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 .
This Office Action is in response to the Applicant’s communication filed on February 26, 2025. In virtue of this communication, claims 1-17 are currently presented in the instant application.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 02/26/2025, 7/29/2025 and 6/1/2026 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
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Cao et al. (US 11,864,293).
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With respect to claims 1 and 16, Cao discloses in figure 6C and 7 an electronic apparatus and a method thereof comprising: an exterior body (302, e.g., a housing); a light-emitting device (304, e.g., LEDs) that is provided inside the exterior body (see figure 6C) and that is configured to emit light to an outside (having a lens 306C where the light emitting through outside) through the exterior body (see figure 6C); and a processor (411, e.g., a CPU or processor), wherein the processor acquires exterior body information (by a light sensor 308/408 sensing information to acquire by the CPU) that is information on a state of the exterior body (see figure 7), and executes control of adjusting a light emission aspect of the light-emitting device based on the acquired exterior body information (column 3 in lines 13-18, e.g., an LED strobe lighting system that is capable of sensing ambient lighting levels and color temperature to intelligently adjust a brightness and color temperature of a pulse of light generated by the strode in order to provide excellent lighting for capturing still images”).
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With respect to claim 2, Cao discloses that wherein the exterior body information includes exterior body color information that is information on a color of the exterior body, and the control includes control of adjusting a light emission color of the light-emitting device based on the exterior body color information (see column 3 in lines 13-18).
With respect to claim 3, Cao discloses that wherein the exterior body information includes transmitted light color information that is information on a change in a color of the light transmitted through the exterior body, and the control includes control of adjusting a light emission color of the light-emitting device based on the transmitted light color information (see figure 6C and column 3 in lines 13-18).
With respect to claim 4, Cao discloses that wherein the exterior body information includes transmitted light intensity information that is information on a change in intensity of the light transmitted through the exterior body, and the control includes control of adjusting a light emission amount of the light-emitting device based on the transmitted light intensity information (see figure 6C and column 3 in lines 13-18).
With respect to claim 5, Cao discloses that wherein the processor further acquires ambient light information that is information on ambient light of a periphery of the exterior body (figure 6C shows an ambient light sensor 308 thereof), and the control includes control of adjusting the light emission aspect of the light-emitting device based on the acquired ambient light information (see figures 6C and 7 and column 3 in lines 13-18).
With respect to claim 6, Cao discloses that wherein the ambient light information includes ambient light intensity information indicating brightness of the periphery of the exterior body (see column 13 in lines 4-11, e.g., the processor 411 is configured to receive and use the measured intensity and color temperature of the ambient light from the ambient light sensor 408”), and the control includes control of adjusting a light emission amount of the light-emitting device based on the ambient light intensity information (see column 13 in lines 51-59).
With respect to claim 7, Cao discloses that wherein the ambient light information includes ambient light color information indicating a color of the ambient light of the periphery of the exterior body (see column 5 in lines 40-58), and the control includes control of adjusting a light emission color of the light-emitting device based on the ambient light color information (see column 3 in lines 13-18).
With respect to claim 8, Cao discloses that wherein the exterior body information includes information on a state of a movable mechanism of the exterior body (figure 6C shows 300C is a movable mechanism or a flash light thereof), and the control includes control of adjusting the light emission aspect of the light-emitting device based on the information on the state of the movable mechanism (see figure 6C and column 3 in lines 13-18).
With respect to claim 9, Cao discloses that wherein the movable mechanism is a cover member (302C, e.g., a housing or a cover) that is provided at a position facing the light-emitting device in the exterior body (see figure 6C), and the control includes control of adjusting a light emission amount of the light-emitting device in accordance with an open/close state of the cover member (see column 3 in lines 13-18).
With respect to claim 10, Cao discloses that wherein the exterior body information includes posture information indicating a posture of the electronic apparatus (see figure 6C), and the control includes control of adjusting the light emission aspect of the light-emitting device based on the posture information (see column 3 in lines 13-18).
With respect to claim 11, Cao discloses that wherein the exterior body information includes operation state information indicating an operation state of the electronic apparatus (figure 6C shows a user interface 320), and the control includes control of adjusting the light emission aspect of the light-emitting device based on the operation state information (see column 3 in lines 13-18).
With respect to claim 12, Cao discloses that wherein a stripe pattern consisting of periodic recessed and protruding portions is formed on a front surface of the exterior body (figure 6C shows the stripe pattern and the protruding portion of the lens thereof).
With respect to claim 13, Cao discloses that wherein the exterior body has a display (figures 4-6 shows the lens or display 306 thereof) that shows a character, a symbol, and/or a figure by using a difference in a three-dimensional shape (see figure 6A-6C) with a periphery on a front surface (303A), and the display is formed at a position facing the light-emitting device (see figure 6C).
With respect to claim 14, Cao discloses that wherein a coating film (column 10 in lines 45-53, e.g., “coated with a neural color”) is formed on an outer side of the exterior body, and a thickness of the coating film in a region through which the light from the light-emitting device is transmitted is set to be less than a thickness of the coating film in another region (see figure 6C).
With respect to claim 15, Cao discloses that wherein the light-emitting device includes an LED light source (304A-304B, e.g., LEDs), and the control includes control of adjusting a light emission aspect of the LED light source (see column 3 in lines 13-18).
With respect to claim 17, Cao discloses in figure 6C and 7 a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program (by an CPU 411) of controlling an electronic apparatus (see figure 7) including an exterior body (302, e.g., a housing) and a light-emitting device (304, e.g., LEDs) that is provided inside the exterior body and that is configured to emit light to an outside through the exterior body (see figure 6C), the program executable by a computer to execute a process comprising: acquiring exterior body information (by a light sensor 308/408 sensing information to acquire by the CPU) that is information on a state of the exterior body (see figure 7); and executing control of adjusting a light emission aspect of the light-emitting device based on the acquired exterior body information (column 3 in lines 13-18, e.g., an LED strobe lighting system that is capable of sensing ambient lighting levels and color temperature to intelligently adjust a brightness and color temperature of a pulse of light generated by the strode in order to provide excellent lighting for capturing still images”).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Prior art Taylor, JR. et al. – US 2020/0202768
Prior art Park et al. – US 2014/0225513
Prior art Hoelen et al. – US 2010/0328925
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/TUNG X LE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2845 June 5, 2026
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