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 .
Claim Objections
Claims 2-4 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Regarding claim 2, in line 4, Applicant recites “said first light” and in line 6 recites “said second light”. There is insufficient antecedent in the claim for these recitations. Appropriate correction is required.
Regarding claim 3, in line 1, Applicant recites “said first light source” and “said second light source”. There is insufficient antecedent in the claim for these recitations. For examination purposes, Examiner treats claim 3 as dependent on claim 2, thus providing the requisite antecedent basis.
Regarding claim 4, in line 1, Applicant recites “said first light source” and “said second light source”. There is insufficient antecedent in the claim for these recitations. For examination purposes, Examiner treats claim 4 as dependent on claim 2, thus providing the requisite antecedent basis.
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 1-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Soler et al (US 2020/0332969).
Regarding claim 1, Soler discloses a light panel comprising: a waveguide 1340 (see para [0082] which teaches that 1340 can be flat panel light guide) having an emission surface for emitting emitted light; and multiple light sources 1310,1320 having at least first and second colors, said multiple light sources being optically coupled to said waveguide 1340 to create a color gradient between said first and second colors across said emission surface (see at least Figure 13 and paras [0077]-[0086]).
Regarding claim 2, the waveguide in Soler is a planar light guide 1340 having a top and a bottom; wherein the multiple light sources 1310,1320 comprises at least two light sources, a first light source 1310 configured to emit a first light and being optically coupled to the top of the planar light guide 1340, and a second light source 1320 configured to emit the second light and being optically coupled to the bottom of the planar light guide 1340; and wherein the emitted light is the first light at the top and the second light at the bottom with a light gradient from the first light to second light between the top and bottom (see at least Figure 13 and paras [0077]-[0086]).
Regarding claim 3, the first light source 1310 and second light source 1320 in Soler are configured in at least a first mode and a second mode (see at least paras [0104] and [0112] which teaches dimmers/controllers that can adjust the wavelengths and intensities of first and second light engine to achieve various lighting modes).
Regarding claim 4, the first light source 1310 and second light source 1320 in Soler are configured in at least a first mode, wherein the first light is pale blue at a first intensity, and the second light is cool white (see at least para [0079] which teaches that first light 1310 can be greater than 7K and second light 1320 can be less than 6500K, thus first light 1310 can be pale blue at over 9K and the second light 1320 can be cool white around 6K).
Regarding claim 5, the first light source 1310 and second light source 1320 in Soler can be configured in a second mode, wherein the first light is pale blue at a second intensity (see again paras [0104] and [0112] which teach dimmers/controllers to vary intensities) or violet/blue, and the second light is orange/amber (see para [0079] which teaches second light source 1320 can emit orange color).
Regarding claim 6, the first intensity in Soler can be higher than the second intensity (the dimmer/controller inherently can produce a higher intensity at a first mode than in a second mode).
Regarding claim 7, the pale blue in Soler can be 9K-30K, the cool white can be between 3100K and 8K and the orange/amber can be 1500 to 3K (see at least para [0079]).
Regarding 8, the pale blue in Soler can be 5K-12K, the cool white can be between 3100K and 4500K and the orange/amber can be 1500 to 3K (see at least para [0079]).
Regarding claim 9, the panel in Soler can include at least one driver (“controller that implements dimming profiles”; see at least paras [0095], [0104] and [0112]) for driving the first and second light sources 1310,1320.
Regarding claim 10, the at least one driver in Soler is configured to transition the top 1310 and bottom light sources 1320 from the first mode to the second mode (see at least paras [0095], [0104] and [0112]).
Regarding claim 11, the transition in Soler is through incremental color changes (see at least para [0112] which teaches various color changes through use of the controller).
Regarding claim 12, the transition in Soler is continuous (see at least para [0112]).
Regarding claim 13, the color of the top light source 1310 in Soler is configured to vary from pale blue to violet/blue and the color of the bottom light source 1320 is configured to vary from cool white to orange/amber (see at least para [0079]).
Regarding claim 14, the variation of light color in Soler is controller by a dimmer (see at least paras [0104] and [0112]).
Regarding claim 15, the top light source 1310 in Soler can transition from violet/blue to pale blue to violet/blue and finally to off, and the bottom light source 1320 can transition from orange/amber to cool white to orange/amber and finally off (see at least paras [0079], [0104] and [0112]).
Regarding claim 16, the transition of the top and bottom light sources 1310,1320 in Soler is controlled through an application, an on-fixture dimmer, a wall dimmer, or a timer synched to the date-time (see at least paras [0104]-[0112]).
Regarding claim 17, the at least one driver in Soler comprises a splitter for providing power to the first and second light sources 1310,1320 (inherent to single controller that controls both light sources 1310,1320; see at least Fig. 21 and paras [0104]-[0112]).
Regarding claim 18, the at least one driver in Soler comprises simple dimming functionality to change the intensity of at least one of the first or second light sources 1310,1320 without changing color (see at least paras [0104]-[0112]).
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 19-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Soler et al (US 2020/0332969).
Regarding claims 19-20, Soler does not specifically teach that the driver comprise at least two drivers with the first and second light sources 1310,1320 having a dedicated driver. However providing a driver with two dedicated drivers for each light board is common in the art (Official Notice), and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to specify that the light sources 1310,1320 have dedicated drivers in order to achieve the stated objective of individually controlling light sources 1310,1320 to produce various light spectra throughout the day, and since it has been held that mere duplication of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art (MPEP 2144.04(VI)(B)).
Regarding claim 21, the first and second light sources 1310,1320 in Soler can be light bars (see at least Fig. 13 and para [0082]).
Regarding claim 22, the top light source 1310 in Soler can be selected from the recited group (see at least paras [0079] and [0095]).
Regarding claim 23, the bottom light source 1320 in Soler can be selected from the recited group (see at least para [0079]; above 1800K high CRI for sunrise/sunset modes).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SEAN P GRAMLING whose telephone number is (571)272-9082. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30am-5pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Majeed Aziz can be reached at (571) 270-5046. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SEAN P GRAMLING/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875