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 responsive to the amendment filed 04/06/2026.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/04/2026 has been considered by the examiner.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s amendments to claims 7-18 are sufficient to overcome the 35 U.S.C. 112 rejection presented in the previous office action.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 04/06/2026 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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) 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ohara Tomoko (JP 2019220287A) (hereinafter referred to as “Ohara”), cited by the applicant.
Re claim 1: Ohara discloses a lighting device comprising:
a light guide (32) on which a light is incident and that includes an emitting surface (32b);
a light emitter (5) including an incident surface (50) on which the light emitted from the emitting surface of the light guide is incident, and emits light using the light incident from the incident surface; and
a base material (2) including a light guide-side support that supports the light guide (a portion of the housing frame 2 where the light bar 32 is arranged) and a light emitter-side support that supports the light emitter (a portion of the housing frame 2 for holding the light guide plate 5);
wherein the light guide (32), the light emitter (5) and the base material (2) are integrally formed, and the emitting surface of the light guide, which extends along a length of the light guide, and the incident surface of the light emitter, which extends along a side surface of the light emitter, are spaced apart from each other so as to face each other with an air layer interposed between the emitting surface and the incident surface. (See figs. 1-4).
Re claim 2, Ohara further discloses wherein the light emitter-side support has a frame formed along a peripheral edge of a rear surface of the light emitter (paras. 0034-0035; figs. 3-4).
Re claim 3, Ohara further discloses wherein the base material includes a connecter that connects the light guide- side support and the light emitter-side support, and when viewed in a direction facing a front surface of the light emitter, the connecter is located not to overlap the air layer (fig. 3).
Re claim 4, Ohara further discloses wherein the first light guide and the light emitter are made of the same material (paras. 0016 and 0021).
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(s) 5-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ohara in view of Tanaka Kenji (JP 2020203590A) (hereinafter referred to as Tanaka), cited by the applicant. The teachings of Ohara have been discussed above.
Re claim 5, Ohara fails to teach wherein a decorative layer decorates the light emitter is provided on a rear surface of the light emitter.
Tanaka discloses a vehicular illuminating device comprising a decorative layer (30) that decorates a light emitter (40) is provided on a rear surface of the light emitter (40) (figs. 2-3; paras. 0030-0036).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teachings of Ohara and Tanaka in order to project an image rich in design.
Re claim 6, Ohara as modified by Tanaka discloses wherein the light emitter-side support has a frame shape formed along a peripheral edge of the rear surface of the light emitter, and the light emitter-side support and the light emitter sandwich the decorative layer between the light emitter-side support and the light emitter (Ohara, Ohara; and Tanaka, figs. 2-3; paras. 0030-0036).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-19 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 art of record, taken alone or in combination, fails to teach, in conjunction with other claim limitations, a second light guide, wherein the first light guide and the second light guide are disposed to sandwich the light emitter between the first light guide and the second light guide.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please refer to the attached PTO-892 form.
Applicant's submission of an information disclosure statement under 37 CFR 1.97(c) with the timing fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(p) on 03/04/2026 prompted the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 609.04(b). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to APRIL A TAYLOR whose telephone number is (571)272-2403. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday between 9am-6pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, STEVEN S PAIK can be reached at 571-272-2404. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/APRIL A TAYLOR/Examiner, Art Unit 2876
/THIEN M LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
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