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 .
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Publication No. 2014/0078474 ("Nakao").
Regarding claim 11, Nakao discloses a light measurement method comprising:
separately driving (paragraphs [0046],[0056]) each of a plurality of semiconductor lasers included in a light source (lasers 2a-2c, Fig. 1, form a light source);
detecting light emitted from the light source (lasers 2a-2c, Fig. 1) by an optical sensor (12, Fig. 1, paragraphs [0052], [0081]); and
calculating at least either of a light amount of each of the plurality of semiconductor lasers (paragraphs [0052], [0081]) and chromaticity of the light emitted from the light source (paragraph [0069]) based on a result of the detection by the optical sensor (paragraphs [0071], [0076]).
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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakao in view of U.S. Patent Publication No. 2010/0033508 ("Mizushima").
Regarding claim 1, Nakao discloses a light measurement device comprising:
a drive circuit (10,11, Fig. 1) configured to separately drive each of a plurality of semiconductor lasers (2a-2c, Fig. 1, paragraphs [0046],[0056]) included in a light source (2a-2c, Fig. 1, form a light source);
an optical sensor (12, Fig. 1) configured to detect light emitted from the light source (paragraphs [0052], [0081]); and
an arithmetic processing circuit (implied, Fig. 1, Figs. 6-7, paragraphs [0034], [0042]-[0043], [0069]-[0071]) configured to calculate at least either of a light amount of each of the plurality of semiconductor lasers (paragraphs [0052], [0081]) and chromaticity of the light emitted from the light source (paragraph [0069]) based on a result of the detection by the optical sensor (paragraphs [0071], [0076]).
Nakao does not explicitly disclose the arithmetic processing circuit.
However, Mizushima discloses an arithmetic processing circuit (30, Fig. 1) that is part of the control unit to perform calculations (paragraph [0181], [0193]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have an arithmetic processing circuit as disclosed by Mizushima in the device of Nakao in order to calculate the numerical changes of the measured values and do arithmetic calculations.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nakao in view of U.S. Patent Publication No. 2020/0145626 ("Yamamoto").
Regarding claim 15, Nakao discloses a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a control program for causing a computer to execute (paragraph [0034]):
processing for separately driving (paragraphs [0046],[0056]) each of a plurality of semiconductor lasers included in a light source (lasers 2a-2c, Fig. 1, form a light source);
processing for detecting light emitted from the light source (lasers 2a-2c, Fig. 1) by an optical sensor (12, Fig. 1, paragraphs [0052], [0081]); and
processing for calculating at least either of a light amount of each of the plurality of semiconductor lasers (paragraphs [0052], [0081]) and chromaticity of the light emitted from the light source (paragraph [0069]) based on a result of the detection by the optical sensor (paragraphs [0071], [0076]).
Nakao does not explicitly disclose a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a control program.
However, Yamamoto discloses a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a control program for causing a computer to execute a desired program (paragraphs [0008],[0096]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to use a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a control program as disclosed by Yamamoto in the device of Nakao in order to use a computer to execute the desired program.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-10, 12-14, and 16-18 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: Regarding claims 2-10, the invention as claimed, specifically in combination with: supplies, in the second period, a current of a second current value which is greater than the first current value to each of the plurality of semiconductor lasers, is not taught or made obvious by the prior art of record.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Regarding claims 12-14, the invention as claimed, specifically in combination with: supplying, in the second period, a current of a second current value which is greater than the first current value to each of the plurality of semiconductor lasers, is not taught or made obvious by the prior art of record.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Regarding claims 16-18, the invention as claimed, specifically in combination with: supplies, in the second period, a current of a second current value which is greater than the first current value to each of the plurality of semiconductor lasers, is not taught or made obvious by the prior art of record.
Conclusion
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/MONICA T TABA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2878
