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 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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Peterson et al. (US 2023/0078512) in view of Lyon (US 9,515,415).
Regarding claims 1, 9, 17, Peterson discloses an assembly for a vehicle (col. 1, [0003]), the assembly comprising: a light source to indicate a status of a directional for the vehicle (the overhead console may include light sources to provide an interior lighting system of the vehicle of directional lighting in page 1, [0009]); and a camera to assist with autonomous control of the vehicle (fig. 1; page 5, [0035]).
Peterson discloses all the limitations set forth above but fails to explicitly disclose a housing to define a shape of the assembly; a sub-assembly to at least partially dispose within the housing; and
the sub-assembly.
However, Lyon discloses a housing to define a shape of the assembly (fig. 1; col. 3, lines 45-60); a sub-assembly to at least partially dispose within the housing (fig. 1; col. 2, lines 12-34); and the sub-assembly (col. 2, line 12).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was first filed to incorporate the features of Lyon within the system of Peterson in order to provide an interior lighting system of the vehicle thereby increasing the reliability of the system.
Regarding claims 2, 10, Peterson discloses the sub-assembly, including: a first portion to: position external to the housing; and receive the light source and the camera; and a second portion to: removably couple with the housing; and position at least partially within the housing (fig. 1; page 2, [0010]; page 3, [0020]).
Regarding claims 3, 11, 18, Peterson discloses the camera to dispose on a first segment of the sub-assembly; the light source to dispose on a second segment of the sub-assembly; and the first segment of the sub-assembly located lateral to both (i) the second segment of the sub-assembly and (ii) a cabin of the vehicle (fig. 1; page 3, [0020]).
Regarding claims 4, 12, 19, Peterson discloses one or more second sub-assemblies that are discrete from the sub-assembly; and the one or more second sub-assemblies including at least one of: a mirror;
a frame to couple the assembly with the vehicle; or a second camera to provide at least a portion of a field of view with respect to the vehicle (fig. 1; page 3, [0020]).
Regarding claims 5, 13, Peterson discloses the sub-assembly configured to: replace at least one sub-assembly previously included with the assembly; and occupy at least a portion of the housing for which the at least one sub-assembly previously occupied (fig. 1; page 3, [0020]).
Regarding claims 6, 14, Peterson discloses the light source having a first location on the sub-assembly;
the camera having a second location on the sub-assembly; the second location selected such that the camera includes a field of view; and the first location selected such that (i) light produced by the light source is visible external to the vehicle and (ii) the field of view is unobstructed by the light produced by the light source (fig. 1; page 3, [0020-0021]).
Regarding claims 7, 15, Paterson discloses the sub-assembly configured to: integrate the light source and the camera on a body of the sub-assembly such that the light source and the camera are packaged with one another (fig. 1; page 3, [0020-0021]).
Regarding claims 8, 16, 20, Peterson discloses the light source and the camera both integrate with the assembly responsive to the vehicle including one or more processing circuits that are configured to communicate with at least one second light source or at least one second camera (page 3, [0020-0021]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Lynam (US 2012/0099336) discloses mirror reflective………..vehicle.
Barnes, JR. (US 2003/0065805) discloses system, method….E-commerce.
IIZumi et al. (US 2021/0124131) discloses fiber optic micro connector.
Taylor (US 2020/0096627) discloses proximity….indicators.
Peterson et al. (US 7,332,674) discloses electrical splice assembly.
Rosson et al. (US 10,067,299) discloses tunable…..assemblies.
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DP
September 29, 2026
/DANIEL PREVIL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2685
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