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
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 12-15 and 18-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Pietruschka et al. DE 102016207964 (“Pietruschka,” cited by applicant).
Pietruschka teaches:
Re 12: A lighting device for an external rear-view device 1 of a vehicle, comprising:
a lighting unit 2/2’,3,5,6 having at least one light source 5 and at least one light guide 2/2’ in optical communication with the at least one light source 5;
a housing 10 having two housing portions (Fig. 4, 6: there is a top and bottom portion of the housing around the groove 12), wherein the lighting unit is arranged between the housing portions, wherein,
when the lighting device is attached to the vehicle via the rear-view device (Fig. 1), the two housing portions are in form of an upper housing portion and a lower housing portion (Fig. 4, 6: upper and lower portions shown around groove 12),
the upper housing portion and the lower housing portion form a groove 12 therebetween on the outside of the housing (Fig. 4, 6),
the upper housing portion or a bottom section of the upper housing portion defines a top edge (Fig. 6), and the lower housing portion or a top section of the lower housing portion defines a bottom edge (Fig. 4, 6: see outer edges of the housing defining both top and bottom edges), and
the groove 12 is extending between the top edge and the bottom edge (Fig. 4, 6), wherein,
the top edge is defined relative to the lighting unit as the top edge of the lighting unit (Figs. 4, 6: the bottom section of the upper housing portion of the housing 10 defines a top edge of the light emitted by the light guide 2), wherein the top edge is defined by an upper flange of the lighting unit (Figs. 4, 6),
the bottom edge is defined relative to the lighting unit as the bottom edge of the lighting unit (Figs. 4, 6: the upper section of the bottom housing portion of the housing 10 defines a top edge of the light emitted by the light guide 2), wherein the bottom edge is defined by a lower flange of the lighting unit, and
a virtual sphere contacts the top edge and the bottom edge (Figs. 4, 6: an arbitrary sphere can be imposed whose sphere is located outside of the mirror and on the bisector relative to the two points defined by the top and bottom edges), and provides a gap towards the at least one light guide such that the at least one light guide is positioned within the groove (Fig. 4,6: light guide is positioned such that the recited gap is present), and the top edge as well as the bottom edge are defining the outermost regions of the housing (Fig. 6).
Re 13: wherein the virtual sphere has a radius between 5 to 100 mm (¶66: the groove has a height of 4mm, thus a virtual sphere with a radius in the given range can be virtually imposed).
Re 14: wherein the at least one light source 5 is positioned adjacent to the at least one light guide in a direction substantially towards an interior of the housing 10 (Fig. 3).
Re 15: wherein the at least one light source 5 is positioned adjacent to the at least one light guide in a direction substantially towards the vehicle (Fig. 3).
Re 18: wherein the upper flange at least partially surrounds the at least one light guide of the lighting unit (Figs. 4, 6).
Re 19: the lower flange at least partially surrounds the at least one light guide of the lighting unit (Figs. 4, 6).
Re 20: wherein the lighting unit comprises a lighting source housing (Fig. 2: see parts 6 and 7).
Re 21: wherein the lighting source housing at least partially surrounds the upper flange and the lower flange (Fig. 2).
Re 22: wherein the lighting source housing is at least temporarily secured to the upper housing portion and/or upper flange and the lower housing portion and/or lower flange (Fig. 2: all the components are secured to one another either directly or through intervening component(s)).
Re 23: wherein the lighting unit comprises a unitary flange, and the unitary flange comprises the lower flange and the upper flange, or
the lighting source housing comprises the upper flange and the lower flange, wherein the upper flange connects the upper housing portion with the light guide, and the lower flange connects the lower housing portion with the light guide (Figs. 4, 6: the housing comprises the flanges and thereby satisfying the second condition).
Re 24: wherein the light guide is thinner in a vertical direction than in a horizontal direction when the lighting device is attached to the vehicle via the rear-view device (Figs. 4, 6), and/or the light guide has sharper edges at its light emitting side than at its light receiving side and/or has its surface at the light emitting side provided with a surface treatment, such that the light emitted from the light guide appears as a line of light and/or has a laser like appearance.
Re 25: A rear-view device comprises at least one lighting device according to claim 12 (abstract; claim 1; Figs. 1-3).
Re 26: A vehicle K comprising at least one rear-view device according to claim 25 (abstract; claim 1; Fig. 1).
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 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pietruschka in view of Sato et al. JP 2017114173 A (“Sato,” cited by applicant).
Re 16-17: Pietruschka does not explicitly teach, while Sato teaches (Fig. 2):
Claim 16: wherein the upper flange abuts on the at least one light guide of the lighting unit.
Claim 17: wherein the lower flange abuts on the at least one light guide of the lighting unit.
Sato teaches in Figure 2 where the upper and lower flanges abut the light guide 20. This secures the light guide, holding it firmly in place so it remains secured while the vehicle is in motion.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to combine Pietruschka with Sato’s teachings, in order to secure the light guide during movement of the vehicle, ensuring optical and mechanical alignment.
Conclusion
Relevant prior art considered: US 20140140081 teaching a vehicle lamp with a light guide.
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GERALD J. SUFLETA II
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2875
/GERALD J SUFLETA II/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875