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.
Claim(s) 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Oh US Publication No. 20210281056.
Re Claim 1, Oh discloses a method for securing a lighting system to a ceiling structure, the method comprising:
providing a bracket system (102) that includes a support structure (104; fig. 1 P4) , the support structure (104, Fig. 1) including a support section that supports a lighting assembly of the lighting system (P4, P26, P31);
and an attachment end (124, Fig. 1) connected to the support section (104, Fig. 1; P31, support structures according to the invention can include a variety of support rail configurations with ends that allow attachment to a mounting bracket. Returning to FIG. 1, the support structure 104 according to the present embodiment is a ceiling bracket that is substantially rectangular in shape and includes two attachment ends 124 connected by two elongate support rails 126.);
securing the attachment end (124, Fig. 1) to a mounting bracket (100, 200 fig, 1)) of the bracket system (102) , the mounting bracket (100, 200Fig. 1) including a support channel (178) defined between first (134) and second support members (144) of the mounting bracket (p49, P34, P44, P49, P58; Figs. 3-5, and 9) ; and
attaching the mounting bracket (100) to a ceiling member (108) of the ceiling structure by sliding the mounting bracket (100) onto the ceiling member (108) to an installed configuration (Abstract, P49, P58), in the installed configuration:
a base (114) of the ceiling member (108) supporting a ceiling covering against gravity (figs. 2 and 9) ;
a stem (116) of the ceiling member (108) extending upwardly from the base (114, Fig. 2) and being received into the support channel 178 (P24, P58, figs. 2 and 9 ) ;
and the mounting bracket (100, 200) being seated on a top surface of the ceiling covering to support the support structure (104 and includes two attachment ends 124 connected by two elongate support rails 126) relative to the ceiling member(108, Fig. 9) .
Re Claim 2, Oh discloses the method of claim 1, wherein, in the installed configuration, free ends of the first (134) and second support members (144) are above and spaced vertically apart from the base (114) of the ceiling member (Fig. 9, P50).
Re Claim 3, Oh discloses the method of claim 1, wherein securing the attachment end (124, Fig. 1) to the mounting bracket (100, 200) includes inserting the attachment end (124, Fig. 1) of the support structure (104 and includes two attachment ends 124 connected by two elongate support rails 126) into a contact channel (170) of the mounting bracket that is defined between first (142) and second contact members (146) of the first mounting bracket, the first (142) and second contact members (146) being resiliently movable relative to one another to resiliently receive the attachment end (124) into the contact channel (P3-P5, P31, P32, P44);
and wherein, in the installed configuration a lower one of the first (142) and second (146) contact members is seated on the top surface of the ceiling covering (96) to support the support structure (104; fig. 1 P4) relative to the ceiling member (108) (See figure 9) .
Re Claim 4, Oh discloses the method of claim 3, wherein securing the attachment end (two attachment ends 124) to the mounting bracket (100) further includes advancing a fastener through the lower one of the first (142)and second (144) contact members to secure the attachment end within the contact channel (P29, P32, P52, P56).
Re Claim 5, Oh discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the stem (116) of the ceiling member (108) supports a bulb opposite the base (114) of the ceiling member (108) ; wherein the first (134) and second support (144) members are resiliently movable relative to each other to resiliently secure the stem within the support channel, and a free end (182, 184)of one or more of the first support member (134) or the second support member, respectively, includes a tab (186) extending into the support channel (178) ; and wherein, in the installed configuration, the tab (178) extends toward the stem (116) of the ceiling member, to prevent passage of the bulb out of the support channel (P26, P51, P58) .
Re Claim 6, Oh discloses the method of claim 5, wherein, in the installed configuration, the tab (178) is above and spaced vertically apart from the base (114) of the ceiling member (Figs 2 ).
Re Claim 7, Oh discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the attachment end is secured to the mounting bracket before the mounting bracket is attached to the ceiling member by sliding the mounting bracket onto the ceiling member to the installed configuration (P29, P53).
Re Claim 8, Oh discloses A lighting system for a ceiling structure, the lighting system comprising:
a support structure (104; fig. 1 P4) that includes a support section (e.g., elongate support rails 126t) that supports a lighting assembly, and an attachment end (124, Fig. 1) connected to the support section (P4, P26, P31);
and a mounting bracket (100, 200Fig. 1) that includes a support channel (178) defined between first (134) and second support (144) members of the mounting bracket (100) (and is configured to slidably engage a ceiling member (108) of the ceiling structure, the attachment end (124) of the support structure (104) being secured to the mounting bracket (100, P49, P58,P34, P44; Figs. 3-5, and 9) ;
the mounting bracket (100, 200Fig. 1) being attached to the ceiling member (108) in an installed configuration, in which: a base (114) of the ceiling member (108) supports a ceiling covering against gravity (P58 figs. 2 and 9);
a stem (116) of the ceiling member (108) that extends upwardly from the base (114) is received into the support channel (178 figs. 2 and 9; P24, P58) ; and
the mounting bracket (100) is seated on a top surface of the ceiling covering to support the support structure (104) relative to the ceiling member (108; Fig. 9) .
Re Claim 9, Oh discloses the lighting system of claim 8, wherein, in the installed configuration, a vertical gap is defined between a free end of each the first (134) and second (144) support members, respectively, and the base (114) of the ceiling member (See claim 6) .
Re Claim 10, Oh discloses the lighting system of claim 8, wherein the attachment end (two attachment ends 124)of the support structure (104) is received into a contact channel (170) of the mounting bracket (100) that is defined between first (142) and second (146) contact members of the first mounting bracket(P3-P5, P31, P32, P44);. ,
the first (142) and second contact (144) members being resiliently movable relative to one another to resiliently receive the attachment end (124) into the contact channel (70) ; and wherein, in the installed configuration, a lower one of the first(142) and second contact (146) members is seated on the top surface of the ceiling covering (196) to support the support structure (104) relative to the ceiling member (See figure 9)
Re Claim 11, Oh discloses The lighting system of claim 10, wherein the attachment end (124, Fig. 1) is further secured to the mounting bracket (100) by a fastener that extends through the lower one of the first (142) and second (146) contact members to secure the attachment end (124, Fig. 1) within the contact channel (P29, P32, P52, P56).
Re Claim 12, Oh discloses the lighting system of claim 10, wherein a vertical distance between the lower one of the first (142) and second (146) contact members and a free end of the first support member (134) is less than a vertical distance between the lower one of the first (142) and second contact members (146) and a blind end (136) of the support channel (Fig. 5, P59).
Re Claim 13, Oh discloses the lighting system of claim 8, wherein the stem (116) of the ceiling member (108) supports a widened end opposite the base (114) of the ceiling member (108) ; wherein the first (134) and second support (144) members are resiliently movable relative to each other to resiliently secure the stem (116) within the support channel (178), and a free end of one or more of the first support member (134) or the second (144) support member, respectively, includes a tab (186) extending into the support channel (178) ; and wherein, in the installed configuration, the tab (186) extends toward the stem (116) of the ceiling member (108), to prevent passage of the widened end out of the support channel (178) (P26. P51, P58).
Re Claim 14, Oh discloses the lighting system of claim 13, wherein, in the installed configuration, the tab (186) is above and spaced vertically apart from the base (114) of the ceiling member(Fig. 9, P50).
Re Claim 15, Oh discloses The lighting system of claim 13, wherein a vertical distance between the tab (186) and the free end of the one or more of the first (134) support member or the second (144) support member is less than a distance between the tab (186) and a lower contact member of the mounting bracket (100) that engages the attachment end (124) of the support structure (104) (Figs. 1-9).
Re Claim 16, Oh discloses the lighting system of claim 8, wherein the mounting bracket is stamped from a single piece of material (P33).
Re Claim 17, Oh discloses the lighting system of claim 8, wherein, in the installed configuration, free ends of the first and second support members are equally spaced in a vertical direction from a blind end (136) of the support channel (P50 and see claim 16, Fig. 5).
Re Claim 18, Oh discloses a method for installing a lighting system, the method comprising:
securing a support structure (104) to a mounting bracket (100, 200Fig. 1) of a bracket system, the mounting bracket (100, 200Fig. 1) including a support channel (178) defined between first (134) and second (144) support members; and with the support structure (104) secured to the mounting bracket (100) , attaching the mounting bracket (100) to a ceiling member (108) by:
inserting a stem (116) of the ceiling member (108) into the support channel (178) (p49, P34, P44, P49, P58; Figs. 3-5, and 9); and after inserting the stem (116) into the support channel (178) (P58), moving the mounting bracket (100) downward toward a base (114) of the ceiling member (108) that supports a ceiling covering (196) , until the mounting bracket (100) is seated on the ceiling covering (196) to support the support structure (104) relative to the ceiling member (Fig. 9).
Re Claim 19, Oh discloses the method of claim 18, wherein in an installed configuration, free ends of the first (134) support member and the second support (144) member are separated from the base (114) of the ceiling member (108) by a vertical gap (See claim 6).
Re Claim 20, Oh discloses the method of claim 19, wherein securing the support structure (104) to the mounting bracket (100) includes securing the support structure (104) to a contact member of the mounting bracket (100) that extends transverse to the first (134) and second (144) support members; and
wherein, in the installed configuration, a vertical distance between the contact member and the free ends of the first support member (134) and the second support member (144) is less than a vertical distance between the contact member and a blind end (136) of the support channel (P34, P35, P41, P59) .
Conclusion
The following reference is cited but not relied upon;
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SONJI N JOHNSON whose telephone number is (571)270-5266. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-9pm.
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SONJI N. JOHNSON
Examiner
Art Unit 2876
/SONJI N JOHNSON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876