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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Group I in the reply filed on 3/10/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that Group II corresponds to the features of claim 1. The arguments are persuasive and the restriction requirement has been withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 10-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 10 and 11 recite the limitation "the heat sink". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. It is unclear if the applicant intends to recite a separate component for the heat sink or if the applicant is referring to the radiator as being the heat sink. The examiner is interpreting “the heat sink” as “the radiator” as recited in claim 1 since paragraph [0038] of the specification labels the radiator as element 51 and paragraph [0049] also refers to the heat sink as element 51.
Claims 12-13 are also rejected since they are dependent upon claim 10.
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) 1, 4 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Raouf (US 5,613,766) in view of Yu (US 2024/0255131).
Claim 1: Raouf teaches a wall lamp, comprising a housing (10, fig. 1), wherein a driving member (30, fig. 2) is installed inside the housing (10); an installation base (base of 55, fig. 1-2) is connected to a back side of the housing (10); an arc-shaped cavity (60, figs. 1-2) is disposed at a lower end of a front side of the housing (see fig. 2); a lamp body (body of 12, fig. 1) is connected inside the arc-shaped cavity (see fig. 2); the lamp body comprises a radiator (16, fig. 1); a lens (24, fig. 3) is connected to a front side of the radiator (see fig. 3); two connecting pillars (38, fig. 4-5) are connected to a back side of the radiator (16); two adjusting slots (slot 37 with 48, fig. 4) of corresponding to the connecting pillars (38) are disposed in the arc-shaped cavity (see fig. 3); and an end portion of each of the connecting pillars (38) passes through a corresponding adjusting slot (see figs. 4-5) and is connected to a friction block (37, fig. 4-5).
However, Raouf fails to teach a light source board is installed inside the radiator.
Yu teaches a light source board (1102, fig. 11A) is installed inside the radiator (528).
Therefore, in view of Yu, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute the light bulb of Raouf with the light source board and radiator of Yu where the light source board is installed inside the radiator, in order to increase the brightness of the light source.
Claim 4: Raouf fails to teach an angle mark is disposed on a side surface of the radiator, and an indication arrow corresponding to the angle mark is disposed on the housing.
Yu teaches an angle mark (see fig. 1) is disposed on a side surface of the radiator (510, fig. 1), and an indication arrow (arrow of 532, fig. 1) corresponding to the angle mark is disposed on the housing (see fig. 1).
Therefore, in view of Yu, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add an angle mark is disposed on a side surface of the radiator, and an indication arrow corresponding to the angle mark is disposed on the housing, in order to provide a visual indicator of the angle.
Claim 10: As best understood, Raouf in view of Yu teaches an installation and adjustment method for the wall lamp according to claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1), comprising: passing the end portion of each of the connecting pillars (end of 38, fig. 4; Raouf) of the radiator (16, fig. 3; Raouf) through the corresponding adjusting slot (slot 37 with 48, fig. 4; Raouf) of the arc-shaped cavity (see figs. 2-3; Raouf); fixing the friction block (37, fig. 4; Raouf) onto the end portion of each of the connecting pillars (end of 38; Raouf); rotating the lamp body (16, fig. 4; Raouf) along the adjusting slots of the arc-shaped cavity (rotation along 20, fig. 2; Raouf) via the connecting pillars (38; Raouf) of the radiator (16; Raouf) to adjust a light emission angle of the lamp body (luminaire can be adjusted, see abstract); and applying friction (friction cause by sliding of 37 and 36, figs. 4-5; Raouf) (frictionally held, see Col. 4 lines 26-33) to the housing through the friction block (37; Raouf) to stabilize a position of the lamp body (body of 12; Raouf) after adjusting the light emission angle of the lamp body (see abstract).
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Raouf (US 5,613,766) in view of Yu (US 2024/0255131) as applied to claim(s) 1 above, and further in view of Erdener et al. (US 2022/0252244) (hereinafter Erdener).
Claim 2: Raouf in view of Yu fails to teach an Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA) foam is disposed on a back side of the installation base.
Erdener teaches an Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA) foam (5925, fig. 59) (see table 6) is disposed on a back side of the installation base (base of 5913, fig. 59).
Therefore, in view Erdener, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add an Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA) foam is disposed on a back side of the installation base, in order to pad and seal the base.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 3, 5-9 and 12-13 is/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.
Claim 11 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art taken as a whole does not show nor suggest the back side of the radiator is further provided with one or more plug slots, each plug slot is embedded with a silicone rubber plug, and an end portion of each silicone rubber plug protrudes from each plug slot with respect to claim(s) 3, two sides of a lower side edge of the installation base are each provided with a connecting slot, and two connecting blocks, each corresponding to each connecting slot, are disposed on the housing with respect to claim(s) 5, the light source board comprises a first color-temperature light source and a second color-temperature light source with a higher color temperature than that of the first color-temperature light source, and a dimming switch is installed on a side inside the housing with respect to claim(s) 8, embedding a silicone rubber plug into a plug slot on the back side of the radiator, allowing an end portion of the silicone rubber plug to protrude from the plug slot; and applying additional friction to the housing through the end portion of the silicone rubber plug to further stabilize the position of the lamp body after adjusting the light emission angle of the lamp body with respect to claim(s) 11,fixing the installation base to an installation surface; engaging a connecting block of the housing with a connecting slot of the installation base to achieve positioning between the housing and the installation base; and installing the housing onto the installation base through engagement between a buckle connected to the housing and a locking block connected to the installation base with respect to claim(s) 12, providing a dimming switch inside the housing, wherein the dimming switch comprises a color temperature Dual In-line Package (DIP) switch and a power DIP switch; screwing a plug corresponding to the dimming switch onto the housing to cover the dimming switch; and unscrewing the plug and toggling the color temperature DIP switch, power DIP switch, or both when adjusting color temperature, power, or both with respect to claim(s) 13, as specifically called for in the claimed combinations.
Claim(s) 6-7 and 9 is/are dependent upon claim(s) 5 and 8 and is/are therefore allowable.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Gutierrez et al. (US 6,290,376), Cercone (US 9,310,037), Russello et al. (US 7,150,542), Tsao (US 2006/0034080) disclose a similar wall lamp.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZHENG B SONG whose telephone number is (571)272-9402. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday: 9AM - 5PM.
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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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/ZHENG SONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875