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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 09/25/2024 and 11/10/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being 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 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Amanuma.
Amanuma (JP 2009-152021 A) discloses:
Regarding claim 1, a maintenance method for a device [i.e. method for predicting the lifespan of the light source of an image projection device; see translation, paragraph 0001, lines 1-2] including a light source [i.e. lamp unit; Figure 1, element 070], the maintenance method comprising: (a) a step of predicting timing for maintenance for the device based on at least one of a temporal change in an output of the light source or a usage condition of the device [i.e. predicting when the lamp unit will reach the end of its lifespan; see translation, paragraph 0013, lines 2-3]; (b) a step of detecting luminance of light output from the light source [see translation, paragraph 0024, lines 5-6]; and (c) a step of updating the timing for maintenance [see translation, paragraph 0098, lines 3-5] predicted in (a), based on a detection result in (b).
Regarding claim 3, a step of outputting maintenance data indicating the timing for maintenance [see translation, paragraph 0088, lines 1-3] updated in (c).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Amanuma in view of Bhagat et al.
Amanuma (JP 2009-152021 A) discloses a maintenance method for a device (i.e. method for predicting the lifespan of the light source of an image projection device; see translation, paragraph 0001, lines 1-2) including a light source (i.e. lamp unit; Figure 1, element 070). However, Amanuma does not teach a maintenance method wherein the device includes a plurality of components including the light source, and the maintenance method further includes a step of determining timings of replacement of the plurality of components to be within a predetermined period, based on lifetime data indicating a lifetime of each of the plurality of components.
Bhagat et al. (US Pub. No. 2016/0338171 A1) teaches a device including a plurality of components (page 3, paragraph 0058, lines 1-5) including the light source (Figure 5, element 101), and the maintenance method further includes a step of determining timings of replacement of the plurality of components to be within a predetermined period, based on lifetime data indicating a lifetime of each of the plurality of components (page 6, paragraph 0156, lines 1-6).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a maintenance method wherein the device includes a plurality of components including the light source, and the maintenance method further includes a step of determining timings of replacement of the plurality of components to be within a predetermined period, based on lifetime data indicating a lifetime of each of the plurality of components as shown by Bhagat et al. in combination with Amanuma’s invention for the purpose of improving the performance and reducing the ageing of the light source (Bhagat et al., page 6, paragraph 0160, lines 6-8).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-6 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 4, Amanuma (JP 2009-152021 A) discloses the device is a projector (Figure 1, element 001) that projects light output from the light source (Figure 1, element 070) onto a projection surface (see translation, paragraph 0021, lines 2-3). However, Amanuma and the prior art of record neither shows nor suggests a maintenance methos wherein the projector is switchable between a first mode for controlling the light source to keep the output of the light source constant and a second mode for controlling the light source to keep the luminance of light output from the light source constant, in (b), the luminance of light output from the light source and the output of the light source are detected, in (c), when the projector is switched to the first mode, the timing for maintenance predicted in (a) is updated based on the luminance detected in (b), and when the projector is switched to the second mode, the timing for maintenance predicted in (a) is updated based on the output of the light source detected in (b).
Regarding claims 5 and 6, the claims are allowable based on their dependence from claim 4.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kaskey et al. (US Pub. No. 2013/0207544 A1) discloses an illumination system and methods for controlling the illumination system are provided. In one embodiment, the method includes providing a plurality of illumination sources, monitoring optical output power of the plurality of illumination sources over a period of time, and controlling the plurality of illumination sources to maintain a predetermined level of optical output power. The method further includes compensating for degradations of one or more of the plurality of illumination sources to maintain the predetermined level of optical output power, predicting a lifetime of the illumination system based on the parameters of the plurality of illumination sources, and performing periodic maintenance of the plurality of illumination sources according to a quality control schedule.
Tanaka (US Pub. No. 2005/0219271 A1) teaches an image display devices including a luminance lowering characteristic storage unit for storing a look-up table indicating average luminance lowering characteristic of a projection lamp, a timer unit for counting the lit time of lamp of the device, a lit time storage unit for accumulating and storing the lit time from the lamp use start moment, and an external communication unit for communicating.
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/MAGDA CRUZ/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2882
06/27/2026
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