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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy of CN202520991416.8 filed on 05/20/2025 has been received/retrieved by the office.
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.
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 factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US2022/0104332A1 hereinafter “Pei” in view of US2021/0321499A1 hereinafter “Hayman”
Regarding claim 1, Pei disclose a light emitting diode (LED) lamp (¶63L1: a lighting apparatus) with multi-color temperature switching (abstract L13-14: the manual switch selects a color temperature setting), comprising:
a control processor (¶115L9: internal controller), a first input end of the control processor being connected to an output end of a dip switch processor which receives a switch signal (¶76L1-3: the internal controller is coupled to the manual switch for converting the color temperature setting to a color temperature control signal);
a second input end of the control processor (¶115L6-9: the results of the light intensity defined by the external wall switch via the external converter is further processed and integrated by the internal controller) being connected to an output end of a wall switch processor (¶64L1-3: external controller) which receives a wall switch signal (¶64L1-3: an external wall switch); and
an output end of the control processor being connected to a control end of a dual-color light source (¶73L8-10: the allocation module dispatches corresponding current to LED modules to mix a required color temperature); wherein
the control processor adjust a current output to the dual-color light source unit according to the dip switch signal or wall switch signal. 80L1-8: the allocation module generate corresponding current to the fist/second LED module according to the multiple PWM signal)
Pei does not explicitly disclose that the switch is a “DIP Switch”
Hayman discloses a LED device wherein the color temperature is selected using a DIP switch. (¶15L58-61: CCT switches are dual in-line package (DIP) switches)
It would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art prior to the effective filing date of the application to replace the switch disclose by Pei with a DIP switch disclosed by Hayman.
One of ordinary skill in the art would’ve been motivated because Hayman recognizes DIP switch is equal vent to other forms of switches (¶15L58-61) and a DIP switch is a small package switch that can provide 2^n of selection, when n=number of switch; which allows the system to provide various different CCTs.
Regarding claim 2, Pei in view of Hayman hereinafter “Pei/Hayman” discloses in Pei the LED lamp with multi-color temperature switching according to claim 1, wherein
the control processor comprises a control unit and a dual-color channel unit;
a first input end of the control unit is connected to the output end of the dip switch processor (¶76L1-3: the internal controller is coupled to the manual switch for converting the color temperature setting to a color temperature control signal);
a second input end of the control unit is connected to the output end of the wall switch processor (¶115L6-9: the results of the light intensity defined by the external wall switch via the external converter is further processed and integrated by the internal controller);
an output end of the control unit is connected to an input end of the dual-color channel unit 80L1-8: the allocation module generate corresponding current to the fist/second LED module according to the multiple PWM signal) ;
a first output end of the dual-color channel unit is connected to a first light source control end of the dual-color light source unit; and a second output end of the dual-color channel unit is connected to a second light source control end of the dual-color light source unit. (as shown in Fig.7, each LED module [604-608] has an individual output/input from the allocation module)
Regarding claim 3, Pei/Hayman discloses in Pei the LED lamp with multi-color temperature switching according to claim 2, wherein the dual- color channel unit comprises
a first metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistor (as shown in Fig.5: [Q2]) and
a second MOS transistor (as shown in Fig.5: [Q3]);
the control unit comprises
a first pulse output end and a second pulse output end (as shown in Fig.3: Pins [G1, G2]);
a drain of the first MOS transistor is connected to the first light source control end of the dual-color light source unit (as shown in Fig.5; drain of [Q2] is connected to LED1-), and
a gate of the first MOS transistor is connected to the first pulse output end (as shown in Fig.5, gate of [Q2] is connect to [G1]);
a drain of the second MOS transistor is connected to the second light source control end of the dual-color light source unit (as shown in Fig.5; drain of [Q3] is connected to LED2-), and
a gate of the second MOS transistor is connected to the second pulse output end (as shown in Fig.5, gate of [Q3] is connect to [G2]); and
a source of the first MOS transistor and a source of the second MOS transistor are both connected to a ground end of the control unit. (as shown in Fig.5, source of [Q2] and [Q3] is connected to ground via [C7] and [R8])
Regarding claim 4, Pei/Hayman discloses in Pei the LED lamp with multi-color temperature switching according to claim 2, wherein the control processor further comprises
a power supply unit (as shown in Fig.6, rectifier) ; an input end of the power supply unit is configured to connect to a power source; and an output end of the power supply unit is connected to a power supply end of the control unit. (as shown in Fig.6; the output pin [#1] is connected to pin 4 labeled VCC)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-10 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAYMOND R CHAI whose telephone number is (571)270-0576. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30AM-5:00PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Alexander Taningco can be reached at 571-242-8048. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Raymond R Chai/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2845
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