4DETAILED 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 is a response to the Applicants' file on 5/14/25. In virtue of this filing, claims 1-15 are currently presented in the instant application.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 5/2/25 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 &1.98. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
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 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(1) as being anticipated by Miskinet et al (US Pub. No: 2019/0297697).
PNG
media_image1.png
800
720
media_image1.png
Greyscale
With respect to claim 1, Miskinet al disclose figures 8-11, a lighting unit(100), which is configured to connect to a drive element(40) and a dimmer(42), wherein the lighting unit (100) comprises: a light-emitting assembly comprising a plurality of light-emitting units (104,106,108) connected in series; and a current limiting circuit (110)comprising a current limiting element, the current limiting element being connected in parallel to some of the plurality of light-emitting units(106).
With respect to claim 2, Miskin et al disclose figures 8-11, wherein the light-emitting assembly further comprises at least one substrate, and the plurality of light-emitting units are distributed on the at least one substrate. Paragraphs [13-14].
With respect to claim 3, Miskin et al disclose figures 8-11, wherein the light-emitting assembly comprises only one substrate, and the current limiting circuit is arranged on the substrate(paragraphs [13-14]; or the light-emitting assembly comprises a plurality of substrates connected in sequence, wherein at least one light-emitting unit is arranged on each of the substrates, and the current limiting circuit is arranged on one of the plurality of substrates or is arranged outside the plurality of substrates.
With respect to claim 4, Miskin et al disclose figures 8-11, wherein the current limiting circuit is arranged on one substrate, and the current limiting element comprises a resistive material layer coated on a part of the surface of the substrate. Paragraphs [45,49].
With respect to claim 6, Miskin et al disclose figures 8-11, wherein the current limiting circuit is arranged on one substrate, the current limiting circuit further comprises a first conductive wire and a second conductive wire, one end of the current limiting element is connected to one end of the some of
the light-emitting units on the substrate via the first conductive wire, and the other end of the
current limiting element is connected to the other end of the some of the light-emitting units via
the second conductive wire.
With respect to claim 10, Miskin et al disclose figures 8-11, wherein the light-emitting unit is an LED light-emitting unit.
With respect to claim 12, Miskin et al disclose figures 8-11, a lighting device which is configured to connect to a dimmer, wherein the lighting device comprises: the lighting unit according to claim 1; and a drive element, an output end of the drive element being connected to a light-emitting
assembly of the lighting unit.
With respect to claim 13, Miskinet al disclose figures 8-11, wherein the drive element is a linear drive element.
With respect to claim 14, Miskinet al disclose figures 8-11, a lighting system, wherein the lighting system comprises: a drive element, an output end of the drive element being connected to a light-emitting assembly of the lighting unit; a dimmer, an output end of the dimmer being connected to an input end of a drive element of the lighting device; a lighting unit, which is configured to connect to a drive element and a dimmer, wherein the lighting unit comprises: a light-emitting assembly comprising a plurality of light-emitting units connected in series; and a current limiting circuit comprising a current limiting element, the current limiting element being connected in parallel to some of the plurality of light-emitting units.
With respect to claim 15, Miskinet al disclose figures 8-11, wherein the light-emitting assembly further comprises at least one substrate, the current limiting element comprises a resistive material layer coated on a part of the surface of the substrate. Paragraphs [45,49].
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 9, 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Miskinet et al (US Pub. No: 2019/0297697) in view of Altamura (US Patent No:11,432,388).
With respect to claim 9, Miskin et al disclose all limitations recited in claim 1 as above, except for wherein there are a plurality of current limiting circuits, and the sum of the number of the light-emitting units connected in parallel to the plurality of the current limiting elements included in the plurality of the current limiting circuits is less than the total number of the light-emitting units in the light-emitting assembly.
Altamura disclose a plurality of current limiting circuits. Figures 2A-2B.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the features of Altamura into the lighting device of Miskin et al to improve more stable current or voltage dual-LED lighting circuit.
With respect to claim 11, Miskin et al disclose the current limit circuit in claim 1 above, except for the current limiting element is a resistor, and the current limiting circuit is a resistor circuit.
Altamura disclose a plurality of current limiting circuits and the current limiting circuit is a resistor circuit. Figures 2A-2B.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the features of Altamura into the lighting device of Miskin et al to improve more stable current or voltage dual-LED lighting circuit.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, 7-8 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.
Citation of pertinent prior art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicants' disclosure. See prior arts/references listed on the PTO-892 form attached.
Inquiry
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MINH TRAN whose telephone number is (571)272-1817. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Taningco Alexander H can be reached on 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 an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Minh Tran/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2845
Prosecution Insights