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 .
Remarks
The Office has cited particular columns, line numbers, paragraph numbers, references, or figures in the references applied to the claims below for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings of the art and are applied to specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested from the applicant in preparing responses to fully consider the reference in entirety, as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2141.02 and § 2123.
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)(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 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Li et al. (WO 2022/133673 A1, hereinafter referred to as Li.
Regarding claim 1, Li discloses a lighting control apparatus (Fig. 1), comprising:
a switched-mode power supply (power supply 120, pg. 5, lines 10-12) supplying voltage to a plurality of semiconductor light sources (LEDs 140), including a headlight (first lighting module 130. 1) and a signal light (second lighting module 130.2, pg. 5, line 17 – pg. 6, line 2), connected in series; and
a lighting control circuit (command module 180, pg. 9, lines 7-12) driving the plurality of semiconductor light sources by pulse width modulation (PWM) control supplying output voltage of the switched-mode power supply to the plurality of semiconductor light sources in a cycle and controlling a width of a period in which the output voltage of the switched-mode power supply is supplied to each of the plurality of semiconductor light sources in each cycle of the PWM control (a sequence combining the sequence of the first group and the sequence of the second group) to control a light emission amount of each of the plurality of semiconductor light sources (the first lighting module 130.1 and the second lighting module 130.2), wherein
the lighting control circuit divides the plurality of semiconductor light sources into a plurality of groups (the first group and the second group in the first lighting module 130.1 and the first group and the second group in the second lighting module 130.2) and divides a cycle of the PWM control into a plurality of partial sections (the sequence of the first group and the sequence of the second group) allocated to the plurality of groups, respectively, to divide a period in which the output voltage of the switched-mode power supply is supplied for each group (see pg. 5, line 5 – pg. 12, line 18, Figs. 1-5).
Regarding claim 2, Li discloses the lighting control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the lighting control circuit divides the headlight and the signal light into groups different from each other (the first group of the first lighting module 130.1 and the second group of the second lighting module 130.2) (see pg. 8, lines 15-18).
.
Regarding claim 3, Li discloses the lighting control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the headlight is not turned on, the plurality of semiconductor light sources are not divided into groups (intended. See pg. 7, ll. 19-23).
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.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li in view of Ito et al. (JP 2017069180 A, hereinafter referred to as Ito).
Regarding claim 4, Li discloses all the features and limitations as discussed above, but does not disclose a discharge circuit discharging residual electrical charge in an output terminal of the switched-mode power supply before the cycle of the PWM control is started or before the partial section is started.
Ito discloses a discharge circuit (8) to discharge residual charge at an output terminal of a switching power supply (see para 0048, 0054, Fig. 5).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide such a discharge circuit of Ito before the start of a PWM cycle or partial section in the light assembly of Li, in order to discharge residual charge at an output terminal of the switched-mode power supply as taught by Ito (see para 0048, 0054, Fig. 5).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Ichikawa (US 2020/0187327 A1) discloses lighting circuit and vehicle lamp. Kikuchi et al. (US 10,766,400 B2) discloses vehicle lamp and lighting circuit of light source.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL D CHANG whose telephone number is (571)272-1801. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5 EST.
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/DANIEL D CHANG/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2845
