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 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.
Claim(s) 1,2,4,6,11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Valeo Vision (FR 3108709 Valeo).
Regarding claim 1, Valeo discloses A lighting device (Fig 1. ) for a motor vehicle headlamp, the lighting device (10) comprising: at least one light module (56) which is configured to emit light along a light path in the direction of a main direction a movable lower aperture element (Fig.1, 21) and a movable upper aperture element (22); a moving device for transferring the lower and the upper aperture elements (Figs. 2-7) in relation to each other between: a closed position (Fig. 1, P11), in which the lower and the upper aperture element (21,22) viewed in the main direction are positioned in front of the at least one light module (3, P12) and at least partially block the light path of the at least one light module (58), and an open position (P21) in which the lower and upper aperture elements (21,22) are moved away from the light path of the at least one light module (20) in order to clear the light path of the at least one light module (3, P12),
while maintaining the spatial alignment of the upper and lower aperture element (22,21); and
a frame (67) which is stationary with respect to the movement of the lower and upper aperture elements (21,22,67), wherein the moving device is arranged on the frame (67),
wherein the lighting device comprises at least one alignment device (Fig. 8) for aligning the lower and upper aperture elements (21,22) with respect to one another in the closed position (P11), wherein the at least one alignment device (Fig. 8) comprises:
an alignment element (112), and a guide element (116) complementary to the alignment element (112), wherein the alignment element (Fig. 8) is configured to engage in the guide element (116) when the lower and upper aperture elements (21,22) are transferred from the open position (P21) to the closed position (P11), so that the alignment element (112) can be guided by the guide element (116) into an end position in the guide element (116), wherein the alignment element (112) in the closed position (P11) of the lower and upper aperture element is connected in a form-fitting manner to the guide element (116, Fig. 8) in the end position in the guide element so that the upper and lower aperture elements (21,22) are secured against movement along and transverse to the main direction (X) in the closed position (P1).
Regarding claim 2. the upper and lower aperture elements are designed as light-emitting elements which are configured to emit light in the closed position (Fig. 1, lighting device 1, lighting module 3).
Regarding claim 4, wherein the lighting device comprises at least two alignment devices (“The lighting device 1 thus includes a controller (not shown) to control on the one hand the drive system and on the other hand the emission of light by modules 21, 22 and 3., Para. 0059).
Regarding claim 6, the alignment element is formed elastically (113, Fig. 8).
Regarding claim 11, at least one lighting device (10) according to claim 1, (lighting module 3.)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3,5,7-10,12-15 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. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior cited of record does not anticipate individually or teach in combination the limitations of claim 3,5,7-10,12-13, in particular the conical alignment element of claim 3, the placement of the guide element of claim 5, the damping devices, their placement and corresponding stops as recited in claim 7, the light emission arrangements of claims 12 and 13, and the materials of the alignment elements of claims 14 and 15.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Wu (CN119146382A). discloses a vehicle lamp device (Fig. 2); Han et al (CN117869822) discloses a headlamp module (Fig. 7); Syre et al disclose a movable signal module and light module (2023/0025545).
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/ANABEL TON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875