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 .
Remarks
This Office Action is in response to the amendment filed on 08/06/26. Examiner acknowledged that claims 1-6 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 08/06/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding Claim 1, applicant argues (p.5 of the Remarks) that claim 1 recites “maintains the first dimming state (i.e., illuminated state) even in areas in which a person is not detected”. Wang teaches the opposite since [0002] is to achieve energy savings “by dimming or extinguishing illumination in unoccupied areas”
Examiner disagrees because Wang teaches in [0006] “the word “local area” means…a local area could be a single room, a plurality of rooms in the same or different parts of a building.” [0027] teaches “IR sensors along pathways to or in local areas could sense the entry of a person into a local area and send the respective lighting control unit a signal indicating that a person is entering the area…If it is receiving a signal or command to light the local area, at PCT micro-controller unit MCU-LC causes the light driver circuitry LDR to illuminate the respective local area with light that is modulated to identify the local area”. Fig. 7 teaches additional detection signals starting at NI. It would have been obvious that the IR sensors along the pathways would provide the secondary signal indicating the person has move on to another area than the first and the controller is programmed to illuminate the respective local area (a plurality of rooms in the same or different part of a building). Thus, Wang teaches maintained the first dimming state even in area in which a person is not detected. Accordingly, the rejection of claim 1 over Wang is maintained.
Claim 2-6 are similarly rejected as they depend on the rejected claim 1.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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) 1 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang (US 2007/0146126).
Regarding Claim 1, Wang teaches a lighting fixture (Fig. 1; LA) that is one of a plurality of lighting fixtures (Fig. 1: LA, LB) each of which emits light in a different one of a plurality of areas (Fig. 1: A, B) included in a space, the lighting fixture comprising: a light source ([0016] “Each of these light sources may include one or more light units”); a communicator (Fig. 1: LC) that receives (i) a first detection signal (Fig. 1: SD1) indicating that a person (Fig. 1: person wearing D1) is detected in a target area (Fig. 1: A) that is a target to be illuminated by the light of the lighting fixture and(ii) a second detection signal (Fig. 1: SD2), among a plurality of second detection signals (Fig. 1: SD2, SD3), indicating that a person is detected in an area (Fig. 1: B) other than the target area among the plurality of areas; and a controller (Fig. 1: C)
Wang does not explicitly teach in Fig. 1 a controller that (a) controls the light source in a first dimming state when the first detection signal is received, and (b) maintains the first dimming state when, in a case where all of the plurality of lighting fixtures are in the first dimming state, a second detection signal, among the plurality of second detection signals, indicating that a person is detected in a first area other than the target area is received, and, during a most recent predetermined period, a second detection signal, among the plurality of second detection signals, indicating that a person is detected in a second area other than the first area is received. However, [0027] teaches “when the person with the detector enters the respective area, thereby causing the light source in the area to transmit the modulated light with the respective local-area identifier. (ii) When a person with a detector leaves a first local area (and the detector no longer transmits the locator signal for that area) the lighting system controller C could command one or more lighting control units in adjacent local areas to illuminate those areas”. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Wang in order to control the light in a dimming state when a person is detected since it’s necessary to provide lighting for safety reasons when occupancy is detected.
Regarding Claim 6, Wang teaches the lighting system comprising: a plurality of lighting fixtures (Fig. 1: LA, LB) each of which is the lighting fixture according to claim 1; and a plurality of sensors (Fig. 1: LCs) that each detect whether a person is present (Fig. 1: D1-3 tags worn by person).
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang as applied to claim 1 in view of Chipalkatti (CA 2515263).
Regarding Claim 4, Wang teaches the lighting fixture according to claim 1 except the first area includes a plurality of areas.
Chipalkatti is in the field of lighting (abstract) and teaches the first area includes a plurality of areas (Fig. 1: A-F).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling of the claimed invention to modify the device of Wang with Chipalkatti with a plurality of area in order to control the lights as a person walks through the area of the light fixture since the light can be dimmed according to the location of the person.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-3 and 5 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.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 HENRY T LUONG whose telephone number is (571)270-7008. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday: 8:00-6:00.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Alexander Taningco can be reached at (571) 272-8048. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Henry Luong/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2845
