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 .
Response to Amendment
Applicant's amendment filed on 11 February 2026 has been entered. Claims 1-2, 4, and 7-10 have been amended. No claims have been cancelled. No claims have been added. Claims 1-10 are still pending in this application, with claim 1 being independent.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in India on 08 December 2022. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the IN202221070787 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
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 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (US 2015/0036369 A1), in view of Hayami et al. (GB 2,332,742 A, herein referred to as: GB 2332742 A) and Tanaka et al. (US 2008/0247177 A1, herein referred to as: Tanaka).
Regarding claim 1, Kim teaches or suggests a vehicle headlamp assembly (Figs. 1-10) comprising: at least one lamp (110, 150, 160, 200) with a lens module (150) arranged inside a housing (120, 130), the housing (120, 130) having a base (130) and a cover (120) defining an interior volume (as shown in Figs. 1-10); a circuit board (220) attached with the lens module (150) and the lamp (as shown in Figs. 1-10); a heatsink (140) arranged on the base (130) to dissipate heat from the headlamp assembly (as shown in Figs. 1-10); and an actuation unit (160) for rotating the lens module and the circuit board to adjust the angle of deviation of the light beam from the lamp (paragraphs [0030]-[0036], i.e., 160 provides tilting of the lens module and circuit board to adjust the angle of deviation of the light beam from the lamp within an angle range), wherein the circuit board (220) is arranged on a thermal pad (200) configured on the base (as shown in Figs. 5, 9, and 10), the thermal pad (200) being adapted to absorb heat from the circuit board and the lens module (e.g., paragraph [0031]), wherein the thermal pad (200) is flexible enough to facilitate rotation/swiveling movement of the lens module and the circuit board (e.g., as shown in Fig. 8) upon actuation of the actuation unit (160).
Kim does not explicitly teach that said circuit board and lens module are integral.
However, it would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art, as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the device of Kim and formed the lens integral with the circuit board, since it has been held that forming in one piece a structure which has formerly been formed in two, or more pieces, involves only routine skill in the art. In re Larson, 144 USPQ 347, 349 (CCPA 1965). In the instant case one skilled in the art would have been motivated to reduce the cost of manufacturing the device, and/or reduce the complexity in assembling the device or aligning the optical components thereof.
The combined teachings of Kim teach or suggest all of the elements of the claimed invention, except for said actuation unit is an electromagnetic actuation unit.
Hayami teaches or suggests (Fig. 1a-5b) an electromagnetic actuation unit (24, 68, 80).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art, as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the device of Kim and incorporated the teachings of said actuation unit is an electromagnetic actuation unit, such as taught or suggested by Hayami, since it has been held by the courts that combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results, simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results, or choosing from a finite number of identified, predictable solutions, with a reasonable expectation of success, is not sufficient to distinguish over the prior art, as it requires only ordinary skill in the art. KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1397 (2007). In this case, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to yield the result of improving the performance and/or marketability of the device (e.g., by providing a means to adjust the emission direction of light emitted from the vehicle headlamp after installation).
The combined teachings of Kim and Hayami teach or suggest all of the elements of the claimed invention, except for said heatsink is arranged on the base within the housing.
Tanaka teaches or suggests (Figs. 11 and 15) said heatsink (761, or 941, 943) is arranged on the base within the housing (said portions are within the housing, or withing the wall of the housing thereof and thus within the housing, also see paragraphs [0051] and [0063]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art, as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the device of Kim and incorporated the teachings of said heatsink is arranged on the base within the housing, such as taught or suggested by Tanaka, since it has been held by the courts that combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results, simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results, or choosing from a finite number of identified, predictable solutions, with a reasonable expectation of success, is not sufficient to distinguish over the prior art, as it requires only ordinary skill in the art. KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1397 (2007). In this case, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to yield the result of improving the performance and/or marketability of the device (e.g., by providing a configuration by which heat can be dissipated from the inside of the housing to the outside of the housing).
Regarding claim 2, Kim teaches or suggests (Figs. 1-10) the flexibility of the thermal pad (200) allows the circuit board (220) and the lens module (150) to remain closer to the heatsink while the lens module and the circuit board are rotated (said elements are closer to lower heat sink 140 when rotated forward, and closer to rear heat sink 140 when rotated back, Figs. 9-10).
Regarding claim 3, Kim teaches or suggests (Figs. 1-10) the circuit board (220) is a flexible circuit board (the entire 200 is flexible, circuit board 220 being printed on 200 forms a flexible circuit board).
Claims 4-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim, in view of Hayami and Tanaka, as applied to claim 1 above, and in further view of Stoppel et al. (DE 102016224979 A1, herein referred to as: Stoppel).
Regarding claims 4-10, neither Kim, Hayami, nor Tanaka explicitly teach that the electromagnetic actuation unit includes one or more pairs of electromagnetic coils mounted on the base and corresponding magnets arranged behind a flexible portion of the circuit board, and wherein the actuation of the electromagnetic coils and the magnets facilitates the rotation/swiveling movement of the lens module and the circuit board in a vertical axis or a horizontal axis (as recited in claim 4); wherein a first electromagnetic coil and a second electromagnetic coil are arranged on the base and a corresponding first magnet and second magnet are arranged behind the circuit board (as recited in claim 5); wherein by powering up the first electromagnetic coil on an upper portion of the base to North pole to North pole and by powering up the second electromagnetic coils on the lower portion of the base to South pole to North pole with the lens module as the centre axis, the circuit board and the lens module are swiveled or rotated on a vertical axis along the direction of the force of the magnet to deviate the light beam from the lamp towards an upper side (as recited in claim 6); wherein when the first electromagnetic coil is actuated, the corresponding magnet is pulled towards the base and when the second electromagnetic coil is actuated, the corresponding magnet is pushed away from the base resulting in the swiveling motion or rotation of the lens module and the circuit board on the vertical axis to deviate the light beam from the lamp towards the upper side, wherein when the polarities of the first electromagnetic coil and the second electromagnetic coils are reversed, the lens module and the circuit board are swiveled on the vertical axis to deviate the light beam from the lamp towards a lower side (as recited in claim 7); wherein two electromagnetic coils and corresponding magnets are arranged along a horizontal axis on the upper portion of the base and two electromagnetic coils and corresponding magnets are arranged along a horizontal axis on the lower portion of the base, and wherein the arrangement of four electromagnetic coil and corresponding magnets facilitates the swiveling movement of the lens module and the circuit board in both the vertical axis and the horizontal axis depending upon the actuation of corresponding electromagnetic coils (as recited in claim 8); wherein when the electromagnetic coils are actuated, the corresponding magnet are pulled towards the base, and when the electromagnetic coil is actuated, the corresponding magnets are pushed away from the base resulting in the swiveling motion of the lens module and the circuit board on the vertical axis to deviate the light beam from the lamp towards an upper side wherein when the polarities are reversed, the lens module and the circuit board are swiveled on the vertical axis to deviate the light beam from the lamp towards a lower side (as recited in claim 9); wherein when the adjacent electromagnetic coils in the upper portion of the base are powered with opposite polarities (North pole to North pole, and South pole to North pole) and the corresponding electromagnetic coils in the vertical axis on the lower portion of the base are powered with polarities North pole to North pole, and South pole to North pole, the circuit board and the lens module swivel in a horizontal axis thereby deviating the light beam from the lamp towards a left or right direction depending the actuation of the electromagnetic coils (as recited in claim 10).
Stoppel teaches or suggests (Figs. 1-4) the electromagnetic actuation unit includes one or more pairs of electromagnetic coils (121, 131, 141, 151) mounted on the base (112) and corresponding magnets (125, 135, 145, 155) arranged behind a portion of a board (111), the actuation of the electromagnetic coils and the magnets facilitates in the rotation/swiveling movement of the board in a vertical axis or a horizontal axis (as shown in Figs. 1-4 and as noted in the corresponding description); wherein a first electromagnetic coil and a second electromagnetic coil are arranged on the base and a corresponding first magnet and second magnet are arranged behind the circuit board (as shown in Figs. 1-4); wherein by powering up the first electromagnetic coil on an upper portion of the base to North pole to North pole and by powering up the second electromagnetic coils on the lower portion of the base to South pole to North pole, the board and module (200) are swiveled or rotated on a vertical axis along the direction of the force of the magnet to deviate towards an upper side (as shown in Figs. 1-4 and as noted in the corresponding description, e.g. “...To enable a two-dimensional tilt adjustment, the rocker-shaped actuator means 110 in the present embodiment, a total of four electromagnetic actuators 120,130,140,150, which in the vertices of an imaginary square around the rocker bearing 117 are located. By this arrangement, an inclination of the movable actuator part 111 be achieved in any spatial direction of the horizontal plane. In principle, however, this can be achieved with any suitable arrangement of actuators...,” thus the currents can be driven to produce the desired tilt in the module in the plane); wherein when the first electromagnetic coil is actuated, the corresponding magnet is pulled towards the base and when the second electromagnetic coil is actuated, the corresponding magnet is pushed away from the base resulting in the swiveling motion or rotation of the module (200) and the board (111) on the vertical axis to deviate the light beam from the lamp towards the upper side (as shown in Figs. 1-4 and noted in the corresponding description),wherein when the polarities of the first electromagnetic coil and the second electromagnetic coils are reversed, the lens module and the circuit board is swiveled on the vertical axis to deviate the light beam from the lamp towards a lower side (reversing the polarity on the electromagnets noted above obtains the above recited effect, as shown in Figs. 1-4 and as noted in the corresponding description); wherein two electromagnetic coils and corresponding magnets are arranged along a horizontal axis on the upper portion of the base and two electromagnetic coils and corresponding magnets are arranged along a horizontal axis on the lower portion of the base (as shown in Fig. 4), the arrangement of four electromagnetic coil and corresponding magnets facilitates in the swiveling movement of the module (200) and the board (111) in both vertical axis and horizontal axis depending upon the actuation of corresponding electromagnetic coils (as shown in Figs. 1-4 and as noted in the corresponding description and the citation thereto made above); wherein when the electromagnetic coils are actuated, the corresponding magnet are pulled towards the base, and when the electromagnetic coil is actuated, the corresponding magnets are pushed away from the base resulting in the swiveling motion of the module (200) and the board (111) on the vertical axis to deviate the module towards an upper side (as shown in Figs. 1-4 and as noted in the corresponding description and the citation thereto made above) wherein when the polarities are reversed, the module (200) and the board (111) is swiveled on the vertical axis to deviate towards a lower side (as shown in Figs. 1-4 and as noted in the corresponding description and the citation thereto made above); wherein when the adjacent electromagnetic coils in the upper portion of the base are powered with opposite polarities (North pole to North pole, and South pole to North pole) and the corresponding electromagnetic coils in the vertical axis on the lower portion of the base are powered with polarities North pole to North pole, and South pole to North pole, the board (111) and the module (200) swivels in a horizontal axis thereby deviating towards a left or right direction depending the actuation of the electromagnetic coils (as shown in Figs. 1-4 and as noted in the corresponding description and the citation thereto made above).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art, as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the device of Kim and incorporated the teachings of the electromagnetic actuation unit includes one or more pairs of electromagnetic coils mounted on the base and corresponding magnets arranged behind a flexible portion of the circuit board, and wherein the actuation of the electromagnetic coils and the magnets facilitates the rotation/swiveling movement of the lens module and the circuit board in a vertical axis or a horizontal axis (as recited in claim 4); wherein a first electromagnetic coil and a second electromagnetic coil are arranged on the base and a corresponding first magnet and second magnet are arranged behind the circuit board (as recited in claim 5); wherein by powering up the first electromagnetic coil on an upper portion of the base to North pole to North pole and by powering up the second electromagnetic coils on the lower portion of the base to South pole to North pole with the lens module as the centre axis, the circuit board and the lens module are swiveled or rotated on a vertical axis along the direction of the force of the magnet to deviate the light beam from the lamp towards an upper side (as recited in claim 6); wherein when the first electromagnetic coil is actuated, the corresponding magnet is pulled towards the base and when the second electromagnetic coil is actuated, the corresponding magnet is pushed away from the base resulting in the swiveling motion or rotation of the lens module and the circuit board on the vertical axis to deviate the light beam from the lamp towards the upper side, wherein when the polarities of the first electromagnetic coil and the second electromagnetic coils are reversed, the lens module and the circuit board are swiveled on the vertical axis to deviate the light beam from the lamp towards a lower side (as recited in claim 7); wherein two electromagnetic coils and corresponding magnets are arranged along a horizontal axis on the upper portion of the base and two electromagnetic coils and corresponding magnets are arranged along a horizontal axis on the lower portion of the base, and wherein the arrangement of four electromagnetic coil and corresponding magnets facilitates the swiveling movement of the lens module and the circuit board in both the vertical axis and the horizontal axis depending upon the actuation of corresponding electromagnetic coils (as recited in claim 8); wherein when the electromagnetic coils are actuated, the corresponding magnet are pulled towards the base, and when the electromagnetic coil is actuated, the corresponding magnets are pushed away from the base resulting in the swiveling motion of the lens module and the circuit board on the vertical axis to deviate the light beam from the lamp towards an upper side wherein when the polarities are reversed, the lens module and the circuit board are swiveled on the vertical axis to deviate the light beam from the lamp towards a lower side (as recited in claim 9); wherein when the adjacent electromagnetic coils in the upper portion of the base are powered with opposite polarities (North pole to North pole, and South pole to North pole) and the corresponding electromagnetic coils in the vertical axis on the lower portion of the base are powered with polarities North pole to North pole, and South pole to North pole, the circuit board and the lens module swivel in a horizontal axis thereby deviating the light beam from the lamp towards a left or right direction depending the actuation of the electromagnetic coils (as recited in claim 10), such as taught or suggested by Stoppel, since it has been held by the courts that combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results, simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results, or choosing from a finite number of identified, predictable solutions, with a reasonable expectation of success, is not sufficient to distinguish over the prior art, as it requires only ordinary skill in the art. KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1397 (2007). In this case, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to yield the result of improving the performance and/or marketability of the device (e.g., by providing a means to adjust the emission direction of light emitted from the vehicle headlamp after installation by numerous tilt angles in the plane of installation).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-10 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.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: please see US-20090059594-A1 to Lin and DE-102018114765-A1 to STEINKELLNER, pertinent to the arrangement of the heat sink.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Colin J Cattanach whose telephone number is (571)270-5203. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:30 AM - 6:30 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jong-Suk (James) Lee can be reached at (571) 272-7044. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/COLIN J CATTANACH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875
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