Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 15, 2026
Application No. 19/056,080

TECHNIQUES FOR ILLUMINATING A PHYSICAL SPACE

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Feb 18, 2025
Priority
Mar 20, 2024 — provisional 63/567,778
Examiner
KAISER, SYED M
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Apple Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
86%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
3m
Est. Remaining
93%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 86% — above average
86%
Career Allowance Rate
603 granted / 698 resolved
+26.4% vs TC avg
Moderate +6% lift
Without
With
+6.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
1y 9m
Avg Prosecution
22 currently pending
Career history
712
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.9%
-38.1% vs TC avg
§103
45.9%
+5.9% vs TC avg
§102
28.9%
-11.1% vs TC avg
§112
16.0%
-24.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 698 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
CTNF 19/056,080 CTNF 90886 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia 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 09/23/2025, 05/07/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-08-aia AIA (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. 07-15 AIA Claim s 1-6, 10-13, 14-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102( a)(1 ) as being anticipated by Kim et al, (Pub. No.: KR 20160150612 A, machine translation attached), hereafter Kim . Regarding claim 1 , Kim teaches method, comprising: at a computer system (FIG. 1, laptop 210, mobile phone 220) (paragraph [[0023], “These lighting information input terminals (210, 220) may be various communication terminals, such as computers and smart devices”) that is in communication with a light source (FIG. 1, lighting facilities (110, 120, 130)), an input device (paragraph [[0023], “These lighting information input terminals (210, 220) may be various communication terminals, such as computers and smart devices”), and a display generation component (FIG. 1, display screen of the laptop or mobile phone): while causing a first environment to be illuminated by the light source, displaying, via the display generation component, a user interface element including (paragraph [0026], “The lighting information input terminal (210, 220) transmits lighting selection information entered by the user through the user input interface to the lighting server”): in accordance with a determination that a second environment, different from the first environment, has a first illumination, a first representation of the second environment, wherein the first representation has a first appearance based on the first illumination (paragraph [0026], “the lighting information input terminal (210, 220) can receive evaluation information written about the experience after receiving a lighting environment based on lighting conditions directly selected by the user or existing lighting conditions through a user input interface, and transmit it to the lighting server”); and in accordance with a determination that the second environment has a second illumination different from the first illumination, a second representation of the second environment, wherein the second representation has a second appearance based on the second illumination, and wherein the second appearance is different from the first appearance (paragraph [0027], “the lighting server (300) stores lighting selection information for each of the multiple users, sets lighting environment conditions based on each stored lighting selection information, and then transmits the lighting environment information accordingly to the lighting facilities” and paragraph [0074], “the first to third lighting conditions can each be set to a different physical condition, the ‘lighting condition default value,’ and the physical condition values of the lighting conditions that were previously set”); detecting, via the input device, a first set of one or more inputs, wherein the first set of one or more inputs includes an input corresponding to the user interface element (paragraph [0055], “the lighting environment information management unit (340) can detect recommended lighting information based on the ranking of other users' lighting environment information and provide it as a lighting selection item through the user input interface”); and in response to detecting the first set of one or more inputs, illuminating, via the light source, the first environment based on illumination of the second environment (paragraph [0058], “the user can evaluate the experience of the provided lighting service, store it on the lighting server (300), and share the lighting conditions accordingly”). Regarding claim 2 , Kim further teaches the user interface element is displayed in response to the computer system detecting a telecommunications request from a first external computer system (paragraph [0025], “, the lighting information input terminal (210, 220) can receive the stored lighting condition information from the lighting server (300) and display it on the screen so that the user can select it through the user input interface”). Regarding claim 3 , Kim further teaches the first external computer system is positioned within the second environment (paragraph [0036], “the lighting environment information management unit (340) can set lighting environment conditions by additionally applying external environment conditions”). Regarding claim 4 , Kim further teaches the first external computer system is positioned within a third environment different from the second environment and the first environment (FIG. 6 and paragraph [0074], “physical conditions can be divided into multiple stages for each of the multiple selection items” and “the first to third lighting conditions can each be set to a different physical condition”). Regarding claim 5 , Kim further teaches in response to detecting the first set of one or more inputs, initiating a first telecommunications connection between the computer system (FIG. 1, 210) and a second external computer system (FIG. 1, 220). Regarding claim 6 , Kim further teaches initiating the first telecommunications connection between the computer system and the second external computer system includes displaying (FIG. 1, display of 210), via the display generation component, a representation corresponding to the second external computer system, wherein the representation of the second external computer system is received from the second external computer system (paragraph [0025], “, the lighting information input terminal (210, 220) can receive the stored lighting condition information from the lighting server (300) and display it on the screen so that the user can select it through the user input interface”). Regarding claim 10 , Kim further teaches the first representation of the second environment includes a color that corresponds to the first illumination (paragraph [0072], “multiple selection items displayed on the user interface can each represent pre-set “degrees” regarding the physical conditions of the lighting facility (i.e., color temperature, illuminance, and color, etc.”). Regarding claim 11 , Kim further teaches the first set of one or more inputs is the input (paragraph [0072], “The lighting server (300) receives user input information in which the user selects a “degree” displayed as a plurality of selection items of the user input interface, and determines the type of lighting environment by combining the received user input information”). Regarding claim 12 , Kim further teaches the second environment is a physical environment (paragraph [0036], “, external environmental conditions include external condition items such as season, time of day (e.g., dawn, morning, noon, evening, night, etc.), and weather (e.g., rain, snow, cloudy, clear, etc.). Regarding claim 13 , Kim further teaches the second environment is a virtual environment (paragraph [0040], “lighting environment information management unit (340) of the lighting server (300) can be stored in memory in the form of a single program or two or more programs linked together”). Regarding claim 15 , Kim further teaches the light source includes a first external light (FIG. 1, 110) and a second external light (FIG. 2, 120) different from the first external light (paragraph [0035], “physical lighting conditions such as color temperature and illuminance of the lighting facilities (110, 120, 130) experienced by the user are linked with the experience evaluation conditions from the user's subjective perspective, so that the user can select lighting based on their own or others' specific experience evaluations”, user selection make differences between external lights). Regarding claim 16 , Kim teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs configured to be executed by one or more processors (paragraph [0040], “the lighting server (300) described above with reference to FIG. 1 may be implemented with a communication module, memory, and a processor”) of a computer system (FIG. 1, laptop 210, mobile phone 220) (paragraph [[0023], “These lighting information input terminals (210, 220) may be various communication terminals, such as computers and smart devices”) that is in communication with a light source (FIG. 1, lighting facilities (110, 120, 130)), an input device (paragraph [[0023], “These lighting information input terminals (210, 220) may be various communication terminals, such as computers and smart devices”), and a display generation component (FIG. 1, display screen of the laptop or mobile phone), : while causing a first environment to be illuminated by the light source, displaying, via the display generation component, a user interface element including (paragraph [0026], “The lighting information input terminal (210, 220) transmits lighting selection information entered by the user through the user input interface to the lighting server”) the one or more programs including instructions for: in accordance with a determination that a second environment, different from the first environment, has a first illumination, a first representation of the second environment, wherein the first representation has a first appearance based on the first illumination (paragraph [0026], “the lighting information input terminal (210, 220) can receive evaluation information written about the experience after receiving a lighting environment based on lighting conditions directly selected by the user or existing lighting conditions through a user input interface, and transmit it to the lighting server”); and in accordance with a determination that the second environment has a second illumination different from the first illumination, a second representation of the second environment, wherein the second representation has a second appearance based on the second illumination, and wherein the second appearance is different from the first appearance (paragraph [0027], “the lighting server (300) stores lighting selection information for each of the multiple users, sets lighting environment conditions based on each stored lighting selection information, and then transmits the lighting environment information accordingly to the lighting facilities” and paragraph [0074], “the first to third lighting conditions can each be set to a different physical condition, the ‘lighting condition default value,’ and the physical condition values of the lighting conditions that were previously set”); detecting, via the input device, a first set of one or more inputs, wherein the first set of one or more inputs includes an input corresponding to the user interface element (paragraph [0055], “the lighting environment information management unit (340) can detect recommended lighting information based on the ranking of other users' lighting environment information and provide it as a lighting selection item through the user input interface”); and in response to detecting the first set of one or more inputs, illuminating, via the light source, the first environment based on illumination of the second environment (paragraph [0058], “the user can evaluate the experience of the provided lighting service, store it on the lighting server (300), and share the lighting conditions accordingly”). Regarding claim 17 , Kim teaches at a computer system (FIG. 1, laptop 210, mobile phone 220) (paragraph [[0023], “These lighting information input terminals (210, 220) may be various communication terminals, such as computers and smart devices”) that is in communication with a light source (FIG. 1, lighting facilities (110, 120, 130)), an input device (paragraph [[0023], “These lighting information input terminals (210, 220) may be various communication terminals, such as computers and smart devices”), and a display generation component (FIG. 1, display screen of the laptop or mobile phone), comprising: one or more processor (paragraph [0040], “lighting server (300) described above with reference to FIG. 1 may be implemented with a communication module, memory, and a processor”); and memory storing one or more programs configured to be executed by the one or more processors (paragraph [0040], “one or more programs stored in memory are executed by a processor”), the one or more programs including instructions for: while causing a first environment to be illuminated by the light source, displaying, via the display generation component, a user interface element including (paragraph [0026], “The lighting information input terminal (210, 220) transmits lighting selection information entered by the user through the user input interface to the lighting server”): in accordance with a determination that a second environment, different from the first environment, has a first illumination, a first representation of the second environment, wherein the first representation has a first appearance based on the first illumination (paragraph [0026], “the lighting information input terminal (210, 220) can receive evaluation information written about the experience after receiving a lighting environment based on lighting conditions directly selected by the user or existing lighting conditions through a user input interface, and transmit it to the lighting server”); and in accordance with a determination that the second environment has a second illumination different from the first illumination, a second representation of the second environment, wherein the second representation has a second appearance based on the second illumination, and wherein the second appearance is different from the first appearance (paragraph [0027], “the lighting server (300) stores lighting selection information for each of the multiple users, sets lighting environment conditions based on each stored lighting selection information, and then transmits the lighting environment information accordingly to the lighting facilities” and paragraph [0074], “the first to third lighting conditions can each be set to a different physical condition, the ‘lighting condition default value,’ and the physical condition values of the lighting conditions that were previously set”); detecting, via the input device, a first set of one or more inputs, wherein the first set of one or more inputs includes an input corresponding to the user interface element (paragraph [0055], “the lighting environment information management unit (340) can detect recommended lighting information based on the ranking of other users' lighting environment information and provide it as a lighting selection item through the user input interface”); and in response to detecting the first set of one or more inputs, illuminating, via the light source, the first environment based on illumination of the second environment (paragraph [0058], “the user can evaluate the experience of the provided lighting service, store it on the lighting server (300), and share the lighting conditions accordingly”) . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-22-aia AIA Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Osterhout et al. (Pub. No.: US 20210173480 A1) hereafter Osterhout . Regarding claim 8 , Kim teaches limitations of claim 1, but does not explicitly disclose the computer system is a head-mounted computer system. Osterhout teaches the computer system is a head-mounted computer system (Abstract, “an interactive head-mounted eyepiece with an integrated processor”). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Kim in view of Osterhout to incorporate a head-mounted computer system for handling content for display (Osterhout, Abstract) . Allowable Subject Matter 12-151-08 AIA 07-43 12-51-08 Claim s 7, 9 and 14 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. 13-03-01 AIA The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Regarding claim 7, prior arts whether stand alone or in combination fail to teach or reasonably suggest the method to Claim 5, comprising “detecting an input corresponding to selection of the second user interface element; and in response to detecting the input corresponding to selection of the second user interface element, initiating a second telecommunications connection between the computer system and the second external computer system without changing the illumination of the first environment”, as required in combination with the other limitations of the claim. Regarding claim 9, prior arts whether stand alone or in combination fail to teach or reasonably suggest the method to Claim 1, comprising “in accordance with a determination that the second environment has the second illumination, displaying, via the display generation component, a second animation that expands the second representation of the second environment to illuminate, via the light source, the first environment to have the second illumination”, as required in combination with the other limitations of the claim. Regarding claim 14, prior arts whether stand alone or in combination fail to teach or reasonably suggest the method to Claim 1, comprising “before detecting the first set of one or more inputs, illuminating, via the light source, a first subset of the first environment without illuminating a second subset of the first environment different from the first subset of the first environment”, as required in combination with the other limitations of the claim . Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SYED M KAISER whose telephone number is (571)272-9612. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9 a.m.-6 p.m.. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Abdullah Riyami can be reached at 571-270-3119 . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /SYED M KAISER/Examiner, Art Unit 2831 /ABDULLAH A RIYAMI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2831 Application/Control Number: 19/056,080 Page 2 Art Unit: 2831 Application/Control Number: 19/056,080 Page 3 Art Unit: 2831 Application/Control Number: 19/056,080 Page 4 Art Unit: 2831 Application/Control Number: 19/056,080 Page 5 Art Unit: 2831 Application/Control Number: 19/056,080 Page 6 Art Unit: 2831 Application/Control Number: 19/056,080 Page 7 Art Unit: 2831 Application/Control Number: 19/056,080 Page 8 Art Unit: 2831 Application/Control Number: 19/056,080 Page 9 Art Unit: 2831 Application/Control Number: 19/056,080 Page 10 Art Unit: 2831 Application/Control Number: 19/056,080 Page 11 Art Unit: 2831 Application/Control Number: 19/056,080 Page 12 Art Unit: 2831 Application/Control Number: 19/056,080 Page 13 Art Unit: 2831
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Prosecution Timeline

Feb 18, 2025
Application Filed
May 07, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103
Aug 06, 2026
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
Aug 07, 2026
Examiner Interview Summary

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
86%
Grant Probability
93%
With Interview (+6.2%)
1y 9m (~3m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 698 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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