DETAILED ACTION
Acknowledgement is made of the preliminary amendment submitted on 10/28/2024. In virtue of this amendments:
Claim 5 is currently amended; and thus,
Claims 1-7 are pending;
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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of this application’s status as a 371 of PCT/JP2023/017120 filed on 05/02/2023.
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy of JP2022-080878 filed on 05/17/2022 has been received/retrieved by the office.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/28/2024 and 05/05/2025 has been considered by the examiner.
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 1 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US2017/0015237A1 hereinafter “Okumura”
Regarding claim 1, Okumura disclose a lighting device (¶32L5: headlights) comprising:
a first lighting circuit (¶33L2: a main headlight control apparatus) that turns on a first light source (¶32L5: headlights [10A]) when a state of a first signal satisfies a first condition (¶10L1-3: the first control apparatus turns on/off the first lamp under a condition that a light -on/off command is inputted) and changes a brightness of the first light source according to the state of the first signal (¶38L1-8: drive unit configured to adjusting a light quantity of the main headline over a range from zero to 100%);
a second lighting circuit (¶33L6-10: auxiliary headlight control apparatus) that turns on a second light source (¶35L9: an auxiliary headlight [10B]) when a state of a second signal satisfies a second condition (¶11L1-11: the second control apparatus turns on/off the second lamp under a condition that the auxiliary light-on/off command is inputted) different from the first condition (Note: light on/off command is different than auxiliary light-on/off command) and changes a brightness of the second light source according to the state of the second signal (¶44L1-11: the drive unit [33] is configured to adjusting a light quantity of the auxiliary headlight over a range from zero to 100% based on the control signal) ; and
a first output circuit (¶47L1: body ECU [40]) that outputs, to the first lighting circuit, the first signal whose state changes from a first initial state satisfying the first condition such that the first light source is turned on and is gradually brightened (¶10L8-12: in light-on/light-off control of the first lamp, the first lamp is turned on such that the light quantity gradually increase/decrease), and outputs, to the second lighting circuit, the second signal whose state changes from a second initial state satisfying the second condition such that the second light source is turned on and is gradually brightened (¶11L7-11: in light-on/light-off control of the second lamp, the second lamp is turned on such that the light quantity gradually increase/decrease), based on an instruction signal (¶47L7-10: body ECU inputs the light-on/off command based on an operating signal from the sensors/switch).
Regarding claim 7, Okumura disclose a lighting device (¶32L5: headlights) for turning on a first light source (¶32L5: headlights [10A]) and a second light source (¶35L9: an auxiliary headlight [10B]) attached to a vehicle (¶32L1-5: headlights that are mounted in a vehicle), comprising:
a first lighting circuit (¶33L2: a main headlight control apparatus) that turns on the first light source (¶32L5: headlights [10A]) when a state of a first signal satisfies a first condition (¶10L1-3: the first control apparatus turns on/off the first lamp under a condition that a light -on/off command is inputted) and changes a brightness of the first light source according to the state of the first signal (¶38L1-8: drive unit configured to adjusting a light quantity of the main headline over a range from zero to 100%);
a second lighting circuit (¶33L6-10: auxiliary headlight control apparatus) that turns on the second light source (¶35L9: an auxiliary headlight [10B]) when a state of a second signal satisfies a second condition (¶11L1-11: the second control apparatus turns on/off the second lamp under a condition that the auxiliary light-on/off command is inputted) different from the first condition (Note: light on/off command is different than auxiliary light-on/off command) and changes a brightness of the second light source according to the state of the second signal (¶44L1-11: the drive unit [33] is configured to adjusting a light quantity of the auxiliary headlight over a range from zero to 100% based on the control signal) ; and
a first output circuit (¶47L1: body ECU [40]) that outputs, to the first lighting circuit, the first signal whose state changes from a first initial state satisfying the first condition such that the first light source is turned on and is gradually brightened (¶10L8-12: in light-on/light-off control of the first lamp, the first lamp is turned on such that the light quantity gradually increase/decrease), and outputs, to the second lighting circuit, the second signal whose state changes from a second initial state satisfying the second condition such that the second light source is turned on and is gradually brightened (¶11L7-11: in light-on/light-off control of the second lamp, the second lamp is turned on such that the light quantity gradually increase/decrease), when a door of the vehicle is unlocked.(¶47L7-10: body ECU inputs the light-on/off command based on an operating signal from the switch; ¶46L1-8: the ECU manages other equipment such as door lock).
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.
Claims 2-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okumura in view of US2015/0145574A1 hereinafter “Fujiwara”
Regarding claim 2, Okumura discloses the lighting device according to claim 1
Okumura does not expclitly disclose:
the first lighting circuit performs PWM lighting of the first light source, and
the second lighting circuit performs PWM lighting of the second light source.
Fujiwara discloses a PWM generation circuit used for supplying power to LED circuits (¶47L1-7: generate a PWM signal, the power supply drives a light emitting diode as a load circuit)
It would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art prior to the effective filing date of the application to utilize the PWM power supply disclose by Fujiwara as the driving circuit disclosed by Okumura.
One of ordinary skill in the art would’ve been motivated because PWM driven LED circuit is well known and common in the art, in addition, the PWM circuit disclosed by Fujiwara makes it possible to output a soft-start-controlled PWM signal even immediately after starting the process of generating the PWM signal. (¶15L1-5)
Regarding claim 3, Okumura in view of Fujiwara hereinafter “Okumura/Fujiwara” disclose the lighting device according to claim 2, wherein
the first output circuit outputs, as the first signal, a first PWM signal whose first duty ratio changes from a first initial value satisfying the first condition, and outputs, as the second signal, a second PWM signal whose second duty ratio changes from a second initial value satisfying the second condition, based on the instruction signal, (Fujiwara ¶13L1-30: the PWM signal generation unit includes a duty setting unit configured to designating a duty ratio corresponding to each period PWM signal on the basis of initial duty setting, a target duty setting signal, a slope setting signal)
the first lighting circuit performs the PWM lighting of the first light source in synchronization with the first PWM signal, and changes the brightness of the first light source according to the first duty ratio of the first PWM signal (Okumura ¶38L1-8: drive unit configured to adjusting a light quantity of the main headline over a range from zero to 100%), and the second lighting circuit performs the PWM lighting of the second light source in synchronization with the second PWM signal, and changes the brightness of the second light source according to the second duty ratio of the second PWM signal. (Okumura ¶44L1-11: the drive unit [33] is configured to adjusting a light quantity of the auxiliary headlight over a range from zero to 100% based on the control signal)
Regarding claim 4, Okumura/Fujiwara disclose the lighting device according to claim 3, wherein
the first output circuit changes the first duty ratio and the second duty ratio such that the brightness of each of the first light source and the second light source reaches a predetermined brightness in a predetermined period after each of the first light source and the second light source has been turned on. (Fujiwara ¶13L1-30: the PWM signal generation unit includes a duty setting unit configured to designating a duty ratio corresponding to each period PWM signal on the basis of initial duty setting, a target duty setting signal, a slope setting signal)
Claims 5-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okumura in view of Machine Translation of WO2015/170403A1 hereinafter “Okamoto”
Regarding claim 5, Okumura discloses the lighting device according to claim 1
Okumura does not expclitly disclose:
a third lighting circuit that turns on a third light source when a state of a third signal satisfies a third condition and changes a brightness of the third light source according to the state of the third signal; and a second output circuit that outputs, to the third lighting circuit, the third signal whose state changes from a third initial state satisfying the third condition such that the third light source is turned on and is gradually brightened based on the instruction signal.
Okamoto discloses a vehicle control system with a vehicle lamp comprising of a first, a second and a third lighting unit. (Page.2 L25-29: vehicle headlamp includes a first lamp unit, a second lamp unit and a third lamp unit) being control by a control unit. (Page.3 L32-33: the light source change based on a control signal output from the control unit)
It would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art prior to the effective filing date of the application to modify the headlamp disclosed by Okumura to include a third lamp unit having as shown in Fig.2 of Okamoto.
One of ordinary skill in the art would’ve been motivated because an additional lamp can provide more versatility to the headlamp of the vehicle, as the third lamp can act as a variable beam lamp unit (Okamoto Page.3 L28-33) and it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art. St, Regis Paper Co. v. Bemis Co., 193 USPQ 8.
Regarding claim 6, Okumura in view of Okamoto hereinafter “Okumura/Okamoto” discloses in Okamoto the vehicle lamp comprising:
the lighting device according to claim 5 (as rejected above); and
the first to third light sources arranged at a front of the vehicle, wherein the second light source is disposed between the first light source and the third light source. (as shown in Fig.2 for example)
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAYMOND R CHAI whose telephone number is (571)270-0576. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30AM-5:00PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Alexander H Taningco can be reached at (571)272-8048. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Raymond R Chai/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2844
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