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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed on 10/10/2025 with respect to the amendments of claim 1 have been fully considered and are persuasive. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Yang (USPN 2011/0133642) in view of Fukumitsu et al (USPN 2015/0108533).
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.
2. Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang (USPN 2011/0133642) in view of Fukumitsu et al (USPN 2015/0108533).
Regarding claim 1, Yang discloses a protection circuit (a protection circuit shown in figure 6), comprising:
a Zener diode (501) configured to be connected between a positive pole side (at a node a) and a negative pole side (at a node b) of a power supply (a DC power supply 301) and to be connected in parallel to a protected component (a LED element 101); and
a resistor (a current limiting resistor 401, or a current limiting resistor 402, see par. 0047) configured to be connected between a parallel circuit part (a parallel circuit part including the LED 101 and the Zener diode 501) and the positive pole side of the power supply, and/or between the parallel circuit part and the negative pole side of the power supply,
the parallel circuit part including the Zener diode (501) and the protected component (101) being connected in parallel to each other,
wherein the protected component is a light emitting diode (101), and
the resistor (401) is part of a current limiting resistor configured to limit a current provided to the light emitting diode.
Yang does not disclose a varistor as claimed.
However, providing a varistor in parallel with a light emitting diode is known in the art.
Such as Fukumitsu discloses a light emitting device comprises a varistor (a varistor 4) configured to be coupled in parallel with a light emitting diode (a LED 2) (see par. 0075).
It 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 to have a zener diode of Yang to incorporate a varistor as disclosed by Fukumitsu in order to provide bidirectionally a large range of a surge voltage protection, and low cost effective. Thus, enhancing a protection performance.
3. Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang (USPN 2011/0133642) in view of Fukumitsu et al (USPN 2015/0108533), and further in view of Leong et al (USPN 2008/0290814).
Regarding claim 3, Yang and Fukumitsu disclose all limitations of claim 1 as disclosed above, but do not disclose the light emitting diode for a railway vehicle as claimed.
Providing a light emitting diode for a railway vehicle is known in the art. Typically, Leong discloses a lightning device (figure 4) comprise a light emitting diode (72) for a railway vehicle (see par. 0006).
It 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 to have a light emitting diode of Leong to incorporate a light emitting diode with a protection structure disclosed by Yang and Fukumitsu in order to provide bidirectionally a large range of a surge voltage protection, and low cost effective. Thus, enhancing a protection performance.
Conclusion
4. 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.
5. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANNY NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-2054. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00AM-4:30PM.
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, Monica Lewis can be reached at 571-271-1838. 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.
/DANNY NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838