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 .
This Office Action is in response to the Applicant’s communication filed on August 11, 2023 and the preliminary amendment concurrently filed therewith. In virtue of this preliminary amendment:
Clams 1-45 are cancelled;
Claims 46-65 are newly added; and thus,
Claims 46-65 are now pending in the instant application.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 08/11/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 50, 52, 58 and 64-65 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 50, in line 4, “e.g.” should be deleted
Claim 52, in line 3, “e.g.” should be deleted
Claim 58, in line 11, “e.g.” should be deleted
Claim 64, in line 7, “e.g.” should be deleted
Claim 65, in line 1, “a” should be changed to --the--
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 46-53, 59-60 and 62-64 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Baek et al. (US 2017/0127497).
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With respect to claim 1, Baek discloses in figure 2 a method for testing a luminaire system (100, e.g., a lighting system), and in particular for testing whether a controller (130, e.g., a control device) of the luminaire system has been correctly installed (see figure 2 and paragraph 0034, e.g., “the lighting system 100 is installed”), said controller being configured to control a light source (122, e.g., a light source) of the luminaire system, wherein, during installation, the controller is connected through a first connection interface (CI-1, e.g., a first connection interface) to a driver (121, e.g., a driver) for driving the light source or to the light source, for controlling a light level emitted by the light source (paragraph 0035, e.g., “the lighting unit 120 may include a lighting source 122 having an LED and a driver 121 supply a driving voltage, a driving current and the like to the LED”), the method comprising automatically controlling by the controller the following step, upon powering the luminaire system: a) applying a light output control profile (paragraph 0040, e.g., having a memory 133 for storing data control profile thereof) for controlling a light output of the light source (see figure 2, e.g., controlling a light output of the light source by the controller 130) during a time period (paragraph 0040, e.g., “the processor 132 may store at least a portion of information in the memory 133 every predetermined period”), and determining at least one measure representative for the light output of the light source during said time period (see paragraphs 0042-0043, e.g., having an illumination sensor for measuring thereof).
With respect to claim 47, Baek discloses that wherein the method further comprises after step a) automatically controlling by the controller the following step: if the at least one measure does not fulfil at least one predetermined criterion, indicating a failure of the test (see paragraph 0043, e.g., “the event information may be used later to analyze a failure or the like caused by an administrator”).
With respect to claim 48, Baek discloses that wherein the method further comprises automatically controlling by the controller the following step: if the at least one measure fulfils at least one predetermined criterion, b) entering a test mode to test a second connection interface (CI-2, e.g., a second connection interface) of the controller (see figure 2); and/or configuring the controller and/or another component of the luminaire system based on the predetermined at least one measure (see figure 2).
With respect to claim 49, Baek discloses that wherein the at least one measure comprises any one or more of the following: a measure for the power consumption such as a power value, a voltage value or a current value, a measure for a light intensity of the light output, a measure for a color of the light output, or a measure for a light pattern of the light output (figure 2 shows a illumination sensor 112 and an ambient light sensor 115 for measuring thereof), and/or wherein the step of applying a light output control profile is configured to apply at least a first power level during a first time period and a second different power level during a second time period, wherein the step of determining comprises determining a first and second measure representative for a first and second light output of the light source during said first and second time period, respectively, wherein preferably the first power level corresponds with 80-100% of the maximum available power, and/or wherein preferably the second power level corresponds with a value between 5 and 50% of the maximum available power, and/or wherein preferably the first and the second time period are each less than 30s, preferably less than 20s (see figure 9 and paragraphs 0095-0096).
With respect to claim 50, Baek discloses that wherein during or after the test mode a result of the testing of the second connection interface is indicated to an installer, and wherein optionally the indicating comprises any one or more of the following: providing a visible signal to the installer, using an indication lamp or a display; or providing an audible signal to the installer (see figure 2 and paragraphs 0064-0065, e.g., having a measuring installation thereof).
With respect to claim 51, Baek discloses that wherein the step of determining at least one measure representative for the light output of the light source comprises measuring a power consumption using measurement circuitry (131, e.g., a communication unit for receiving a measuring data from the sensing unit 110) provided in the controller or in the driver (see figure 2).
With respect to claim 52, Baek discloses that wherein the step of indicating a failure of the test if the at least one predetermined criterion is not fulfilled comprises any one or more of the following: providing a visible signal to the installer, using an indication lamp or a display; or providing an audible signal to the installer, communicating the failure to a remote server and/or to a mobile device of the installer (see figures 2-3).
With respect to claim 53, Baek discloses that wherein step b) comprises applying a trigger control profile (having a memory 133 as a data control profile thereof) for controlling a light output of the light source during a trigger period upon receipt of a trigger signal through said second connection interface (see figure 2 and paragraphs 0040-0041).
With respect to claim 59, Baek discloses in figure 2 a controller (130, e.g., a control device) configured to control a light source (122, e.g., a light source) of a luminaire system (100, e.g., a lighting system), the controller having a first connection interface (CI-1, e.g., a first connection interface) for connecting the controller to a driver (121, e.g., a driver) for driving the light source or directly to the light source (see figure 2), the controller being configured to automatically control the following step, upon powering the luminaire system: a) applying a light output control profile (paragraph 0040, e.g., having a memory 133 for storing data control profile thereof) for controlling a light output of the light source (see figure 2, e.g., controlling a light output of the light source by the controller 130) during a time period (paragraph 0040, e.g., “the processor 132 may store at least a portion of information in the memory 133 every predetermined period”), and determining at least one measure representative for the light output of the light source during said time period (see paragraphs 0042-0043, e.g., having an illumination sensor for measuring thereof), wherein preferably the controller being configured to automatically control the following step after step a): if the at least one measure does not fulfil at least one predetermined criterion, indicating a failure of the test (paragraph 0065, e.g., “installation of the lighting system, a failure or a malfunction of at least a portion of components included in the lighting system, an abnormal movement detected by the motion sensor included in the lighting system or any other significant deviation from a reference parameter”).
With respect to claim 60, Baek discloses that wherein the method further comprises automatically controlling by the controller the following step: if the at least one measure fulfils at least one predetermined criterion, b) entering a test mode to test a second connection interface (CI-2, e.g., a second connection interface) of the controller (see figure 2); and/or configuring the controller and/or another component of the luminaire system based on the predetermined at least one measure (see figure 2).
With respect to claim 62, Baek discloses that wherein the controller is configured to control the light source or another output device such that during or after the test mode a result of the testing of the second connection interface is communicated to an installer, and/or (see paragraph 0065).
With respect to claim 63, Baek discloses that wherein the controller is a pluggable control module, and/or (paragraph 0039, e.g., “a processor 132 may provide a plug-and-play function”).
With respect to claim 64, Baek discloses that wherein the controller is configured to control the configuring in step b) such that a dimming profile among a plurality of dimming profiles is selected based on the determined measure in step a), and/or (paragraphs 0040-0043).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 54, 57-58, 61 and 65 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.
A method for testing a luminaire system … “wherein step b) comprises: applying during a test time period a test control profile for controlling a light output of the light source if no trigger signal is received through the second connection interface; and applying a trigger control profile during a trigger period upon receipt of a trigger signal through said second connection interface during said test time period, said trigger control profile being configured to control, and preferably to change the light output set by the test control profile, said trigger period being preferably at least 10 times smaller than the test time period, wherein preferably said test control profile is configured to apply a constant test power level to the light source, wherein said trigger control profile is configured to apply a constant trigger power level different from the constant test power level to the light source, and wherein preferably the test time period is longer than 5 minutes, preferably longer than 10 min, more preferably longer than 15 min”, as claimed in dependent claim 54 (claims 55-56 are also objected as being dependent on claim 54).
A method for testing a luminaire system … “wherein the light output control profile applied during step a) is configured to switch off the luminaire system or to set it in a stand-by mode during an off-period, and to switch on the luminaire system during an on-period, and the step of determining at least one measure comprises determining a measure for the power consumption during said off-period, and/or wherein a test counter is used indicating a value representative for the number of times that step a) has been performed, wherein a value of the test counter is decreased after step a) has been performed, and wherein, upon a further powering of the luminaire system, step a) is only performed if the test counter is above a predetermined value”, as claimed in dependent claim 57.
A method for testing a luminaire system … “wherein the luminaire system comprises a plurality of drivers and a plurality of light sources each connected via a respective driver of said plurality of drivers to a bus, typically a DALI bus, and wherein the method comprises performing the step a) for said plurality of light sources and the configuring in step b) comprises assigning of addresses to the plurality of drivers based on the respective measures representative for the light output of the respective light sources determined in step a), and/or wherein the configuring in step b) comprises selecting a dimming profile among a plurality of dimming profiles based on the determined measure in step a)”, as claimed in dependent claim 58.
A controller … “wherein the light output control profile is configured to apply at least a first power level during a first time period and a second different power level during a second time period, wherein the step of determining comprises determining a first and second measure representative for the first and second light output of the light source during said first and second time period, respectively, and wherein the first power level preferably corresponds with 80-100% of the maximum available power, and/or wherein the second power level preferably corresponds with a value between 5 and 50% of the maximum available power, wherein preferably the first and the second time period are each less than 30s, preferably less than 20s, and/or wherein the light output control profile applied during step a) is configured to switch off the luminaire system or to set it in a stand-by mode during an off-period, and to switch on the luminaire system during an on-period, and the step of determining at least one measure comprises determining a measure for the power consumption during said off-period”, as claimed in dependent claim 61.
A luminaire system comprising … “wherein preferably the luminaire system comprises a plurality of drivers and a plurality of light sources each connected via a respective driver of said plurality of drivers to a bus, typically a DALI bus, wherein the controller is configured to control the performing of step a) for each light source of said plurality of light sources, and wherein preferably the controller is configured to control the configuring such that addresses are assigned to the plurality of drivers based on the respective measures representative for the light output of the respective light sources determined in step a)”, as claimed in dependent claim 65.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Prior art Hussell et al. – US 2022/0070982 (see figure 4)
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/TUNG X LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2844 February 11, 2026