from each other in the first direction and extend further to both sides in the first direction (S, annotated Fig. 39 depicts wherein first and second light blocking portions 446 and 447 are spaced apart from each S in the first X direction and extend further than the X direction sides third and fourth sides 13 and 14 of the light emitting device) and rearward in the second direction than the third and fourth side portions of the light emitting device package (Fig. 39 and Fig. 40, para [0183] describes wherein a first side surface S11extends beyond a rear surface of the light emitting device 100 wherein reflective portion 442 can be seen extending to the first side surface S11 wherein para [0272] describes wherein first and second light blocking portions 446 and 447 may be disposed on both sides of the reflecting portion 442 and extend in a -Y direction towards the rear of the light emitting device package 100).
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Regarding Claim 11, Hwang teaches a lighting device comprising:
a circuit board (401, Fig. 53, para [0365] describes a circuit board 401); and
a plurality of light emitting device packages disposed on the circuit board (100, Fig. 53, para [0380] describes light emitting devices 100 disposed on the circuit board 401),
wherein each of the light emitting device packages (100) includes:
a body having a first side portion facing an upper surface of the circuit board (11, Fig. 90, para [0475] describes a first side portion 11 which may be a side surface corresponding to the circuit board), a second side portion opposite to the first side portion (12, Fig. 90, para [0475] describes a second side portion 12 opposite to the first side portion 11), third and fourth side portions on both sides of the first and second side portions (13 and 14, Fig. 90, para [0475] describes third side portion 13 and fourth side portion 14 adjacent to the first side portion 11 and second side portion 12), and a cavity in which a part of the front side portion is opened (20, Fig. 90, para [0476] describes a cavity 20 which may be disposed in a front side portion 15);
a plurality of lead frames (30 and 40, Fig. 90-Fig.92, para [0477 and para [0478] describe first lead frame 30 and second lead frame 40) each having a plurality of frames disposed on a bottom of the cavity (31 and 41, Fig. 90-Fig. 92, para [0477] describes wherein first lead frame 30 includes a first lead portion 31 disposed at the bottom of the cavity 20 and para [0479] describes wherein second lead frame 40 includes a second lead portion 41 disposed at the bottom of the cavity 20) and a bonding portion bent from each of the plurality of frames toward the first side portion (32 and 42, Fig. 90-Fig. 92, para [0477] describes wherein first lead frame 30 includes a first bonding portion 32 bent from the first lead portion 31 and protrudes to the first side portion 11 and para [0479] describes wherein second lead frame 40 includes a second bonding portion 42 bent from the second lead portion 41 and protrudes to the first side portion 11);
a plurality of light emitting chips electrically connected to the plurality of frames on the bottom of the cavity (71, Fig. 90-Fig. 92, para [0480] describes a plurality of light emitting chips 71 that may be connected to the first and second lead frames 41 and 41 by wires 72 and 73); and
a molding member in the cavity (81, Fig. 91, para [0488] describes a molding member 81 disposed in the cavity 20),
wherein the third side portion and the fourth side portion of the body are disposed at both sides in a first direction of the body (13 and 14, Fig. 90, para [0475] describes the third side portion 13 and fourth side portion 14 being disposed on opposite sides of the body in an X direction),
wherein the front and rear side portions of the body are disposed on both sides in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction (15 and 16, Fig. 90, para [0476] describes the front side portion 15 and read side portion 16 being on opposite sides of the body wherein they can be seen as orthogonal to the direction as they protrude into the Y direction as shown in Fig. 90),
wherein the length of the body in the first direction is a distance between the third and fourth side portions (D2, Fig. 90, para [0475] describes wherein a length of the body D2 in the first direction is a length of the first and second side portion 11 and 12 wherein the first and second side portions are disposed between the third and fourth side portions 13 and 14 resulting in a length D2 being the distance between the third and fourth side portions).
Hwang fails to explicitly disclose wherein the cavity at the front side portion of the body has a same length as a length of the body in the first direction, wherein a length of the molding member is equal to the length of the cavity in the first direction.
However, Tokutomi teaches a similar lighting device wherein the cavity at the front side portion of the body has a length equal to a length of the body in the first direction (3A and 3B, annotated Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, para [0022] of the PE2E machine translation describes wherein a transparent member 3 which fills a cavity in a reflecting body 4 from which a light emitting chip 4 is disposed, extends to a left side 3a and right side 3b which is flush with a length L of the body 4, resulting in a cavity at a front side portion having a length L equal to a length of the body 4 in a first direction FD); and
wherein a length of the molding member is equal to a length of the cavity in the first direction (Tokutomi, 3, annotated Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, para [0019] of the PE2E Machine Translation describes a transparent member 3 which fills a space in which the light emitting chip 2 is disposed wherein a resulting space has a first side 3a and second side 3b which extends the entire length of the cavity in the first direction FD).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Hwang with Tokutomi to further disclose a lighting device comprising a cavity which extends an entire length of a body in a first direction and a molding member disposed in the cavity in order to provide the advantage of enabling a lighting device to produce incident light almost uniformly over an entire light guide plate further preventing unevenness to occur in the luminance of a light emitting surface of a light emitting element (Tokutomi, para [0023] of the PE2E machine translation).
Regarding Claim 12, the combination of Hwang and Tokutomi teaches the lighting device of claim 11, wherein the cavity includes a first bottom supporting portion disposed on any one frame adjacent to the third side portion and a second bottom supporting portion disposed on any other frame adjacent to the fourth side portion (Hwang, 23, Fig. 91, para [0481] describes a bottom supporting portion 23 disposed around the cavity adjacent to the third side portion 13 and disposed on a portion of the lead frame 30) and a second bottom supporting portion disposed on any other frame adjacent to the fourth side portion (Hwang, 24, Fig. 91, para [0481] describes a bottom supporting portion 24 disposed around the cavity adjacent to the fourth side portion 14 and disposed on a portion of the lead frame 40), and
wherein the first and second bottom supporting portions are concavely disposed on bottoms of both sides of the cavity in the first direction from the front side portion (Hwang, Fig. 91 depicts wherein first bottom supporting portion 23 and second bottom supporting portion 24 are disposed concave from the front side portion 15 on both bottoms of the cavity 20 in the first X direction), and are in contact with the molding member (Hwang, 23 and 24, Fig. 91 depicts wherein first bottom supporting portion 23 and second bottom supporting portion 24 are in contact with molding member 81).
Regarding Claim 13, the combination of Hwang and Tokutomi teaches the lighting device of claim 11, wherein the first bottom supporting portion is lower than an upper surface of the light emitting chip (Hwang, 23, Fig. 91, para [0482] describes first bottom supporting portion 23 of the cavity 20 wherein Fig. 91 depicts first supporting portion connected to a portion of the first lead frame 30 wherein light emitting chip 71 is disposed on the lead frame resulting in at least a portion of the first bottom supporting portion 23 being lower than an upper surface of the light emitting chip 71), and
wherein the second bottom supporting portion is disposed lower than the upper surface of the light emitting chip (Hwang, 23, Fig. 91, para [0482] describes second bottom supporting portion 24 of the cavity 20 wherein Fig. 91 depicts second supporting portion connected to a portion of the second lead frame 40 wherein light emitting chip 71 is disposed on the lead frame resulting in at least a portion of the second bottom supporting portion 24 being lower than an upper surface of the light emitting chip 71).
Regarding Claim 14, the combination of Hwang and Tokutomi teaches the lighting device of claim 13,
wherein the cavity includes a first side emission surface open to an upper portion of the third side portion of the body (Tokutomi, 3a, Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, para [0019] of the PE2E machine translation describes a left side surface 3a corresponding to a third side portion of the body 4 wherein the left side surface 3a comprises an upper portion wherein molding member 4 is disposed and para [0022] of the PE2E machine translation describes wherein light is emitted from the left side surface 3a) and a second side emission surface open to an upper portion of the fourth side portion of the body (Tokutomi, 3b, Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, para [0019] of the PE2E machine translation describes a right side surface 3b corresponding to a fourth side portion of the body 4 wherein the right side surface 3b comprises an upper portion wherein molding member 4 is disposed and para [0022] of the PE2E machine translation describes wherein light is emitted from the right side surface 3b),
wherein a height of the first and second side emission surfaces of the cavity is greater than a distance from the upper surface of the light emitting chip to the front side portion of the body (annotated Fig. 8, 2, 3a-3c, para [0019] of the PE2E machine translation describes wherein a light emitting element chip 2 is disposed on a back surface of the light emitting element 1 wherein a height of the first and second emission surfaces 3a and 3b comprises a height from the back side surface to the front side 3c of the light-emitting element wherein a distance FSD between the light emitting chip 2 and the front side surface 3c must be less than the height ESH because the light emitting chip 2 must comprise a thickness that is greater than zero).
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Regarding Claim 15, the combination of Hwang and Tokutomi teaches the lighting device of claim 11,
wherein the cavity of the body is open on both sides of the body in the first direction (Tokutomi, 3a and 3b, annotated Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, para [0019] of the PE2E machine translation describes a left side surface 3a corresponding to a third side portion of the body 4 and a right side surface corresponding to a fourth side portion of the body 4 in a first direction FD the side surfaces 3a and 3b are formed from a cavity in the body 4 resulting in the cavity being open on both sides of the body in the first direction FD),
wherein the cavity includes a first side emission surface open to an upper portion of the third side portion of the body (Tokutomi, 3a, Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, para [0019] of the PE2E machine translation describes a left side surface 3a corresponding to a third side portion of the body 4 wherein the left side surface 3a comprises an upper portion wherein molding member 4 is disposed and para [0022] of the PE2E machine translation describes wherein light is emitted from the left side surface 3a) and a second side emission surface open to an upper portion of the fourth side portion of the body (Tokutomi, 3b, Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, para [0019] of the PE2E machine translation describes a right side surface 3b corresponding to a fourth side portion of the body 4 wherein the right side surface 3b comprises an upper portion wherein molding member 4 is disposed and para [0022] of the PE2E machine translation describes wherein light is emitted from the right side surface 3b), and
wherein the light emitted from the light emitting chips is emitted through the front side portion, and the first and second side emission surfaces (Tokutomi, 3a-3c, Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, para [0022] of the PE2E machine translation describes wherein light emitted from light emitting chip 2 is emitted through the front side surface 3c and first and second side emission surfaces 3a and 3b).
Regarding Claim 16, Hwang teaches a lighting device comprising:
a circuit board with a length in a second direction longer than a width in a first direction (401, Fig. 53, para [0354] describes a circuit board 401 and para [0247] describes wherein the circuit board 401 may have a length in a second Y direction longer than a width in a first X direction);
a plurality of light emitting device packages disposed on the circuit board and emitting light in the second direction (100, Fig. 53, para [0380] describes light emitting devices 100 disposed on the circuit board 401 and para [0160] describes an optical axis Y0 in the second Y direction parallel to an upper surface of the substrate as shown in at least Fig. 25);
a resin layer covering an upper surface of the substrate and the plurality of light emitting device packages (650, Fig. 53, para [0380] describes a resin member 650 disposed on the light emitting device packages 100 and an upper surface of the circuit board 401);
a diffusion layer diffusing light on the resin layer (230, Fig. 53, para [0372] describes an optical member 230 that may diffuse and transmit incident light wherein the diffusion layer 230 is located over the resin layer 650); and
a plurality of light blocking portions disposed between the diffusion layer and the resin layer (442 and 444, Fig. 38, para [0232] describes a plurality of reflective portions 442 and 444 wherein Fig. 38 depicts reflective portion 442 as an upper layer on the resin member 450 separating resin member 450 from diffusion layer 230 shown in Fig. 53);
wherein each of the plurality of light emitting device packages (100) includes a body (10, Fig. 90 and Fig. 91, para [0473] describes a body 10) having a cavity concave from a front surface toward a rear surface (20, Fig. 90 and Fig. 91, para [0469] describes a cavity 20 which has a concave shape from a front surface 15 towards a read surface 16 as shown in Fig. 91), and a plurality of light emitting chips disposed on a bottom of the cavity (71, Fig. 90-Fig. 92, para [0480] describes a plurality of light emitting chips 71 that may be connected to the first and second lead frames 41 and 41 by wires 72 and 73),
Hwang fails to explicitly disclose wherein the cavity includes first and second side emission surfaces in which both sides of the body in the first direction are open on the front surface of the body, and wherein each of the light emitting device packages emits light through the front surface and the first and second side emission surfaces.
However, Tokutomi teaches a similar lighting device wherein the cavity includes first and second side emission surfaces in which both sides of the body in the first direction are open on the front surface of the body (Tokutomi, 3a and 3b, annotated Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, para [0019] of the PE2E machine translation describes a left side surface 3a corresponding to a third side portion of the body 4 and a right side surface corresponding to a fourth side portion of the body 4 in a first direction FD the side surfaces 3a and 3b are formed from a cavity in the body 4 resulting in the cavity being open on both sides of the body in the first direction FD and on a front side surface of the body 3c), and
wherein each of the light emitting device packages emits light through the front surface and the first and second side emission surfaces (Tokutomi, 3a-3c, Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, para [0022] of the PE2E machine translation describes wherein light emitted from light emitting chip 2 is emitted through the front side surface 3c and first and second side emission surfaces 3a and 3b).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Hwang with Tokutomi to further disclose a lighting device comprising a cavity which extends an entire length of a body in a first direction wherein light is emitted from the light emitting device packages through a first, second, and third side emission surfaces in order to provide the advantage of enabling a lighting device to produce incident light almost uniformly over an entire light guide plate further preventing unevenness to occur in the luminance of a light emitting surface of a light emitting element (Tokutomi, para [0023] of the PE2E machine translation).
Regarding Claim 17, the combination of Hwang and Tokutomi teaches the lighting device of claim 16,
wherein the cavity at the front surface of the body has a same length as a length of the body in the first direction (Tokutomi, 3A and 3B, annotated Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, para [0022] of the PE2E machine translation describes wherein a transparent member 3 which fills a cavity in a reflecting body 4 from which a light emitting chip 4 is disposed, extends to a left side 3a and right side 3b which is flush with a length L of the body 4, resulting in a cavity at a front side portion having a length L equal to a length of the body 4 in a first direction FD), and
wherein the length of the body in the first direction is a distance between a third and fourth side portions on both side surface of the body in the first direction (Hwang, D2, Fig. 90, para [0475] describes wherein a length of the body D2 in the first direction is a length of the first and second side portion 11 and 12 wherein the first and second side portions are disposed between the third and fourth side portions 13 and 14 resulting in a length D2 being the distance between the third and fourth side portions and Tokutomi further teaches a length of the body 4 in the first direction is disposed between the left side portion 3a and right side portion 3b planar with the transparent member 3).
Regarding Claim 18, the combination of Hwang and Tokutomi teaches the lighting device of claim 17, comprising:
a molding member disposed within the cavity (Tokutomi, 3, Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, para [0019] of the PE2E Machine Translation describes a transparent member 3 which fills a space in which the light emitting chip 2 is disposed),
wherein a length of the molding member is equal to the length of the cavity in the first direction (Tokutomi, 3, annotated Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, para [0019] of the PE2E Machine Translation describes a transparent member 3 which fills a space in which the light emitting chip 2 is disposed wherein a resulting space has a first side 3a and second side 3b which extends the entire length of the cavity in the first direction FD),
wherein both side surfaces of the molding member in the first direction are exposed to both sides of the light emitting device package in the first direction (Tokutomi, 3a and 3b, annotated Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, para [0019] of the PE2E machine translation describes a left side surface 3a of the molding member 3 which is exposed on a left side portion of the body 4 corresponding to a third side portion of the body 4 and a right side surface 3b of the molding member 3 which is exposed on a right side portion of the body 4 corresponding to a fourth side portion of the body 4 in a first direction FD).
Regarding Claim 19, the combination of Hwang and Tokutomi teaches the lighting device of claim 17,
wherein each of the plurality of light blocking portions overlaps each of the plurality of light emitting device packages in a third direction orthogonal to the first and second directions (Hwang, Fig. 38 and Fig. 39 depicts light blocking portion 442 and 444 overlapped with light emitting device package 100 in a vertical Z direction which is orthogonal to the first X direction and the second y direction).
Regarding Claim 20, the combination of Hwang and Tokutomi teaches the lighting device of claim 19,
wherein each of the light blocking portions includes first (446, Fig. 38, para [0270] and para [0271] describes wherein light blocking portion 442 may include a first side reflective portion 446) and second sub-light blocking portions (447, Fig. 38, para [0270] and para [0271] describes wherein light blocking portion 442 may include a second side reflective portion 447) respectively covering the third and fourth side portions of a body of the light emitting device package (446 and 447, Fig. 38 depicts first sub-light blocking portion 446 and second sub-light blocking portion 447 covering respective sides of the light emitting device package 100 in an X direction wherein the sides in the X direction represent the third side 13 and fourth side 14 of the light emitting device package 100), and
wherein the first (446) and second sub-light blocking portions (446) are spaced apart from each other in the first direction on each light emitting device package (S, annotated Fig. 39 depicts wherein first and second light blocking portions 446 and 447 are spaced apart from each S in the first X direction and extend further than the X direction sides third and fourth sides 13 and 14 of the light emitting device).
Claims 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seong Jin Hwang et al. (US 2019/0137046 A1; hereinafter “Hwang”) in view of Shinji Tokutomi (JP 2004-039778 A; hereinafter “Tokutomi”) in further view of Kang Sung Jae (KR 2014-0046733 A; hereinafter “Jae”).
Regarding Claim 10, the combination of Hwang and Tokutomi disclose all the limitations of claim 1.
The combination of Lee and Tokutomi fail to explicitly disclose the lighting device of claim 1, wherein the lead frame includes a first lead frame and second and third lead frames on both sides of the first lead frame, wherein the light emitting chip includes a plurality of light emitting chips mounted in a flip shape on each of the first, second, and third lead frames, and wherein the frame of the first lead frame includes a groove region in which a top layer is removed between the plurality of light emitting chips.
However, Jae discloses a similar lighting device, wherein the lead frame includes a first lead frame (FLF, annotated Fig. 2 of Jae depicts a first lead frame FLF) and second (FLF, annotated Fig. 2 of Jae depicts a second lead frame SLF) and third lead frames (TLF, annotated Fig. 2 of Jae depicts a third lead frame TLF) on both sides of the first lead frame (SLF and TLF, annotated Fig. 2 depicts wherein second lead frame SLF and third lead frame TLF are disposed on both sides of the first lead frame FLF),
wherein the light emitting chip includes a plurality of light emitting chips mounted in a flip shape on each of the first, second, and third lead frames (71, annotated Fig. 2, page 3 of the PE2E machine translation describes a plurality of light emitting chips 71 mounted to the lead frames FLF, SLF and TLF) and
wherein the frame of the first lead frame includes a groove region in which a top layer is removed between the plurality of light emitting chips (19, annotated Fig. 2, page 3 of the PE2E machine translation describes a gap portion 19 between of the first lead frame FLF between the plurality of light emitting chips 71 wherein said gap portion 19 comprises at least a top portion absent from first lead frame FLF).
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Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Hwang and Tokutomi with Jae to further disclose a lighting device comprising a first, second and third lead frame upon which the light emitting devices are disposed and a groove in the first lead frame between the plurality of light emitting devices in order to provide the advantage of forming a connecting region from which the light emitting diodes may be connected to separated form the lead frames in order to prevent an electrical short between each of the lead frames and a connecting portion (Jae, page 2 of PE2E machine translation).
Claims 21-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seong Jin Hwang et al. (US 2019/0137046 A1; hereinafter “Hwang”) in view of Shinji Tokutomi (JP 2004-039778 A; hereinafter “Tokutomi”) in further view of Buem Yeon Lee (US 2013/0062632 A1; hereinafter “Lee”).
Regarding Claim 21, combination of Hwang and Tokutomi disclose all the limitations of claim 1.
The combination of Hwang and Tokutomi teach lighting device of claim 1,
wherein the plurality of light emitting chips include first and second light emitting chips (FLC and SLC, annotated Fig. 91, para [0480] describes wherein the light emitting devices may comprise a plurality of light emitting chips 71 such as first light emitting chip FLC and second light emitting chip SLC as shown in annotated Fig. 91).
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The combination of Hwang and Tokutomi fail to explicitly disclose wherein each distance between the third side portion and the first light emitting chip adjacent to the third side portion and between the fourth side portion and the second light emitting chip adjacent to the fourth side portion is less than a distance between the first and second light emitting chips.
However, Lee teaches a similar lighting device, wherein each distance between the third side portion and the first light emitting chip adjacent to the third side portion (D2, Fig. 3, para [0042] describes a length D2 of a first lead frame 121 comprises a distance between a first light emitting chip 151 and a lateral side portion 111 representing a third side portion) and between the fourth side portion and the second light emitting chip adjacent to the fourth side portion (D4, Fig. 3, para [0042] describes a length D4 of a second lead frame 141 comprises a distance between a second light emitting chip 152 and a lateral side portion 112 representing a fourth side portion) is less than a distance between the first and second light emitting chips (D3, Fig. 3, para [0042] describes wherein length D2 and length D4 may be less than a length D3 between a first light emitting chip 151 and second light emitting chip 152).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Hwang and Tokutomi with Lee to further disclose a lighting device comprising a distance between a first light emitting chip and an adjacent third portion and a distance between a second light emitting chip and an adjacent fourth portion is less than a distance between the first and second light emitting chips in order to provide the well-known advantage of providing sufficient space between adjacent light emitting chips so that a minimum amount of light emitting chips may be disposed in order to provide a desired amount of light in the lighting device further lowering manufacturing costs and simplifying the manufacturing process.
Regarding Claim 22, combination of Hwang and Tokutomi disclose all the limitations of claim 11.
The combination of Hwang and Tokutomi teach lighting device of claim 11,
wherein the plurality of light emitting chips include first and second light emitting chips (FLC and SLC, annotated Fig. 91, para [0480] describes wherein the light emitting devices may comprise a plurality of light emitting chips 71 such as first light emitting chip FLC and second light emitting chip SLC as shown in annotated Fig. 91).
The combination of Hwang and Tokutomi fail to explicitly disclose wherein each distance between the third side portion and the first light emitting chip adjacent to the third side portion and between the fourth side portion and the second light emitting chip adjacent to the fourth side portion is less than a distance between the first and second light emitting chips.
However, Lee teaches a similar lighting device, wherein each distance between the third side portion and the first light emitting chip adjacent to the third side portion (D2, Fig. 3, para [0042] describes a length D2 of a first lead frame 121 comprises a distance between a first light emitting chip 151 and a lateral side portion 111 representing a third side portion) and between the fourth side portion and the second light emitting chip adjacent to the fourth side portion (D4, Fig. 3, para [0042] describes a length D4 of a second lead frame 141 comprises a distance between a second light emitting chip 152 and a lateral side portion 112 representing a fourth side portion) is less than a distance between the first and second light emitting chips (D3, Fig. 3, para [0042] describes wherein length D2 and length D4 may be less than a length D3 between a first light emitting chip 151 and second light emitting chip 152).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Hwang and Tokutomi with Lee to further disclose a lighting device comprising a distance between a first light emitting chip and an adjacent third portion and a distance between a second light emitting chip and an adjacent fourth portion is less than a distance between the first and second light emitting chips in order to provide the well-known advantage of providing sufficient space between adjacent light emitting chips so that a minimum amount of light emitting chips may be disposed in order to provide a desired amount of light in the lighting device further lowering manufacturing costs and simplifying the manufacturing process.
Conclusion
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/ALEXANDER MICHAEL MILLER/Examiner, Art Unit 2898 /JULIO J MALDONADO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2898
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