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, see Remark Pages 1-2, filed June 2, 2026, with respect to the 102 rejection of Schnuckle et al. (U.S. Patent 7,261,455 B2) and Applicant’s amendment to Claim 1 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of claims has been withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments filed June 2, 2026 with respect to Claims 33-38 and the 102 rejection of Lee (U.S. Patent 9,133,992 B2) have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to Applicant’s argument, “In particular, Lee does not teach or suggest that any component of the lamp unit moves along a surface of the container body,” Lee remains commensurate in teaching an object (10, 12, 14, 16, 18-19) that moves along a surface [e.g., (24)] of the container body. Applicant argues that “it does not contact or travel along any surface”; however, it remains clear that the object [specifically, the part (18)] travels along the surface (24) within the container body.
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.
Claims 33-38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lee (U.S. Patent 9,133,992 B2).
With regards to Claim 33, Lee discloses an apparatus for generating randomized motion [Figures 1-6], including:
An electromagnetic coil (36) for generating a magnetic field;
An object (10, 12, 14, 16, 18-19) that is magnetically responsive to the magnetic field;
A container (1, 6, 20) having a surface [e.g., (24)] and a boundary that confines movement of the object along the surface, wherein the magnetic response of the object to the magnetic field includes movement along the surface, and wherein the surface is configured to convey the movement of the object in multiple degrees of freedom [note Figures 1-4].
With regards to Claim 34, Lee discloses the surface defines a rest position for the object at which the object is restable in the absence of the magnetic field [note Figure 1].
With regards to Claim 35, Lee discloses the electromagnetic coil (36) includes a polar axis that is offset from the rest position [note Figure 1].
With regards to Claim 36, Lee discloses wherein the surface (24) is non-planar within the boundary [note Figure 1].
With regards to Claim 37, Lee discloses an article (12) that is magnetically responsive to one or more of the object and the magnetic field [via (19)].
With regards to Claim 38, Lee discloses the article (12) is secured to a housing [e.g., (22)] in an arrangement that permits a plurality of degrees of freedom of movement [note Figures 1-6].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-8, 12, and 15 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: With regards to Independent Claim 1, the Applicant has sufficiently amended and claimed the article with randomized motion including the housing, the motion generator, the artificial flame assembly, and the light source. The prior art fails to teach or suggest the combination of structural and functional limitations claimed therein, specifically to the details and dispositions of the above elements relative to one another, and in particular to both the details of the object movable within the container and the response body movable by interacting with the object or the magnetic field, wherein the response body is configured to transfer motion to the artificial flame assembly so that the artificial flame assembly is movable with a plurality of degrees of freedom.
The prior art to Schnuckle et al. (U.S. Patent 7,261,455 B2) discloses an article with randomized motion [Figures 1-22], including:
A housing [(302, 304, 306, 320) or (302, 304, 306, 320, 322)];
A motion generator (316) capable of generating a magnetic field, a container (318) defining a boundary, and an object (330) movably responsive to the magnetic field, wherein the object is urged by the magnetic field to move through a space within the boundary [note Figures 7-22];
An article apparatus (324) coupled to the housing and including a response body (326) that is movable by interacting with the one or more of the object and the magnetic field, wherein the response body transfers motion to the article so that the article is movable with a plurality of degrees of freedom [Column 5, Line 32 – Column 6, Line 11]; and
A light source (308) coupled to the housing and arranged to emit light in a beam that is intersectable with the article.
As noted above, Schnuckle fails to teach or suggest the combination of structural and functional limitations claimed therein, specifically to both the details of the object movable within the container and the response body movable by interacting with the object or the magnetic field, wherein the response body is configured to transfer motion to the artificial flame assembly so that the artificial flame assembly is movable with a plurality of degrees of freedom.
All subsequent claims are allowed due to dependency.
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
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON M HAN whose telephone number is (571)272-2207. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-5PM EST M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Abdulmajeed Aziz can be reached at 571-270-5046. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Thursday, July 9, 2026
/Jason M Han/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875
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