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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/18/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been 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.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hallitschke (US 2023/0235871).
Regarding claim 1, Hallitschke discloses An apparatus for mounting on a vehicle, wherein the apparatus is further for alerting an oncoming vehicle operator as to a presence of a certain number of additional vehicles behind the vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
a body (outside of 102, Fig. 2a) including an upward-facing side (107, Fig. 2A) and an rearward-facing side (the opposite end of the body relative 107, Fig. 2A);
a processor (202, Paragraph 0042) configured to receive power from a battery;
a display (108, Fig. 3) including a first group (some of the LEDs of 208, Fig. 6) of segments and a second group (some other of the LEDs of 208, Fig. 6) of segments, wherein each of the segments comprises an LED (Paragraph 0040), wherein the display is configured to receive power from the battery and to receive signals from the processor (Paragraph 0042), wherein the signals dynamically control an illumination pattern of the segments (Paragraph 0042), wherein the first group of segments is configured to illuminate patterns of the segments corresponding to different numbers (the LEDs in 208 which correspond to number as provided by a user, Example Fig. 7b), wherein the second group of segments is configured to illuminate a pattern of the segments corresponding to at least one word (the LEDs which provide a word as provided by a user Example Fig. 3D), wherein the first group of segments and the second group of segments are configured to illuminate towards a forward- facing surface of the apparatus (Fig. 2A);
a lens (107, Fig. 2A); and
a user interface (implicitly taught given that the device is being controlled to provide different images,/text/numbers, Paragraph 0043), wherein the user interface communicates with the processor and is configured to control the display.
Regarding claim 3, Hallitschke discloses at least one segment in the first group of segments is shared with the second group of segments (specifically the segments can be adjusted as needed therefore the limitation is considered to have been met).
Regarding claim 4, Hallitschke discloses a height of the first group of segments is greater than a height of the second group of segments (Specifically an example of this would be if the first group was as tall as the whole display and the second group was smaller than that) .
Regarding claim 5, Hallitschke discloses the signals cause the first group of segments and the second group of segments to illuminate in an alternating manner (Paragraph 0042 specifically, flashing sequenced or animated).
Regarding claim 7, Hallitschke discloses the lens further includes a display light pipe (the thickness of 107) configured to direct light from the display (108, Fig. 2a) to a forward-facing surface of the lens.
Regarding claim 8, Hallitschke discloses the lens further includes a power indicator light pipe (108, Fig. 3C) configured to direct light from the power indicator to an upward-facing surface or a rearward- facing surface of the lens (Fig. 3C specifically, the display can also be used to indicate battery levels).
Regarding claim 12, Hallitschke discloses the user interface comprises a power button configured to selectively turn the display ON or OFF (Paragraphs 0020 and 0021).
Regarding claim 13, Hallitschke discloses the user interface comprises a number-adjusting interface configured to cause the processor to communicate signals to the display to adjust the pattern displayed on the first group of segments such that an adjusted number is displayed (specifically this is implicitly taught given that the lighting deivce is for illuminating different LEDs in different patterns with different numbers, letters, or symbols).
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(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hallitschke (US 2023/0235871) in view of Hollingworth et al. (US 20150055360).
Regarding claim 2, Hallitschke teaches a mount (specifically the lighting device is mounted to the vehicle by some sort of a mount given that its attached to it) configured to attach to the vehicle.
Hallitschke fails to teach wherein the body is coupled with the mount such that a position of the body is adjustable with respect to the vehicle (however the Examiner argues that this would likewise be obvious given that this device is being placed into vehicles and would thereby need to be able to be adjusted to different vehicles).
However, Hollingworth teaches wherein the body (40, 95 and 96, Paragraph 0068) is coupled with the mount (34 and 32) such that a position of the body is adjustable with respect to the vehicle (10, Fig. 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date to have modified the lighting device of Hallitschke to work with the mounting member provided by Hollingworth, in order for the lighting device to be used in multiple locations and with multiple vehicles.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hallitschke (US 2023/0235871).
Regarding claim 6, Hallitschke teaches the first group of segments and the second group of segments alternate at a period (Paragraph 0042 specifically, flashing sequenced or animated).
Hallitschke fails to teach the period is no longer than approximately one second per group.
The Examiner takes official notice in pointing out that flashing is commonly no longer than one second intervals.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date to have included having the flashing time being less than one second intervals, in order to provide a desired flashing effect as desired for a given application.
Claim(s) 9 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hallitschke (US 2023/0235871) in view of Schofield et al. (US 20050232469 Hereinafter Schofield).
Regarding claim 9, Hallitschke fails to teach the lens comprises an opaque.
Schofield teaches the lens (display window, Paragraph 0052) comprises an opaque region (opaque area, Paragraph 0052) in a region where there is no light pipe, wherein the opaque region is configured to obscure an appearance of structure behind the lens (Paragraph 0052).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date to have included the opaque region of Schofield to the lens of Hallitschke, in order to provide an area where light emission does not occur for a given intended purpose as needed for a given application.
Regarding claim 10, Hallitschke fails to teach the lens is textured to form the opaque region.
Schofield teaches the lens is textured to form the opaque region (Paragraph 0052).
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hallitschke (US 2023/0235871) in view of
Regarding claim 11, the examiner notes that while Hallitschke fails to teach the user interface is disposed on the rearward-facing side of the body.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date to have had the user interface is disposed on the rearward-facing side of the body in order to provide a localized ability to control the lighting devices output and allow for a user to use the device for a given application.
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hallitschke (US 2023/0235871) in view of Hendricks (US 11239445)
Regarding claim 15, Hallitschke fails to teach a light sensor configured to detect an amount of ambient light and correspondingly adjust a brightness level of the display.
Hendricks teaches a light sensor (154, Column 9 lines 45-55) configured to detect an amount of ambient light and correspondingly adjust a brightness level of the display (Column 9 lines 45-55).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date to have had included the sensor of Hendricks to the display of Hallitschke, in order to provide a display which is providing rhe correct amount of desired light given an ambient amount of light.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 16-20 are allowed.
Claim 14 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 an examiner's statement of reasons for allowance: The prior art taken as a whole does not show nor suggest all of the limitations of claims a lighting device with body, processor, display, lens, user interface, and a user interface with a number adjusting increment and decrement buttons configured to cause the processor to communicate signals to the display to adjust the pattern displayed on the first group of segments such that an adjusted number is displayed as specifically called for the claimed combinations.
The closest prior art, Hallitschke (US 2023/0235871) teaches an apparatus for a vehicle which can indicate most things with the LEDs provided, processor, display, and user interface.
However Hallitschke fails to disclose the user interface comprises a number-adjusting mechanism specifically including an increment and decrement button as required by the claim and there is no motivation absent the applicant’s own disclosure, to modify the Hallitschke reference in the manner required by the claims.
Double Patenting
Claim 1-20 rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of U.S. Patent No. (US 12377930). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the independent claims 1 and 16 are very similar with slight changes which were discussed with the applicant’s representative during an interview on 01/05/2026.
Relevant Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Lys et al. (US 2005/0063194) teaches LED displays. Simmons (US 2015/0054660 teaches a user interface. Diba (US2014/0118553) teaches an LED based display.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIC T EIDE whose telephone number is (571)272-7405. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8AM-5PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
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.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ERIC T EIDE/Examiner, Art Unit 2875