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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 10 December 2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendment and remarks received 10 December 2025 have been entered and overcome the objection to claim 4 cited in the previous Office Action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2, 5-8, 10-17, and 21-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Baker (US 2018/0257542).
Regarding independent claim 1, Baker teaches a lighting element assembly (Fig. 3, Element 10; ¶ [0018]) comprising an optical element (Fig. 3, Element 12; ¶ [0019]) having a leg (Fig. 3, Element 40; ¶ [0029]) extending away from the optical element, the leg including a compressible material (¶ [0020]); a base (Fig. 3, Element 22; ¶ [0021]) defining a depression portion (Fig. 3, Element 43; ¶ [0029]) receiving the leg; and a retention element (Fig. 3, Element 41; ¶ [0029]) received by at least a portion of the depression portion and configured to retain the leg relative to the base, wherein the leg is configured to compress in response to receiving the retention element in the depression portion.
Regarding claim 2, Baker teaches the retention element (41) as a bezel (Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 5, Baker teaches the optical element (12) as an ovate lens (Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 6, Baker teaches the base (22) defining an outer ring (Figs. 2-3; see annotated Fig. 3 of Baker below) extending away from the base (22).
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Regarding claim 7, Baker teaches, in Figure 5, the retention element (41) received between the outer ring and the leg (40).
Regarding claim 8, Baker teaches the base (22) defining a platform (central portion of 22), wherein the platform and the outer ring each extend away from the depression portion (43), and wherein the leg (40) and the retention element (41) are received between the outer ring and platform (Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 10, Baker teaches the leg defining a foot extending radially away from the leg (Fig. 3).
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Regarding claim 11, Baker teaches the outer ring including a lip extending over (e.g., above) at least a portion of the depression portion (See annotated Fig. 3 of Baker below).
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Regarding claim 12, Baker teaches the retention element (41) including a protrusion at an outer surface (Fig. 3), and wherein the retention element (41) is retained in the at least a portion of the depression portion (43) by the lip extending over the protrusion (Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 13, Baker teaches at least one of the retention element (41), the protrusion, the lip, or the outer ring is adapted to temporarily deform as the retention element is received in the at least a portion of the depression portion (¶ [0038]).
Regarding claim 14, Baker teaches the leg extending along the entire perimeter of the optical element (Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 15, Baker teaches a sealing element received within the depression portion (43) between the base (22) and at least one of the leg or the retention element (¶ [0042]).
Regarding claim 16, Baker teaches the base (22) as non-planar (Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 17, Baker teaches the base (22) defining at least one of concave or a convex surface (Fig. 3).
Regarding independent claim 21, Baker teaches a lighting element assembly comprising an optical element (Fig. 3, Element 12; ¶ [0019]) having a leg (Fig. 3, Element 40; ¶ [0029]) extending away from the optical element; a base (Fig. 3, Element 22; ¶ [0021]) defining a depression portion (Fig. 3, Element 43; ¶ [0029]) receiving the leg, and an outer ring extending away from the base, the outer ring further including a lip extending over at least a portion of the depression portion; and a retention element (Fig. 3, Element 41; ¶ [0029]) including a protrusion at an outer surface, and wherein the retention element is received by at least a portion of the depression portion and configured to retain the leg relative to the base in the at least a portion of the depression portion by the lip extending over the protrusion (Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 22, Baker teaches the lip overhanging at least a portion of the depression portion (Fig. 3).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4 is 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.
Claim 23 is allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Regarding claims 4 and 23, the closest prior art of record (Baker) neither shows or suggests a lighting element assembly comprising, in addition to other limitations of the claim, a retention element as a ring, wherein a central opening of the ring is configured to receive an outer perimeter of the optical element.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 10 December 2025, in regards to independent claim 1, have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to applicant’s argument, in regards to independent claim 1, that the Examiner improperly relies on the same structure to reach the claimed structure having discretely different elements, the Examiner notes that lower extremity of the human body comprises the leg which can be broken down into an upper leg portion and a lower leg portion (e.g., thigh/hamstring part and shin/calf part). Even though both portions make up the leg, each portion is a discrete, separate part.
In this case, applicant argues that the leg (40) and the retainer (41) of Baker cannot be used to read on applicant’s claimed leg and retention element, since the leg and retainer of Baker are a common component while applicant’s leg and retention element are discretely separate elements (the Examiner notes that the claim does not require the leg and retention element to be discretely different elements). In Figure 3, Baker teaches the leg (40) having a retainer (41) protruding downward in the figure from a horizontal portion, similar to the way a human’s lower leg portion is capable of extending from the upper leg portion. Thus, Baker teaches the claimed leg and retention element as discussed earlier in this Office Action.
In response to applicant’s arguments, in regards to claims 6 and 10-11, the Examiner has annotated Figure 3 of Baker to show how the reference has been interpreted to read on the claim limitations. For claim 6, the outer ring is shown as the protruding portion (44) extending upward, or away, from the base. For claim 10, the foot is shown by the box in the corresponding annotated Fig. 3 extending from the leg radially away from the leg. For claim 11, the lip is shown as the uppermost portion of the protruding portion (44) extending over the depression portion.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Kevin Quarterman whose telephone number is (571)272-2461. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 10am-6pm.
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, James Greece can be reached at (571) 272-3711. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Kevin Quarterman/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875 24 January 2026