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 Amendment
Applicant's amendment filed on 06 November 2025 has been entered. Claim 1, 6, and 9 have been amended. No claims have been cancelled. No claims have been added. Claims 1-20 are still pending in this application, with claims 1, 9, and 16 being independent. Claims 16-20 have been withdrawn from consideration, please reference the previous non-final office action mailed 14 July 2025, as well as the response to election/restriction filed 04 April 2025.
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.
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 9-12 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim et al. (KR 101929737 B1, herein referred to as: Kim).
Regarding claim 9, Kim discloses a headlamp aiming system (Figs. 1-13), comprising: a carrier frame (300) having opposite first (a first side on the side of 310) and second sides (a second side on the side of 322), having a ball joint opening (330) extending from the first side through the entire carrier frame to the second side (as shown in Figs. 3-4), and being configured to attach, at the first side, to at least one headlamp projector unit (310, and the lamp coupled thereto, as shown in Fig. 4); a bridge (200) on the first side of the carrier frame (as shown in Fig. 4), and controllably movable along a translational axis (as shown in Figs. 12-13); a ball joint (210) attached to the bridge (as shown in Figs. 12-13), having a ball (210) at a terminal end of the ball joint (as shown in Figs. 12-13), and extending through the ball joint opening such that the ball is at least partially on the second side of the carrier frame (as shown in Figs. 12-13, 210 is partly on the second side of said carrier frame); and a receptacle shell (120) covering the ball (as shown in Figs. 12-13), wherein a thickness of the carrier frame between the first and second sides of the carrier frame proximate the ball joint opening is defined along a thickness direction (as shown in Figs. 12-13), and wherein a greatest width of the ball along a width direction perpendicular to the thickness direction is less than a smallest width of the ball joint opening along the width direction (as shown in Figs. 12-13), and a greatest width of the combination of the ball and the receptacle shell along the width direction is greater than the smallest width of the ball joint opening along the width direction (as shown in Figs. 12-13, e.g., the top of the ball joint opening at 121).
Regarding claim 10, Kim discloses (Figs. 1-13) the receptacle shell (120) is fixedly coupled to the second side of the carrier frame (as shown in Figs. 12-13).
Regarding claim 11, Kim discloses (Figs. 1-13) the receptacle shell (120) is at least partially between the ball and sidewalls of the ball joint opening (as shown in Figs. 12-13).
Regarding claim 12, Kim discloses (Figs. 1-13) a cap (122) attached to the second side of the carrier frame (as shown in Figs. 12-13) and at least partially covering the receptacle shell (covering the remainder of 120 forming the receptacle shell therebelow, as shown in Figs. 12-13).
Regarding claim 15, Kim discloses (Figs. 1-13) the carrier frame is configured to rotate about a rotational axis in response the bridge being moved along the translational axis (upon driving 200, said carrier frame 300 rotates about a rotational axis).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-8 are allowable.
Claims 13-14 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 1, the prior art of record does not teach, or merely suggest, the collective limitations of claim 1 as presently presented.
Regarding claims 13-14, the prior art of record does not teach, or merely suggest, the collective limitations of claim 13 or the collective limitations of claim 14, as recited in combination with all of the limitations of claims 9 and 12, upon which both of claims 13 and 14 depend, respectively.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 9-12 and 15 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
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.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: please see US 2008/0225543 A1 to Kuwahara, pertinent to the feature of a cap for pivot sockets in general.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Colin J Cattanach whose telephone number is (571)270-5203. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:30 AM - 6:30 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jong-Suk (James) Lee can be reached at (571) 272-7044. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/COLIN J CATTANACH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875