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 .
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 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.
In addressing the rejection ground, each claim may not have been separately discussed to the extent the claimed features are the same as or similar to the previously-discussed features; the previous discussion is construed to apply for the other claims in the same or similar way.
In the office action, “/” should be read as and/or as generally understood. For example, “A/B” means A and B, or A or B.
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 1-9 and 11-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Franciosa (US 2021/0182445).
Regarding claim 1, Franciosa discloses a system [e.g. figs. 1-2, para. 0109] for controlling a string of light sources [e.g. 1a-1q] wrapped around an object [e.g. 4/41 figs. 2a-2d], said system comprising: at least one input interface [e.g. display of the smart phone 3; see figs. 2b and 2c]; at least one output interface [the wireless communication interface of the smart phone 3; or see at least para. 0074]; and at least one processor [e.g. processor of smart phone 3] configured to: obtain, via said at least one input interface, information indicative of a quantity of said light sources, a spacing between said light sources, and a basic shape of said object [see at least paras. 0084-0088, 0091-0093, figs. 2a-2d], determine a location [see at least figs. 2c, 2d; paras. 0095-0096, 0098] of each of said light sources based on said guide lighting fixtures, said quantity of said light sources, said spacing between said light sources, and said basic shape of said object, determine a light setting [see at least paras. 0102-0104] for each of said light sources based on said locations of said light sources, and control, via said at least one output interface [see at least paras. 0102-0104], said string of light sources according to said light settings. Franciosa does not disclose to obtain, via said at least one input interface, a user input signal specifying a number of turns with which said string of light sources has been wrapped around said object. However, this feature is merely a design choice to control the light settings, since information indicative of a quantity of said light sources, a spacing between said light sources, and a basic shape of said object are obtained [see at least 0091-0093, figs. 2a-2d] and the number of turns can be easily figured out [see figs. 2C-2D]. Therefore, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made, to obtain, via said at least one input interface, a user input signal specifying a number of turns.
Regarding claim 2, the combination discussed above discloses a system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said information specifies a type [see at least paras. 0092-0093] of said string of light sources and said at least one processor [e.g. the processor of the smart phone] is configured to determine said quantity of said light sources and said spacing between said light sources based on said type of said string of light sources.
Regarding claim 3, the combination discussed above discloses a system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one processor is configured to obtain, via said at least one input interface, part of said information from said string of light sources, said part of said information being indicative of said quantity of said light sources and said spacing between said light sources [see at least 0091-0093 Franciosa].
Regarding claim 4, the combination discussed above discloses a system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said information is further indicative of a starting position [see at least 1q figs. 2C-2D] of said string of light sources and said at least one processor is configured to determine said location of each of said light sources further based on said starting position, said starting position indicating whether said string of light sources has been wrapped around said object starting from a first end of said object or starting from a second end of said object.
Regarding claim 5, the combination discussed above discloses a system as claimed in claim 4, wherein said user input signal is further indicative of said starting position position [see at least 1q figs. 2C-2D Franciosa].
Regarding claim 6, the combination discussed above discloses a system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said information is further indicative of a width of said object and said at least one processor is configured to determine said location of each of said light sources further based on said width of said object [see at least 1q figs. 2C-2D Franciosa].
Regarding claim 7, the combination discussed above discloses a system as claimed in claim 6, wherein said user input signal is further indicative of said width of said object [see at least 1q figs. 2C-2D Franciosa].
Regarding claim 8, the combination discussed above discloses a system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said user input signal is further indicative of a wrapping direction of said string of light sources around said object and said at least one processor is configured to determine said light setting for each of said light sources further based on said wrapping direction, said wrapping direction being clockwise or counter clockwise [see at least 1q figs. 2C-2D Franciosa].
Regarding claim 9, the combination discussed above discloses a system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said user input signal is further indicative of said basic shape of said object [see at least 1q figs. 2B-2D Franciosa].
Regarding claim 11, the combination discussed above discloses a system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one processor is configured to: determine said light setting for each of said light sources based on said locations of said light sources such that light sources located on a first side of said object render a first color and light sources located on a second side of said object render a second color [see at least paras. 0102-0109 Franciosa], control, via said at least one output interface, said string of light sources according to said light settings, ask a user to provide second feedback indicative of a side of said object at which said first color is being rendered, said side being one of a left side, a right side, a front side, and a back side, determine a further light setting for each of said light sources based on said locations of said light sources and said second feedback, and control, via said at least one output interface, said string of light sources according to said further light settings [see at least paras. 0102-0109].
Regarding claim 12, the combination discussed above discloses a method of controlling a string of light sources wrapped around an object, said method comprising: obtaining, via at least one input interface, a user input signal specifying a number of turns with which said string of light sources has been wrapped around said object; obtaining, via said at least one input interface, information indicative of a quantity of said light sources, a spacing between said light sources, and a basic shape of said object; determining a location of each of said light sources based on said number of turns, said quantity of said light sources, said spacing between said light sources, and said basic shape of said object; determining a light setting for each of said light sources based on said locations of said light sources; and controlling said string of light sources according to said light settings. This claim is merely methods to operate the circuit having structure recited in claim 1. Since the combination discussed in claim 1 teaches the structure, the methods to operate such a circuit are similarly disclosed. See rejection of claim 1.
Regarding claim 13, the combination discussed above discloses a computer program product [e.g. the software application, see at least paras. 0077-0078 Franciosa] for a computing device, the computer program product comprising computer program code which, when the computer program product is run on the system of claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 10 is 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PATRICK C CHEN whose telephone number is (571)270-7207. The examiner can normally be reached M-F Flexible 9:00-5:30.
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/PATRICK C CHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2842