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 .
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
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Claims 1, 3-5, 7-13, and 17-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-4, 6-13, and 15-16 of U.S. Patent No. 12,173,926. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because U.S. Patent No. 12,173,926 claims a similar device.
Regarding claims 1 and 3-5, 7-8, U.S. Patent No. 12,173,926 claims an upper-air disinfection device, comprising: (a) a plurality of upper-air emitters (one or more upper-air emitter) distributed within a room and coupled to a ceiling at least about 7 feet high, wherein the emitters are configured to output horizontally oriented germicidal light, and wherein each emitter is powered by a power source supplying between 9V DC and 48V DC electricity; (b) one or more power supplies converting main AC electricity into DC voltage; and (c) a series of wires operably coupling said emitters and said power supplies, wherein germicidal light can be distributed into an upper region of the room (see claims 1, 3); further comprising one or more control modules configured to communicate with a wireless network (see claim 2); further comprising one or more sensors capable of detecting CO2 concentrations at various locations within a space (see claim 3); further comprising one or more sensors capable of detecting when a human has entered the space where said germicidal light is projected (see claim 4); wherein one or more of said emitters is configured to track the time that each light source is powered (see claim 6); and further comprising one or more sound generation devices configured to emit a noise intended when the device is inactivation (see claim 7).
Regarding claim 9, U.S. Patent No. 12,173,926 claims an upper-air disinfection emitter, comprising: (a) a light source (a concentrated light source) producing germicidal light, wherein the light source comprises light producing material that project vertically, wherein a volume of the light producing material is less than 200 cubic millimeters; and (b) an axially symmetric reflector positioned below said light source, wherein the reflector is configured to direct germicidal light from the light source into a horizontally oriented pattern (see claims 8-10 and 12),
Regarding claims 10 and 13, U.S. Patent No. 12,173,926 claims an upper-air disinfection emitter wherein said reflector has a surface with a specular reflection of greater than 70% for said germicidal light incident on said reflector (see claim 8); and wherein said light source comprises light-emitting-diode (see claim 11).
Regarding claim 11, U.S. Patent No. 12,173,926 claims an upper-air disinfection emitter wherein said reflector is configured to achieve a vertical divergence of said horizontally projected germicidal light between about zero and about ten degrees (see claim 9).
Regarding claim 17, U.S. Patent No. 12,173,926 claims an upper-air disinfection emitter, comprising: (a) a light emitting diode (LED) producing germicidal light oriented horizontally; (b) a focusing optic configured to reduce the full width half maximum (FWHM) field of view (FOV) of the germicidal light to about 80 degrees or less; and (c) a set of reflectors configured to reduce the vertical beam divergence to about 10 degrees or less (see claim 15).
Regarding claim 18, U.S. Patent No. 12,173,926 fails to claim an upper-air disinfection emitter further comprising a cross-flow tangential air circulator configured to flow air into said germicidal light.
However, U.S. Patent No. 12,173,926 claims an upper-air disinfection emitter further comprising a cross-flow tangential air circulator inducing the flow of air into said beam outputs (see claim 16).
It would have been an obvious matter of design choice to have a cross-flow tangential air circulator configured to flow air into said germicidal light, since applicant has not disclosed that having a cross-flow tangential air circulator configured to flow air into said germicidal light solves any stated problem or is for any particular purpose and it appears that the invention would perform well with a cross-flow tangential air circulator configured to flow air into said germicidal light.
Regarding claim 19, U.S. Patent No. 12,173,926 fails to explicitly claim an upper-air disinfection emitter further comprising a thermal dissipator thermally coupled to said LED, wherein the air circulator is configured to pass air through said thermal dissipator to remove heat from said LED.
However, U.S. Patent No. 12,173,926 claims an upper-air disinfection emitter further comprising a finned heat sink wherein the airflow from said air circulator passes through said finned heat sink to which said LEDs are thermally connected, whereby the heat produced by the LEDs is transferred to the circulator airflow (see claim 17), wherein said finned heat sink is interpreted as a thermal dissipator thermally coupled to said LED, wherein the air circulator is configured to pass air through said thermal dissipator to remove heat from said LED.
Regarding claim 20, U.S. Patent No. 12,173,926 fails to explicitly claim an upper-air disinfection emitter further comprising a light source producing visible light, wherein the visible light is received by the focusing optic and the set of reflectors.
However, U.S. Patent No. 12,173,926 claims an upper-air disinfection emitter an upper-air disinfection emitter, comprising: (a) a light emitting diode (LED) producing germicidal light oriented horizontally; (b) a focusing optic configured to reduce the full width half maximum (FWHM) field of view (FOV) of the germicidal light to about 80 degrees or less; and (c) a set of reflectors configured to reduce the vertical beam divergence to about 10 degrees or less (see claim 15).
It would have been an obvious matter of design choice to have an upper-air disinfection emitter further comprising a light source producing visible light, wherein the visible light is received by the focusing optic and the set of reflectors, since applicant has not disclosed that having an upper-air disinfection emitter further comprising a light source producing visible light, wherein the visible light is received by the focusing optic and the set of reflectors solves any stated problem or is for any particular purpose and it appears that the invention would perform well with an upper-air disinfection emitter further comprising a light source producing visible light, wherein the visible light is received by the focusing optic and the set of reflectors.
Claims 2, 6, and 14-16 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 12,173,926 in view of New et al. (US 2007/0053188 A1).
Regarding claim 2, U.S. Patent No. 12,173,926 fails to claims an upper-air disinfection emitter further comprising one or more air circulators for inducing airflow through said germicidal light.
New et al. discloses a lighting fixture and lighting system for a transportation vehicle is disclosed that provides color variations for lighting the passenger cabin of an airplane, train, bus or other type of transportation vehicle; the lighting fixture and system further provide ultraviolet light that helps to disinfect the circulating air in the passenger cabin; fixture in an exemplary lighting system provides visible light for lighting up the passenger cabin and germicidal ultraviolet light directed toward or into an output vent(s) of the air circulation system of the passenger vehicle; ultraviolet light is segregated from the visible light such that ultraviolet light is only directed toward or into the circulation vents of the vehicle's air circulation system (see Abstract); the use of an LED ultraviolet air sanitizer light fixture (12); and air circulation is provided within the passenger cabin interior 10 by an air circulation system such as a heating/air conditioning system (see figure 1 and paragraph 0023) resulting in an upper-air disinfection emitter further comprising one or more air circulators for inducing airflow through said germicidal light.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings U.S. Patent No. 12,173,926 with the teachings of New et al. resulting in one or more air circulators (heating/air conditioning system) for inducing airflow through said germicidal light (LED ultraviolet air sanitizer light fixture) for improved air quality within an enclosed space.
Regarding claim 6, U.S. Patent No. 12,173,926 fails to claims an upper-air disinfection emitter wherein one or more of said emitters has a surface visible to room occupants which illuminates when germicidal light is being projected.
New et al. disclose that the invention provides illumination of the interior of a transportation vehicle, such as an airplane, bus or train, which also provide virus, mold, bacteria and germ killing ultraviolet light directed toward the output vents of the vehicles circulation system (see paragraph 0010).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings U.S. Patent No. 12,173,926 with the teachings of New et al. resulting in an upper-air disinfection emitter wherein one or more of said emitters has a surface visible to room occupants which illuminates when germicidal light is being projected for improved air and light quality.
Regarding claims 14-16, U.S. Patent No. 12,173,926 fails to claims an upper-air disinfection emitter further comprising a light source producing visible light, wherein the reflector is configured to direct the visible light into the horizontally oriented pattern; wherein said reflector comprises polished aluminum; and wherein said reflector comprises a substrate coated with reflective material.
New et al. discloses LED ultraviolet air sanitizer light fixture (60); a shield (64) can be made out of a variety of materials and have a variety of physical properties; for example, the shield can be made out of metal, glass or a plastic or polymer that is not ultraviolet sensitive; the shield can reflective or be opaque to ultraviolet light but allow visible light through; other possibilities include using a clear defector (64) with an ultraviolet blocking coating on the defector (64) to prevent the ultraviolet light from passing through the deflector (64); and therefore, the ultraviolet LEDs (50) could be in the line of sight of the passengers, but the ultraviolet light would be blocked by the shield (64) even though the shield is clear (see figure 3 and paragraphs 0032-0033) such that the shield/deflector acts as a reflector (the shield can be reflective), the shield/deflector comprises metal, and the shield/deflector comprises a substrate that can be coated (clear deflector with an ultraviolet coating).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings U.S. Patent No. 12,173,926 with the teachings of New et al. resulting in an upper-air disinfection emitter further comprising a light source producing visible light, wherein the reflector is configured to direct the visible light into the horizontally oriented pattern, since New et al. discloses that the shield/deflector acts as a reflector (the shield can be reflective) for improved air quality and light quality.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have said reflector comprises polished aluminum (reflective), since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have said reflector comprises polished aluminum; and wherein said reflector comprises a substrate coated with reflective material, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Horne et al. (US 8,038,949 B2) discloses a modular germicidal light grid system for use inside an air treatment apparatus that has a plenum in which a stream of air (see Abstract).
Skelton (US 2019/0219284 A1) air treatment unit has: a) a frame; b) a source of UV light that is configured to disinfect air, the frame configured to be mounted in an operative position within a space in which air is to be disinfected, the frame configured to allow air from a duct through which air is forced into the space to be directed in a manner that expelled air from the duct is caused to be disinfected by UV light from the source of UV light with the frame and source of UV light each operatively positioned; and c) an air moving assembly that causes air within the space to be directed into a volume that has UV light rays from the source of UV light therein capable of disinfecting air (see Abstract).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATASHA E YOUNG whose telephone number is (571)270-3163. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:00 am - 6:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Wang Claire can be reached at 571-270-1051. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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NATASHA E. YOUNG
Examiner
Art Unit 1774
/NATASHA E YOUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1774