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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: ROTATION-ADJUSTABLE LAMP WITH ROTATING SLEEVE SHEATHED ON LAMP BODY
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
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.
The applicant is respectfully advised that in examining a pending application, the claims are interpreted as broadly as their terms reasonably convey. In re American Academy of Science Tech Center, 70 USPQ2d. 1827, 1834 (Fed. Cir. May 13, 2004). MPEP § 2111.01.
Claims 1-10, 12-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang (U.S. PG Publication No. 2023/0103093) in view of Kim (U.S. Patent No. 7,241,025).
Regarding Claim 1, Huang discloses in Figures 1-5, a lamp, comprising a main lamp body (comprising generally 6, 2 and 1) and wherein the main lamp body 3,4 comprises a light-emitting assembly 4 and a control end (driving power supply 7) for controlling the light-emitting assembly, and a connecting portion 2 connected to the control end 7.
Regarding Claim 1 and 6, Huang does not disclose a rotating sleeve (actuator ring) rotatably sheathed outside the main lamp body where the connecting portion connected to the control end is provided within the rotating sleeve wherein the rotating sleeve is rotatably sheathed outside the fixed shell assembly.
Kim discloses in Figures 1-2, a lamp having a rotating sleeve 96 that is sheathed outside of a fixed shell assembly (body 30) that is connected to a connecting portion of a lamp to operate a toggle switch 73 (Col7, lines 45-55).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use a rotating sleeve or ring for actuating the switch 5 of Huang. All the claimed elements in Huang and Kim were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the rotating sleeve as claimed with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded the predictable result providing alternative method for facilitating actuating the Dip switch 5 in Huang to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing. See KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007).
Regarding Claim 2, Huang discloses in Figures 1-5, the lamp according to claim 1, wherein the main lamp body is provided with a hollowed-out portion (seen to be the interior space defined by mounting piece 2), and one of the connecting portions 2 and the control end 7 passes through the hollowed-out portion and is connected to the other.
Regarding Claim 3, Huang discloses in Figures 1-5, the lamp according to claim 2, wherein a position of the control end 7 corresponds to a position of the hollowed-out portion .
Regarding Claim 4, Huang discloses in Figures 1-5, the lamp according to claim 2, wherein the main lamp body comprises a driving assembly (power supply 7), and the driving assembly has the control end.
Regarding Claim 5, Huang discloses in Figures 1-5, the lamp according to claim 4, wherein the main lamp body further comprises a fixed shell assembly (mounting part 2), the driving assembly (driving power supply 7) is provided within the fixed shell assembly 7, and the hollowed-out portion is provided on the fixed shell assembly 7.
Regarding Claim 7, Huang discloses in Figures 1-5, the lamp according to claim 5, wherein the light-emitting assembly 4 is provided on one side of the driving assembly 7 away from the fixed shell assembly 2.
Regarding Claim 8, Huang discloses in Figures 1, the lamp according to claim 5, wherein the fixed shell assembly 2 comprises a lamp base component 1 and a plastic shell component (upper portion of mounting component with larger diameter), the lamp base component 1 is sheathed outside the plastic shell component, and the driving assembly 7 is provided within the plastic shell component.
Regarding Claim 9, Huang discloses in Figure 1, the lamp according to claim 8, wherein the hollowed-out portion comprises a first sub-hollowed portion provided on the lamp base component 1 and a second sub-hollowed portion provided on the plastic shell component 2, and a position of the second sub-hollowed portion is aligned with a position of the first sub-hollowed portion (both the base or lamp cap 1 and the mounting mounting piece have hollow interior chambers that are aligned with each other).
Regarding Claim 10, Huang does not disclose the lamp according to claim 9, wherein the plastic shell component is provided with a snap fastener, and the snap fastener is clamped with an edge of the first sub-hollowed portion; or the lamp base component is provided with a snap fastener, and the snap fastener is clamped with an edge of the second sub-hollowed portion.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use a snap fastener for attaching the base component 1 to the edge of the plastic shell cavity, because a person of ordinary skill would have had good reason to pursue the known option(s) of using flexible snap features to interconnect the two components of the base 1 and the shell 2 which is considered to be within his or her technical grasp. This leads to the anticipated success of easily assembling the two together and it is determined that using a snap connection instead of conventional methods is not of innovation, but of ordinary skill and common sense. See KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007).
Regarding Claim 12, Huang discloses in Figure 1, the lamp according to claim 5, wherein the driving assembly comprises a driver board and a dip switch 5; the driver board is provided within the fixed shell assembly 2; and the control end is a toggle lever of the dip switch (the dip switch is attached to a board of the driving power supply 7 Para 0035).
Regarding Claim 13, Huang discloses in Figures 1-5, the lamp according to claim 12, wherein the dip switch 5 is provided on one side of the driver board 7 near a bottom of the fixed shell assembly 2.
Regarding Claim 14, Huang is seen to disclose the lamp according to claim 12, wherein a first mating portion is provided on the driver board 7; a second mating portion is correspondingly provided on an inner side of the fixed shell assembly 7; and the first mating portion is clamped with the second mating portion (the driving power supply is mounted with the accommodating cavity of the mounting portion via mating surfaces which is inherently disclosed, Paras 0037-0038).
Regarding Claim 15, Huang as modified by Kim discloses in Figures 1 (Huang) and Figure 6 (Kim) the lamp according to claim 12, wherein the connecting portion of the rotating sleeve 96 comprises two oppositely provided limiting rods 106; and the control end is provided between two of the limiting rods 106 (actuator guides limit the movement of the toggle switch 73 beyond the limits of their displacement Col 7, lines 65+-Col 8, line 5).
Regarding Claim 16, Huang discloses in Figures 1 and 5, Huang discloses the lamp according to claim 5, further comprising a bulb shell 6, wherein the bulb shell 6 is sheathed on an outer side of the light-emitting assembly 4 and is connected to the fixed shell assembly 2.
Regarding Claim 17, Huang as modified by Kim does not explicitly disclose the lamp according to claim 1, wherein the connecting portion 2 is detachably connected to the rotating sleeve 96.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to make the mounting piece 2 separable or detachable from the sleeve of Kim for easy repair or replacement, since it has been held that constructing a formerly integral structure in various separable elements involves only routine skill in the art. Merwin v. Erlichman, 168 USPQ 177, 179.
Regarding Claims 18-19, Huang as modified by Kim does not disclose the lamp according to claim 1, wherein an outer side of the rotating sleeve 96 is provided with a protrusion wherein a position of the protrusion corresponds to a position of the connecting portion.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use a protrusion that would provide a tactile actuating part for a user to rotate the ring, because a person of ordinary skill would have had good reason to pursue the known option(s) of forming a protrusion on the ring or sleeve 96 of Kim which is considered to be within his or her technical grasp. This leads to the anticipated success of providing something to easily engage and it is determined that the use of such a protrusion is not of innovation, but of ordinary skill and common sense. See KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007).
Regarding Claim 20, Huang discloses the lamp according to claim 1, wherein the light-emitting assembly 4 comprises a filament light source (LED filament 4 Figures 2-3); and the filament light source 4 is a same-level different-color-temperature filament, or at least two filaments of different color temperatures (Para 0043).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 11 is 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.
Huang and Kim do not teach or suggest the rotating sleeve 96 of Kim having a hook is provided inside the rotating sleeve; and an engagement platform cooperating with the hook is provided on the fixed shell assembly.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Chang (U.S. Patent No. 9,992,848) and Halliwell (U.S. PG Publication No. 2021/0120644) disclose a lamp with a controlling Dip Switch.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT J MAY whose telephone number is (571)272-5919. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10AM-3:30pm.
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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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/ROBERT J MAY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875