DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Status of Claims
2. This office action is in response to application number 18/673,552 filed on 05/24/2024, in
which the amendments and arguments filed on 12/30/2025.
Claims 10-15 and 17 has been amended.
Claims 18-23 have been added.
Claims 1-9 have been cancelled.
Claims 10-23 are currently pending and have been examined.
Priority
3. Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C 119
(a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No.GB2307945.2 filed on 05/26/2023.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 05/24/2024 has been received
and has been considered.
Response to Amendment
5. Applicant' s amendments to the Claims have overcome the rejection previously set forth
in the Non-Final Office Action mailed 09/30/2025. Applicants arguments, see page 7-10 filed on
12/30/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim 1-17 under USC 103 is persuasive. Therefore, a new grounds for rejection is made under 35 USC 103 as necessitated by amendment as being unpatentable over Lys (US 7525254 B2) in view of Zeng (CN 115950438 A) further in view of Boks (US 20210371064 A1) further in view of Li (EP 4514071 A1) and further in view of Solberg (US 20070091609 A1).
Specification
6. The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: Method of operating a Marine Lighting System.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
7. Claim(s) 10, 11, 13, 15, 19, and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (US 7525254 B2) to Lys et al. (hereinafter Lys) in view of Zeng (CN 115950438 A).
Regarding claim 10, Lys discloses A method of operating a marine vessel lighting system, comprising the steps of: i) assigning a base roll light level for at least one light capable of being controlled to vary intensity and/or colour in the marine vessel lighting system for when zero roll is detected by a motion detector operable to detect roll of a vessel in which the marine vessel lighting system is mounted, wherein operation of the at least one light is controlled by a controller on the basis of roll of the vessel detected by the motion detector such that the colour and/or intensity of the at least one light is varied on the basis of the roll of the vessel detected by the motion detector; ii) assigning a first roll light level for the at least one light for a maximum positive roll […] for any positive roll between zero and the maximum positive roll; iii) assigning a second roll light level for the at least one light for a maximum negative roll […] for any negative roll between zero and the maximum negative roll; and iv) controlling, using the controller, the at least one light to produce a roll light level according to steps (i) or (iii) based on the roll of the vessel detected by the motion detector. (Lys Column 39, Line number 8-25: “As one example of an environmental indicator, the power module can be coupled to an inclinometer. The inclinometer measures general angular orientation with respect to the earth's center of gravity. The inclinometer's angle signal can be converted through an A/D converter and coupled to the data inputs of the processor 16 in the power module. The processor 16 can then be programmed to assign each discrete angular orientation a different color through the use of a lookup table associating angles with LED color register values. Another indicator use is to provide an easily readable visual temperature indication. For example, a digital thermometer can be connected to provide the processor 16 a temperature reading. Each temperature will be associated with a particular set of register values, and hence a particular color output. A plurality of such "color thermometers" can be located over a large space, such as a storage freezer, to allow simple visual inspection of temperature over three dimensions.”) (Lys Column 41, line number 6-15: “The inclinometer's angle signal can be converted by the A/D converter 1027 and coupled to the data inputs of the microcontroller in the power module. The microcontroller can then be programmed to assign angular orientations to different color through the use of a lookup table associating angles with LED color register values. The color inclinometer may be used for safety, such as in airplane cockpits, or for novelty, such as to illuminate the sails on a sailboat that sways in the water.”) (Note: The inclinometer also determines roll) (Note: Depending on whatever roll is determined using the inclinometer a specific color can be assigned to eh light)
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Lys does not disclose […] and interpolating a roll light level for the at least one light […] and interpolating a roll light level for the at least one light
However, Zeng does teach […] and interpolating a roll light level for the at least one light […] and interpolating a roll light level for the at least one light (Zeng Paragraph 0030: “the received signal strength after posture compensation, /> when the receiving end detects the pitch angle intensity, /> detecting the transverse rolling angle when the light intensity is detected by the receiving end, and/> are respectively the compensation factor of the pitch angle and the roll angle.”) (Zeng Paragraph 0058: “The invention claims a ship cabin visible light locating method based on light intensity compensation, aiming at the problem that the visible light location in the ship cabin is easy to be interfered by the environment light,”) (Zeng Paragraph 0090: “using cubic spline interpolation method to generate virtual data according to the received signal strength data collected and corrected by each coordinate point, reducing the step length between each coordinate point, collecting each coordinate point, detecting light intensity or virtual data of the light source into a matrix form, detecting light intensity data as the coordinate point; each coordinate point after correction of the received signal strength data and the generated virtual data to construct a complete database, the input form is /> value of the first order item, cross item and second order item;”)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lys to include […] and interpolating a roll light level for the at least one light […] and interpolating a roll light level for the at least one light taught by Zeng. This would have been for the benefit to provide a ship cabin visible light positioning method based on light intensity compensation, the method comprises the following steps: S1, detecting the light intensity data when the ship berthing end of each coordinate point of the ship cabin is vertically upward, collecting and detecting the light intensity data, attitude angle information and real position coordinate information; S2, constructing a light intensity compensation model, the light intensity compensation model comprises a posture compensation model and a height compensation model; S3, convolutional neural network visible light locating model based on light intensity compensation; S4, the target to be located is conveyed to the ship cabin, the position coordinate of the visible light communication system is transmitted to the receiving end, the receiving end collects and stores the detected light intensity data of each LED lamp; the target attitude angle information and the target height information; S5, inputting the target attitude angle information and the target height information into the light intensity compensation model, so that the target to be located obtains the corrected received signal strength data; S6, inputting the corrected received signal strength data into the trained convolutional neural network visible light positioning model in the form of matrix, calculating the estimated position coordinate by using the BP algorithm. (Zeng Paragraph 0011-0017)
Regarding claim 11, Lys discloses A method of operating a marine vessel lighting system according to claim 1, comprising the steps of: i) assigning a base pitch light level for the or each at least one light capable of being controlled to vary intensity and/or colour in the marine vessel lighting system for when zero pitch is detected by a motion detector operable to detect pitch of a vessel in which the marine vessel lighting system is mounted, wherein operation of the at least one light is controlled by a controller on the basis of pitch of the vessel detected by the motion detector such that the colour and/or intensity of the at least one light is varied on the basis of the pitch of the vessel detected by the motion detector; ii) assigning a first pitch light level for the or each the at least one light for a maximum positive pitch […] for any positive pitch between zero and the maximum positive pitch; iii) assigning a second pitch light level for the or each the at least one light for a maximum negative pitch […] for any negative pitch between zero and the maximum negative pitch; and iv) controlling, using the controller, the or each the at least one light to produce a pitch light level according to steps (i) or (iii) based on the pitch of the vessel detected by the motion detector. (Lys Column 39, Line number 8-25: “As one example of an environmental indicator, the power module can be coupled to an inclinometer. The inclinometer measures general angular orientation with respect to the earth's center of gravity. The inclinometer's angle signal can be converted through an A/D converter and coupled to the data inputs of the processor 16 in the power module. The processor 16 can then be programmed to assign each discrete angular orientation a different color through the use of a lookup table associating angles with LED color register values. Another indicator use is to provide an easily readable visual temperature indication. For example, a digital thermometer can be connected to provide the processor 16 a temperature reading. Each temperature will be associated with a particular set of register values, and hence a particular color output. A plurality of such "color thermometers" can be located over a large space, such as a storage freezer, to allow simple visual inspection of temperature over three dimensions.”) (Lys Column 41, line number 6-15: “The inclinometer's angle signal can be converted by the A/D converter 1027 and coupled to the data inputs of the microcontroller in the power module. The microcontroller can then be programmed to assign angular orientations to different color through the use of a lookup table associating angles with LED color register values. The color inclinometer may be used for safety, such as in airplane cockpits, or for novelty, such as to illuminate the sails on a sailboat that sways in the water.”) (Note: The inclinometer also determines pitch) (Note: Depending on whatever pitch is determined using the inclinometer specific color can be assigned)
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Lys does not disclose […] and interpolating a pitch light level for the or each the at least one light […] and interpolating a pitch light level for the or each the at least one light
However, Zeng does teach […] and interpolating a pitch light level for the or each the at least one light […] and interpolating a pitch light level for the or each the at least one light (Zeng Paragraph 0030: “the received signal strength after posture compensation, /> when the receiving end detects the pitch angle intensity, /> detecting the transverse rolling angle when the light intensity is detected by the receiving end, and/> are respectively the compensation factor of the pitch angle and the roll angle.”) (Zeng Paragraph 0058: “The invention claims a ship cabin visible light locating method based on light intensity compensation, aiming at the problem that the visible light location in the ship cabin is easy to be interfered by the environment light,”) (Zeng Paragraph 0090: “using cubic spline interpolation method to generate virtual data according to the received signal strength data collected and corrected by each coordinate point, reducing the step length between each coordinate point, collecting each coordinate point, detecting light intensity or virtual data of the light source into a matrix form, detecting light intensity data as the coordinate point; each coordinate point after correction of the received signal strength data and the generated virtual data to construct a complete database, the input form is /> value of the first order item, cross item and second order item;”)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lys to include […] and interpolating a pitch light level for the or each the at least one light […] and interpolating a pitch light level for the or each the at least one light taught by Zeng. This would have been for the benefit to provide a ship cabin visible light positioning method based on light intensity compensation, the method comprises the following steps: S1, detecting the light intensity data when the ship berthing end of each coordinate point of the ship cabin is vertically upward, collecting and detecting the light intensity data, attitude angle information and real position coordinate information; S2, constructing a light intensity compensation model, the light intensity compensation model comprises a posture compensation model and a height compensation model; S3, convolutional neural network visible light locating model based on light intensity compensation; S4, the target to be located is conveyed to the ship cabin, the position coordinate of the visible light communication system is transmitted to the receiving end, the receiving end collects and stores the detected light intensity data of each LED lamp; the target attitude angle information and the target height information; S5, inputting the target attitude angle information and the target height information into the light intensity compensation model, so that the target to be located obtains the corrected received signal strength data; S6, inputting the corrected received signal strength data into the trained convolutional neural network visible light positioning model in the form of matrix, calculating the estimated position coordinate by using the BP algorithm. (Zeng Paragraph 0011-0017)
Regarding claim 13, Lys does not disclose A method according to claim 10, wherein the interpolation of the roll light levels is an interpolation of intensity between a minimum at the base roll light levels and a maximum at any of the first or second roll light levels
However, Zeng does teach A method according to claim 10, wherein the interpolation of the roll light levels is an interpolation of intensity between a minimum at the base roll light levels and a maximum at any of the first or second roll light levels. (Zeng Paragraph 0030: “the received signal strength after posture compensation, /> when the receiving end detects the pitch angle intensity, /> detecting the transverse rolling angle when the light intensity is detected by the receiving end, and/> are respectively the compensation factor of the pitch angle and the roll angle.”) (Zeng Paragraph 0058: “The invention claims a ship cabin visible light locating method based on light intensity compensation, aiming at the problem that the visible light location in the ship cabin is easy to be interfered by the environment light,”) (Zeng Paragraph 0090: “using cubic spline interpolation method to generate virtual data according to the received signal strength data collected and corrected by each coordinate point, reducing the step length between each coordinate point, collecting each coordinate point, detecting light intensity or virtual data of the light source into a matrix form, detecting light intensity data as the coordinate point; each coordinate point after correction of the received signal strength data and the generated virtual data to construct a complete database, the input form is /> value of the first order item, cross item and second order item;”) (Note: The coordinate point for the light intensity can be any maximum or minimum value)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lys to include A method according to claim 10, wherein the interpolation of the roll light levels is an interpolation of intensity between a minimum at the base roll light levels and a maximum at any of the first or second roll light levels taught by Zeng. This would have been for the benefit to provide a ship cabin visible light positioning method based on light intensity compensation, the method comprises the following steps: S1, detecting the light intensity data when the ship berthing end of each coordinate point of the ship cabin is vertically upward, collecting and detecting the light intensity data, attitude angle information and real position coordinate information; S2, constructing a light intensity compensation model, the light intensity compensation model comprises a posture compensation model and a height compensation model; S3, convolutional neural network visible light locating model based on light intensity compensation; S4, the target to be located is conveyed to the ship cabin, the position coordinate of the visible light communication system is transmitted to the receiving end, the receiving end collects and stores the detected light intensity data of each LED lamp; the target attitude angle information and the target height information; S5, inputting the target attitude angle information and the target height information into the light intensity compensation model, so that the target to be located obtains the corrected received signal strength data; S6, inputting the corrected received signal strength data into the trained convolutional neural network visible light positioning model in the form of matrix, calculating the estimated position coordinate by using the BP algorithm. (Zeng Paragraph 0011-0017)
Regarding claim 15, Lys discloses A method according to claim 10, wherein the first roll light level is a first colour and the second roll light level is a second colour. (Lys Column 39, Line number 8-25: “As one example of an environmental indicator, the power module can be coupled to an inclinometer. The inclinometer measures general angular orientation with respect to the earth's center of gravity. The inclinometer's angle signal can be converted through an A/D converter and coupled to the data inputs of the processor 16 in the power module. The processor 16 can then be programmed to assign each discrete angular orientation a different color through the use of a lookup table associating angles with LED color register values. Another indicator use is to provide an easily readable visual temperature indication. For example, a digital thermometer can be connected to provide the processor 16 a temperature reading. Each temperature will be associated with a particular set of register values, and hence a particular color output. A plurality of such "color thermometers" can be located over a large space, such as a storage freezer, to allow simple visual inspection of temperature over three dimensions.”) (Lys Column 41, line number 6-15: “The inclinometer's angle signal can be converted by the A/D converter 1027 and coupled to the data inputs of the microcontroller in the power module. The microcontroller can then be programmed to assign angular orientations to different color through the use of a lookup table associating angles with LED color register values. The color inclinometer may be used for safety, such as in airplane cockpits, or for novelty, such as to illuminate the sails on a sailboat that sways in the water.”) (Note: The inclinometer also determines roll) (Note: Depending on whatever roll is determined using the inclinometer specific color can be assigned)
Regarding claim 19, Lys does not disclose A method according to claim 11, wherein the interpolation of the pitch light levels is an interpolation of intensity between a minimum at the base pitch light levels and a maximum at any of the first or second pitch light levels
However, Zeng does teach A method according to claim 11, wherein the interpolation of the pitch light levels is an interpolation of intensity between a minimum at the base pitch light levels and a maximum at any of the first or second pitch light levels. (Zeng Paragraph 0030: “the received signal strength after posture compensation, /> when the receiving end detects the pitch angle intensity, /> detecting the transverse rolling angle when the light intensity is detected by the receiving end, and/> are respectively the compensation factor of the pitch angle and the roll angle.”) (Zeng Paragraph 0058: “The invention claims a ship cabin visible light locating method based on light intensity compensation, aiming at the problem that the visible light location in the ship cabin is easy to be interfered by the environment light,”) (Zeng Paragraph 0090: “using cubic spline interpolation method to generate virtual data according to the received signal strength data collected and corrected by each coordinate point, reducing the step length between each coordinate point, collecting each coordinate point, detecting light intensity or virtual data of the light source into a matrix form, detecting light intensity data as the coordinate point; each coordinate point after correction of the received signal strength data and the generated virtual data to construct a complete database, the input form is /> value of the first order item, cross item and second order item;”) (Note: The coordinate point for the light intensity can be any maximum or minimum value)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lys to include A method according to claim 11, wherein the interpolation of the pitch light levels is an interpolation of intensity between a minimum at the base pitch light levels and a maximum at any of the first or second pitch light levels taught by Zeng. This would have been for the benefit to provide a ship cabin visible light positioning method based on light intensity compensation, the method comprises the following steps: S1, detecting the light intensity data when the ship berthing end of each coordinate point of the ship cabin is vertically upward, collecting and detecting the light intensity data, attitude angle information and real position coordinate information; S2, constructing a light intensity compensation model, the light intensity compensation model comprises a posture compensation model and a height compensation model; S3, convolutional neural network visible light locating model based on light intensity compensation; S4, the target to be located is conveyed to the ship cabin, the position coordinate of the visible light communication system is transmitted to the receiving end, the receiving end collects and stores the detected light intensity data of each LED lamp; the target attitude angle information and the target height information; S5, inputting the target attitude angle information and the target height information into the light intensity compensation model, so that the target to be located obtains the corrected received signal strength data; S6, inputting the corrected received signal strength data into the trained convolutional neural network visible light positioning model in the form of matrix, calculating the estimated position coordinate by using the BP algorithm. (Zeng Paragraph 0011-0017)
Regarding claim 21, Lys discloses A method according to claim 11, wherein the first pitch light level is a first colour and the second pitch light level is a second colour. (Lys Column 39, Line number 8-25: “As one example of an environmental indicator, the power module can be coupled to an inclinometer. The inclinometer measures general angular orientation with respect to the earth's center of gravity. The inclinometer's angle signal can be converted through an A/D converter and coupled to the data inputs of the processor 16 in the power module. The processor 16 can then be programmed to assign each discrete angular orientation a different color through the use of a lookup table associating angles with LED color register values. Another indicator use is to provide an easily readable visual temperature indication. For example, a digital thermometer can be connected to provide the processor 16 a temperature reading. Each temperature will be associated with a particular set of register values, and hence a particular color output. A plurality of such "color thermometers" can be located over a large space, such as a storage freezer, to allow simple visual inspection of temperature over three dimensions.”) (Lys Column 41, line number 6-15: “The inclinometer's angle signal can be converted by the A/D converter 1027 and coupled to the data inputs of the microcontroller in the power module. The microcontroller can then be programmed to assign angular orientations to different color through the use of a lookup table associating angles with LED color register values. The color inclinometer may be used for safety, such as in airplane cockpits, or for novelty, such as to illuminate the sails on a sailboat that sways in the water.”) (Note: The inclinometer also determines pitch) (Note: Depending on whatever pitch is determined using the inclinometer specific color can be assigned)
8. Claim(s) 12 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lys (US 7525254 B2) in view of Zeng (CN 115950438 A) and further in view of (US 20210371064 A1) to Boks et al. (hereinafter Boks).
Regarding claim 12, Lys in view of Zeng teaches claim 10, accordingly, the rejection of claim 10 is incorporated above.
Lys in view of Zeng does not teach A method according to claim 10, wherein the base roll light level is zero, such that the at least one light is controlled to produce no light when no roll is detected.
However, Boks does teach A method according to claim 10, wherein the base roll light level is zero, such that the at least one light is controlled to produce no light when no roll is detected. (Boks paragraph 0030: “The navigational sensor 74 can be any type of navigational sensor capable of determining the global position of the marine vessel 10 in latitude and longitude, optionally in addition to the vessel's heading, pitch, roll, and yaw.”) (Boks Paragraph 0042: “In still other examples, the controller 170a could be configured to change the color of the light 198 or to turn one or more lamps/light engines in the light 198 on or off depending on a geographical position of the marine vessel 10 as determined by the navigational sensor 74”) (Note: If zero roll is detected the light is not turned on thus producing no light)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lys in view of Zeng to include A method according to claim 10, wherein the base roll light level is zero, such that the at least one light is controlled to produce no light when no roll is detected taught by Boks. This would have been for the benefit to provide more robust systems for controlling peripheral devices on board a marine vessel and to such peripheral devices themselves. [Boks Paragraph 0002]
Regarding claim 18, Lys in view of Zeng teaches claim 11, accordingly, the rejection of claim 11 is incorporated above.
Lys in view of Zeng does not teach A method according to claim 11, wherein the base pitch light level is zero, such that the at least one light is controlled to produce no light when no pitch is detected.
However, Boks does teach A method according to claim 11, wherein the base pitch light level is zero, such that the at least one light is controlled to produce no light when no pitch is detected. (Boks paragraph 0030: “The navigational sensor 74 can be any type of navigational sensor capable of determining the global position of the marine vessel 10 in latitude and longitude, optionally in addition to the vessel's heading, pitch, roll, and yaw.”) (Boks Paragraph 0042: “In still other examples, the controller 170a could be configured to change the color of the light 198 or to turn one or more lamps/light engines in the light 198 on or off depending on a geographical position of the marine vessel 10 as determined by the navigational sensor 74”) (Note: If zero pitch is detected the light is not turned on thus producing no light)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lys in view of Zeng to include A method according to claim 11, wherein the base pitch light level is zero, such that the at least one light is controlled to produce no light when no pitch is detected taught by Boks. This would have been for the benefit to provide more robust systems for controlling peripheral devices on board a marine vessel and to such peripheral devices themselves. [Boks Paragraph 0002]
9. Claim(s) 14, 16, 20, and 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (US 7525254 B2) to Lys et al. (hereinafter Lys) in view of Zeng (CN 115950438 A) and further in view of Li (EP 4514071 A1).
Regarding claim 14, Lys discloses […] and the base roll light level is a different colour from the first and second roll light levels. (Lys Column 39, Line number 8-25: “As one example of an environmental indicator, the power module can be coupled to an inclinometer. The inclinometer measures general angular orientation with respect to the earth's center of gravity. The inclinometer's angle signal can be converted through an A/D converter and coupled to the data inputs of the processor 16 in the power module. The processor 16 can then be programmed to assign each discrete angular orientation a different color through the use of a lookup table associating angles with LED color register values. Another indicator use is to provide an easily readable visual temperature indication. For example, a digital thermometer can be connected to provide the processor 16 a temperature reading. Each temperature will be associated with a particular set of register values, and hence a particular color output. A plurality of such "color thermometers" can be located over a large space, such as a storage freezer, to allow simple visual inspection of temperature over three dimensions.”) (Lys Column 41, line number 6-15: “The inclinometer's angle signal can be converted by the A/D converter 1027 and coupled to the data inputs of the microcontroller in the power module. The microcontroller can then be programmed to assign angular orientations to different color through the use of a lookup table associating angles with LED color register values. The color inclinometer may be used for safety, such as in airplane cockpits, or for novelty, such as to illuminate the sails on a sailboat that sways in the water.”) (Note: The inclinometer also determines roll) (Note: Depending on whatever roll is determined using the inclinometer specific color can be assigned)
Lys in view of Zeng does not teach A method according to claim 10, wherein the interpolation of the roll light levels varies the colour of the at least one light
However, Li does teach A method according to claim 10, wherein the interpolation of the roll light levels varies the colour of the at least one light (Li Paragraph 0006: “The vehicle (sometimes briefly referred to as a vehicle) in this application is a vehicle in a broad sense, and may be a means of transportation (such as a car, a truck, a motorcycle, an airplane, a train, or a ship)”) (Li Paragraph 0221: “Further, the color of the third light bead may be determined through color interpolation or linear gradient.”) (Li Paragraph 0256: “determine light effect interpolation information based on the first light effect information and the second light effect information, where the light effect interpolation information includes a color and brightness of the at least one third light bead; and control, based on the light effect interpolation information, the at least one third light bead to display light.”)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lys in view of Zeng to include A method according to claim 10, wherein the interpolation of the roll light levels varies the colour of the at least one light taught by Li. This would have been for the benefit to provide a method and an apparatus for controlling a light display device to improve interaction experience of users are urgently to be developed. [Li Paragraph 0004]
Regarding claim 16, Lys in view of Zeng teaches claim 10, accordingly, the rejection of claim 10 is incorporated above,
Lys in view of Zeng does not teach A method according to claim 10, wherein the interpolation is a linear interpolation.
However, Li does teach A method according to claim 10, wherein the interpolation is a linear interpolation. (Li Paragraph 0006: “The vehicle (sometimes briefly referred to as a vehicle) in this application is a vehicle in a broad sense, and may be a means of transportation (such as a car, a truck, a motorcycle, an airplane, a train, or a ship)”) (Li Paragraph 0221: “Further, the color of the third light bead may be determined through color interpolation or linear gradient.”)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lys in view of Zeng to include A method according to claim 10, wherein the interpolation is a linear interpolation taught by Li. This would have been for the benefit to provide a method and an apparatus for controlling a light display device to improve interaction experience of users are urgently to be developed. [Li Paragraph 0004]
Regarding claim 20, Lys discloses […] and the base pitch light level is a different colour from the first and second pitch light levels. (Lys Column 39, Line number 8-25: “As one example of an environmental indicator, the power module can be coupled to an inclinometer. The inclinometer measures general angular orientation with respect to the earth's center of gravity. The inclinometer's angle signal can be converted through an A/D converter and coupled to the data inputs of the processor 16 in the power module. The processor 16 can then be programmed to assign each discrete angular orientation a different color through the use of a lookup table associating angles with LED color register values. Another indicator use is to provide an easily readable visual temperature indication. For example, a digital thermometer can be connected to provide the processor 16 a temperature reading. Each temperature will be associated with a particular set of register values, and hence a particular color output. A plurality of such "color thermometers" can be located over a large space, such as a storage freezer, to allow simple visual inspection of temperature over three dimensions.”) (Lys Column 41, line number 6-15: “The inclinometer's angle signal can be converted by the A/D converter 1027 and coupled to the data inputs of the microcontroller in the power module. The microcontroller can then be programmed to assign angular orientations to different color through the use of a lookup table associating angles with LED color register values. The color inclinometer may be used for safety, such as in airplane cockpits, or for novelty, such as to illuminate the sails on a sailboat that sways in the water.”) (Note: The inclinometer also determines pitch) (Note: Depending on whatever pitch is determined using the inclinometer specific color can be assigned)
Lys in view of Zeng does not teach A method according to claim 11, wherein the interpolation of the pitch light levels varies the colour of the at least one light
However, Li does teach A method according to claim 11, wherein the interpolation of the pitch light levels varies the colour of the at least one light (Li Paragraph 0006: “The vehicle (sometimes briefly referred to as a vehicle) in this application is a vehicle in a broad sense, and may be a means of transportation (such as a car, a truck, a motorcycle, an airplane, a train, or a ship)”) (Li Paragraph 0221: “Further, the color of the third light bead may be determined through color interpolation or linear gradient.”) (Li Paragraph 0256: “determine light effect interpolation information based on the first light effect information and the second light effect information, where the light effect interpolation information includes a color and brightness of the at least one third light bead; and control, based on the light effect interpolation information, the at least one third light bead to display light.”)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lys in view of Zeng to include A method according to claim 11, wherein the interpolation of the pitch light levels varies the colour of the at least one light taught by Li. This would have been for the benefit to provide a method and an apparatus for controlling a light display device to improve interaction experience of users are urgently to be developed. [Li Paragraph 0004]
Regarding claim 22, Lys in view of Zeng teaches claim 11, accordingly, the rejection of claim 11 is incorporated above,
Lys in view of Zeng does not teach A method according to claim 11, wherein the interpolation is a linear interpolation.
However, Li does teach A method according to claim 11, wherein the interpolation is a linear interpolation. (Li Paragraph 0006: “The vehicle (sometimes briefly referred to as a vehicle) in this application is a vehicle in a broad sense, and may be a means of transportation (such as a car, a truck, a motorcycle, an airplane, a train, or a ship)”) (Li Paragraph 0221: “Further, the color of the third light bead may be determined through color interpolation or linear gradient.”)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lys in view of Zeng to include A method according to claim 11, wherein the interpolation is a linear interpolation taught by Li. This would have been for the benefit to provide a method and an apparatus for controlling a light display device to improve interaction experience of users are urgently to be developed. [Li Paragraph 0004]
10. Claim(s) 17 and 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (US 7525254 B2) to Lys et al. (hereinafter Lys) in view of Zeng (CN 115950438 A) and further in view of (US 20070091609 A1) to Solberg et al. (hereinafter Solberg).
Regarding claim 17, Lys in view of Zeng teaches claim 10, accordingly, the rejection of claim 10 is incorporated above.
Lys in view of Zeng does not teach A method according to claim 10, further comprising the step of determining an orientation of at least one light relative to the axes of the surge, sway, and heave of the marine vessel prior to steps (i) to (iii).
However, Solberg does teach A method according to claim 10, further comprising the step of determining an orientation of at least one light relative to the axes of the surge, sway, and heave of the marine vessel prior to steps (i) to (iii). (Solberg Paragraph 0118: “shows that according to the preferred embodiment of the invention said searchlight (3) would need to change the direction of said beam axis (3a) in order to compensate for the displacement of said searchlight (3) due to the pitch, roll, yaw, heave, surge and swing movements of said vessel (1)”)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lys in view of Zeng to include A method according to claim 10, further comprising the step of determining an orientation of at least one light relative to the axes of the surge, sway, and heave of the marine vessel prior to steps (i) to (iii) taught by Solberg. This would have been for the benefit to provide a searchlight according to the invention for use on a moving vessel, in which said searchlight is arranged for transmitting a light beam with a beam axis which is arranged for illuminating a point or position of an object situated on the surface of the sea. [Solberg Paragraph 0016]
Regarding claim 23, Lys in view of Zeng teaches claim 11, accordingly, the rejection of claim 11 is incorporated above.
Lys in view of Zeng does not teach A method according to claim 11, further comprising the step of determining an orientation of at least one light relative to the axes of the surge, sway, and heave of the marine vessel prior to steps (i) to (iii).
However, Solberg does teach A method according to claim 11, further comprising the step of determining an orientation of at least one light relative to the axes of the surge, sway, and heave of the marine vessel prior to steps (i) to (iii). (Solberg Paragraph 0118: “shows that according to the preferred embodiment of the invention said searchlight (3) would need to change the direction of said beam axis (3a) in order to compensate for the displacement of said searchlight (3) due to the pitch, roll, yaw, heave, surge and swing movements of said vessel (1)”)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lys in view of Zeng to include A method according to claim 11, further comprising the step of determining an orientation of at least one light relative to the axes of the surge, sway, and heave of the marine vessel prior to steps (i) to (iii) taught by Solberg. This would have been for the benefit to provide a searchlight according to the invention for use on a moving vessel, in which said searchlight is arranged for transmitting a light beam with a beam axis which is arranged for illuminating a point or position of an object situated on the surface of the sea. [Solberg Paragraph 0016]
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.
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/K.J.H./Junior Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3664
/KITO R ROBINSON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3664