DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 1-5, 8-10, 12-14, and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lim (KR 101103327 B1) in view of Miura (WO 2014033842 A1).
Re Claim 1: Lim discloses a nail lamp for curing a light-curable nail product on a user’s nail, the nail lamp comprising:
a housing (figs 4 & 5: 100, 200) having an open cavity forming a nail treatment space;
a curing plane (fig 4: 70) defined by the housing, the nail treatment space being bounded by the housing and the curing plane; and
at least one nail curing light source (fig 7: 25) supported by the housing, the at least one nail curing light source transmitting nail curing light onto the curing plane in an optimal curing area.
However, Lim does not disclose at least one image projecting light source supported by the housing, the at least one image projecting light source projecting a visible light image on the curing plane adjacent the optimal curing area for guiding a positioning of the user’s nail in the optimal curing area.
Miura however discloses at least one image projecting light source (fig 2a: 22) supported by the housing, the at least one image projecting light source projecting a visible light image on a plane adjacent an optimal area for guiding a positioning of the user’s nail in the optimal area (As a guide position for placing the fingertip, visible light is irradiated onto the finger placing plate 21 by the light source 22 for guide, and the portion is illuminated in a circle.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinarily skill in the art to incorporate Miura’s teaching in the apparatus of Lim for the purpose of guiding the movement of the user’s nail to the optimal position.
Re Claim 2: Lim modified by Miura discloses the nail lamp as defined in Claim 1, wherein the housing comprises: an upper portion (figs 4 & 5: 100); and at least two legs (figs 4 & 5: 60) extending from the upper portion for supporting the upper portion at a distance from a surface, each of the at least two legs terminating at a distal end, wherein the curing plane (fig 4: 70) is defined by the distal ends of the at least two legs on the surface.
Re Claim 3: Lim modified by Miura discloses the nail lamp as defined in Claim 2, wherein the at least two legs (figs 4 & 5: 60) are foldable with respect to the housing upper portion.
Re Claim 4: Lim modified by Miura discloses the nail lamp as defined in Claim 1, wherein the at least one nail curing light source is an ultra-violet (UV) light source (ultraviolet LEDs).
Re Claims 5 & 14: Lim modified by Miura discloses the nail lamp as defined in Claim 4 and the method as defined in Claim 13, wherein the UV light source is a light emitting diode (LED) (ultraviolet LEDs).
Re Claims 8 & 17: Lim modified by Miura discloses the nail lamp as defined in Claim 1 and the method as defined in Claim 12, wherein the visible light image is a point image or a line image (Miura: illuminated in a circle).
Re Claim 9: Lim modified by Miura discloses the nail lamp as defined in Claim 1, further comprising a circuit board contained within the housing, the at least one nail curing light source and the at least one image projecting light source being mounted on the circuit board (a circuit board 24 on which an ultraviolet LED and a plurality of electric elements are installed).
Re Claim 10: Lim modified by Miura discloses the nail lamp as defined in Claim 1, wherein the housing comprises:
an upper portion (figs 4 & 5: 100); and
a bottom platform (figs 4 & 5: 200) disposed at a distance from the upper portion, the bottom platform having an upper surface (fig 4: 70) facing the upper portion, wherein the curing plane is defined by the upper surface of the bottom platform.
Re Claim 12: Lim discloses a method for curing a light-curable nail product on a user’s nail, the method comprising:
transmitting nail curing light from at least one nail curing light source (fig 7: 25) onto a curing plane (fig 4: 70) in an optimal curing area.
However, Lim does not disclose projecting a visible light image from at least one image projecting light source on the curing plane adjacent the optimal curing area; and positioning the user’s nail with respect to the visible light image in the optimal curing area.
Miura however discloses projecting a visible light image from at least one image projecting light source (fig 2a: 22) on the plane adjacent the optimal area; and positioning the user’s nail with respect to the visible light image in the optimal area (As a guide position for placing the fingertip, visible light is irradiated onto the finger placing plate 21 by the light source 22 for guide, and the portion is illuminated in a circle.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinarily skill in the art to incorporate Miura’s teaching in the method of Lim for the purpose of guiding the movement of the user’s nail to the optimal position.
Re Claim 13: Lim modified by Miura discloses the method as defined in Claim 12, wherein nail curing light is transmitted from an ultra-violet (UV) light source (ultraviolet LEDs).
Claims 6 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lim (KR 101103327 B1) modified by Miura (WO 2014033842 A1) in view of Okubo (JP 2000259151 A).
Re Claim 6: Lim modified by Miura discloses the nail lamp as defined in Claim 1.
However, Lim modified by Miura does not disclose that the at least one image projecting light source is a light emitting diode (LED).
Okubo however discloses that the at least one image projecting light source is a light emitting diode (LED) (The light emitting means 2a preferably uses a type in which LEDs (light emitting elements)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinarily skill in the art to incorporate Okubo’s teaching in the apparatus of Lim modified by Miura for providing the light source that is more cost effective and energy efficient (i.e. compared to e.g. laser).
Re Claim 15: Lim modified by Miura discloses the method as defined in Claim 12.
However, Lim modified by Miura does not disclose that the visible light image is projected by a light emitting diode (LED).
Okubo however discloses that the visible light image is projected by a light emitting diode (LED) (The light emitting means 2a preferably uses a type in which LEDs (light emitting elements)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinarily skill in the art to incorporate Okubo’s teaching in the method of Lim modified by Miura for providing the light source that is more cost effective and energy efficient (i.e. compared to e.g. laser).
Claims 7 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lim (KR 101103327 B1) modified by Miura (WO 2014033842 A1) in view of Hsieh (US 20210161272 A1).
Re Claim 7: Lim modified by Miura discloses the nail lamp as defined in Claim 1.
However, Lim modified by Miura does not disclose that the at least one image projecting light source is a laser light source.
Hsieh however discloses that the at least one image projecting light source is a laser light source (p82: The virtual image key may be the virtual image key(s) generated by any image projector, such as the virtual image key(s) (e.g., the image of a press-button or a keyboard) generated by a laser or other optical projection device).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinarily skill in the art to incorporate Hsieh’s teaching in the apparatus of Lim modified by Miura for the greater precision that lasers provide.
Re Claim 16: Lim modified by Miura discloses the method as defined in Claim 12.
However, Lim modified by Miura does not disclose that the visible light image is projected by a laser light source.
Hsieh however discloses that the visible light image is projected by a laser light source (p82: The virtual image key may be the virtual image key(s) generated by any image projector, such as the virtual image key(s) (e.g., the image of a press-button or a keyboard) generated by a laser or other optical projection device).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinarily skill in the art to incorporate Hsieh’s teaching in the method of Lim modified by Miura for the greater precision that lasers provide.
Claims 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lim (KR 101103327 B1) modified by Miura (WO 2014033842 A1) in view of Yavid (CN 101563649 A).
Re Claim 11: Lim modified by Miura discloses the nail lamp as defined in Claim 1.
However, Lim modified by Miura does not disclose that the at least one image projecting light source comprises a lens for focusing the light from the light source into the visible light image.
Yavid however discloses that the at least one image projecting light source comprises a lens for focusing the light from the light source into the visible light image (a focusing cylindrical lens for focusing the beams along the longitudinal direction,.. causing selected ones of the pixels to be illuminated, and rendered visible, by the selected ones of the EELEDs to produce the two-dimensional image).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinarily skill in the art to incorporate Yavid’s teaching in the apparatus of Lim modified by Miura for the purpose of focusing the light from the light source.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TAE W KIM whose telephone number is (571)272-5971. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30AM-5:30PM.
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/TAE W KIM/ Examiner, Art Unit 2876
/STEVEN S PAIK/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2876