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 .
Response to Amendment
Applicant's amendment filed on 11/19/2025 has been entered. Claims 21-22, 26-28, 31, 33-35, and 40 have been amended. No claims have been cancelled. No claims have been added. Claims 21-40 are still pending in this application, with claims 21, 33, and 39 being independent.
The objections to Claims 21, 26, 31, and 33 have been withdrawn in view of the amendment.
The rejections of Claims 22-28, 31-32, 34, and 40 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) have been withdrawn in view of the amendment.
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 21 and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Selevan et al. (US 2016/0186971, hereinafter “Selevan”) in view of Bayat et al. (US 2007/0159815, hereinafter “Bayat”).
Regarding claim 21, Selevan teaches a lighting device (flare 10; see Figs. 1-8; para. [0054]-[0064], [0069]-[0079]) comprising a top housing (top wall 12 defines a top housing structure; see Figs. 1-6; para. [0054], [0056], [0059]-[0064], [0069], [0073]-[0075]); a bottom housing (bottom wall 14 defines a bottom housing structure; see Figs. 1-5, 7; para. [0054], [0056]); a lens arranged between the top housing and the bottom housing, the lens including a plurality of side surfaces that extend between the top housing and the bottom housing to form a perimeter of the lens (side wall 16 is translucent to serve as a lens structure through which light from side-emitting LEDs, the side wall extending between the top housing 12 and the bottom housing 14; see Figs. 1-6, 8; para. [0054]-[0055], [0059], [0071], [0073]); a plurality of lighting elements configured to direct an emission of light out of the plurality of side surfaces (a plurality of side-emitting LEDs are disposed inside the lighting device 10 to emit light through side walls defined by the lens 16 around a perimeter of the lighting device 10; see Fig. 8; para. [0054]-[0055], [0059], [0071], [0073]); and a button set arranged between the lens and the top housing, the button set including a plurality of buttons (a control button 18 (also referred to as a pi button or π button) and a power button 20 project upwards from the top housing 12 to be actuated by a user; see Figs. 1-6; para. [0056], [0059], [0061], [0064], [0066], [0069], [0073], [0075]).
However, the teachings of Selevan fail to specifically disclose the top housing having a plurality of cover openings, the plurality of buttons of the button set are part of a single button pad, and the plurality of buttons extend through the plurality of cover openings.
Bayat teaches a lighting device (portable lighting device 10; see Figs. 1-8D; para. [0034]-[0042], [0096]-[0100]) comprising a top housing having a plurality of cover openings (first elongated shell 422 defines a top housing and includes first 485 and second 487 openings; see Figs. 1-2, 7; para. [0096]-[0097], [0099]-[0100]); a bottom housing (second elongated shell 424 define a bottom housing; see Figs. 1-2, 7; para. [0096]-[0097], [0099]-[0100]); a lens arranged between the top housing and the bottom housing (side lens 428; see Figs. 1-2, 7; para. [0098]-[0099]); a plurality of lighting elements configured to direct an emission of light out of the lens (an illumination module or light emitting assembly 430 which comprises a plurality of LEDs arranged in first arrays 192 and second arrays 202, individual LEDs inside hemispherical domes 550; see Figs. 1-8D; para. [0098]-[0102], [0104]-[0107], [0111], [0116]); and a button pad arranged between the lens and the top housing, the button pad including a plurality of buttons that extend through the plurality of cover openings (a flexible sealing bezel 502 defines a button pad having first and second raised portions 484 and 486 which respectively cover push buttons 504 and 506 of first 222 and second 232 on/off switches, the first and second raised portions linked together by a link 482 to form the button pad structure and extending through the corresponding first opening 485 and second opening 487, respectively; see Figs. 7-8B, 8D; para. [0100], [0106], [0109], [0118]).
Therefore, in view of Bayat, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the lighting device of Selevan by providing the top housing with a plurality of cover openings, connecting the plurality of buttons as a single button pad, and extending the plurality of buttons through the plurality of cover openings, since it has been held that a simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results is within the level of ordinary skill. See KSR Int'l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 415-421, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1395-97 (2007) and MPEP 2143. One would have been motivated to modify the known lighting device of Selevan by providing the top housing with a plurality of cover openings and extending the plurality of buttons through the plurality of cover openings, as taught by Bayat, since a person of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that there are two ways to provide button switches in a surface of a lighting device, either on the surface itself or extending/projecting through openings in the surface, and therefore merely substituting one for the other would have flown naturally to one of ordinary skill in the art as necessitated by the particular design requirements of a given application, in order to achieve the predictable result of providing an alternative form of button switches without altering their functionality. Additionally, one would have been motivated to modify the known lighting device of Selevan by connecting the plurality of buttons as a single button pad, as taught by Bayat, in order to provide a simpler button structure having fewer separate components.
Regarding claim 28, Bayat further teaches wherein the button pad includes a main body that is received in the top cover and includes the plurality of buttons (the first and second raised portions 484 and 486 of the button pad are received in the corresponding cover openings 485 and 487 of the top housing 422; see Figs. 7-8B, 8D; para. [0100], [0106], [0109], [0118]); and a rim that surrounds the main body and is secured between the top cover and the lens (the remainder of the flexible bezel 502 surrounding the main body portions 484 and 486 defines a rim structure; see Figs. 7-8A, 8D; para. [0100], [0106], [0109], [0118]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 22-27 and 29-32 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.
Claims 33-40 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 22, the claim is considered to recite allowable subject matter for the same reasons previously discussed in Section 21 on pgs. 9-10 of the Non-Final Rejection mailed 8/26/2025.
Claims 23-27 depend on Claim 22.
Regarding claim 29, the claim is considered to recite allowable subject matter for the same reasons previously discussed in Section 23 on pg. 10 of the Non-Final Rejection mailed 8/26/2025.
Claim 30 depends on Claim 29.
Regarding claim 31, the claim is considered to recite allowable subject matter for the same reasons previously discussed in Section 25 on pgs. 10-11 of the Non-Final Rejection mailed 8/26/2025.
Claim 32 depends on Claim 31.
Regarding claim 33, the claim is allowable for the same reasons previously discussed in Section 27 on pgs. 11-12 of the Non-Final Rejection mailed 8/26/2025.
Claims 34-38 depend on Claim 33.
Regarding claim 39, the claim is allowable for the same reasons discussed above with regards to Claim 33.
Claim 40 depends on Claim 39.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 11/19/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding the Applicant’s argument with regards to Selevan (US 2022/0325879) that “Selevan does not mention openings anywhere, let alone the control button 18 and the power button 20 extending through such openings”, and therefore “Selevan does not expressly teach a button pad with a plurality of buttons that extend through a plurality of holes in a top cover, as required by the claim” (see Applicant’s Remarks, pgs. 7-9), the Examiner agrees. However, regarding the Applicant’s argument with respect to the secondary reference Bayat (US 2007/0159815) that “Correspondingly, Bayat fails to cure the deficiencies of Selevan” and that “Even if the office were to combine Bayat with Selevan to modify Selevan to include openings in the top wall, there would be no motivation to make such modification” because “adding openings would not improve the operation of the Selevan flare, and therefore, there would be no reason to combine the references” (see Applicant’s Remarks, pg. 9), the Examiner respectfully disagrees.
The Applicant is respectfully advised that it has been held by the courts that a simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results, with a reasonable expectation of success, is within the level of ordinary skill. See KSR Int'l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 415-421, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1395-97 (2007) and MPEP 2143.
In this case, buttons can only be provided in a surface either by being positioned on the surface itself, or extending/projecting through openings in the surface. While Selevan does not specifically teach the buttons 18 and 20 projecting through a plurality of cover openings in the top housing, Bayat teaches a top housing in the form of a first elongated shell 422 which includes first 485 and second 487 openings therein (see Figs. 1-2, 7; para. [0096]-[0097], [0099]-[0100]), and a flexible sealing bezel 502 which defines a button pad having first and second raised portions 484 and 486 that respectively covers push buttons 504 and 506 of first 222 and second 232 on/off switches, the first and second raised portions extending through the first opening 485 and the second opening 487, respectively (see Figs. 7-8B, 8D; para. [0100], [0106], [0109], [0118]). Accordingly, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have recognized that substituting one button type for the other button type would have flown naturally to one of ordinary skill in the art as necessitated by the particular design requirements of a given application, in order to achieve the predictable result of providing an alternative form of button switches without altering their functionality in any way.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Fields (US 2012/0300449) disclose a lighting device comprising a top housing, a bottom housing, a lens arranged between the top housing and the bottom housing and including a plurality of side surfaces extending between the top and bottom housing to form a perimeter of the lens, a plurality of lighting elements configured to direct an emission of light out of the plurality of side surfaces by emitting light towards a reflective surface positioned between the top housing and the bottom housing, and is in the same patent family as the WO 2012/162371 reference cited on the IDS filed 8/27/2025.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM N HARRIS whose telephone number is (571)272-3609. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 8:00AM- 5:00PM EST, Alternate Fridays.
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/WILLIAM N HARRIS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875