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 § 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, 3-4, 6, 8-9, 13-14, and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marroncelli et al. (US 2020/0292141 Hereinafter Marroncelli).
Regarding claim 1, Marroncelli discloses an illumination device for illuminating an object comprising:
a first illumination source (110, Fig. 6) comprising a length of material (the circuit board inside of 110, Fig. 10) and one or more lights (250, Fig. 10 and 11) configured to illuminate the length of the material;
one or more mounting brackets (190, Figs. 12A-C) configured to be coupled to a surface of the object (105 and 262, Paragraph 0050, 0061);
a control module (125, Fig. 4) including a power source and an electrical circuit (Fig. 4), wherein the electrical circuit is configured to electrically couple the power source to the first illumination source lights based on operation of a switch (220, Paragraph 0056) in the electrical circuit (Paragraph 0056);
a control module mounting bracket (150, Paragraph 0050) configured to be coupled to a surface of the object (Paragraph 0050), wherein the control module is attached to the control module mounting bracket (Fig. 6);
a first wire (120, Fig. 6) from the control module connected to the first illumination source (Fig. 6);
wherein a first end of the first illumination source is coupled to the surface of the object with a terminal bracket (340 towards the bottom, Fig. 7) of the one or more mounting brackets (Fig. 7), and a second end of the first illumination source is coupled to the surface of the object with an initiating bracket (340 towards the top, Fig. 7) of the one or more mounting brackets (Fig. 7).
Marroncelli fails to teach a first and second surface of the object and wherein the control module is selectively attachable to the control module mounting bracket to selectively secure the control module to the second surface.
The Examiner takes official notice in pointing out that it would be well within one of ordinary skill in the art to have the control module and control module mounting bracket to be selectively secured to the second surface and to have the first illumination source coupled to the first surface of the object. Specifically, it would be obvious that the backpack could be removed and simply attached to any common surface that is desired to be illuminated for a given need.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date to have the first illumination source coupled to a first surface of an object and to have the control module mounting bracket and control module secured to a second surface, in order to reduce the need for a backpack and to allow the device to be connected to other elements thereby reducing additional elements.
Regarding claim 3, Marroncelli discloses a second illumination source (115, Fig. 7) comprising a second length of material (the circuit board inside of 115, Fig. 9) and one or more second lights (250, Fig. 11 in view of Fig. 9) configured to illuminate the second length of the material, wherein the electrical circuit is configured to electrically couple the power source to the second illumination source based on operation of the switch (Paragraph 0050), and
a second wire (the branch of 120 which is directly connected to 115) from the control module connected to the second illumination source (Fig. 7).
Regarding claim 4, Marroncelli discloses the one or more mounting brackets include a second initiating bracket (340 towards the top, Figs. 7 that holds 1150) and a second terminal bracket (340 towards the bottom, Figs. 7 that holds 115),
a first end of the second illumination source is coupled to the surface of the object with the second terminal bracket (Fig. 7), and
a second end of the second illumination source is coupled to the surface of the object with the second initiating bracket (Fig. 7).
Regarding claim 6, Marroncelli discloses the one or more mounting brackets include one or more holes (192, Fig. 12A) configured to receive a fastener therethrough and couple the one or more mounting brackets to the surface of the object (Paragraph 0061).
Regarding claim 8, Marroncelli discloses the one or more lights and the length of material are encapsulated in a light permeable, waterproof tube (Fig. 12D shows the light sources in a transparent flexible tube and Paragraph 0053 teaches waterproof).
Regarding claim 9, Marroncelli discloses the first illumination source is an illuminating optical fiber configured to diffuse light from the one or more lights along the length of the illuminating optical fiber (Fig. 12D, specifically some of the light would be diffused due to the index of refraction).
Regarding claim 13, Marroncelli discloses the power source includes one or more batteries (305, Paragraph 0054) disposed within a battery holder (105, Paragraph 0054) of the control module.
Regarding claim 14, Marroncelli discloses the control module comprises a port (175B, Fig. 6, Paragraph 0066) extending from an outside surface of the control module to an internal portion of the control module, the port configured to electrically couple the first wire to the control module (Fig. 6).
Regarding claim 16, Marroncelli teaches the terminal bracket and the initiating bracket each include a first channel (the left groove shown in Fig. 12A) for receiving and retaining the first illumination source and wherein the initiating bracket further includes a second channel (the groove on the right, Fig. 12A) configured to retain the first wire to thereby electrically connect the control module to the first illumination source, and
wherein the one or more mounting brackets include an intermediate bracket positionable between the initiating bracket and the terminal bracket on the first surface of the object, the intermediate bracket including a third channel extending along an entire length of the intermediate bracket such that the first illumination source is extendable between the first surface and the intermediate bracket (340, specifically there are not only the two shown it’s a plurality of the brackets).
Claim(s) 2 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marroncelli et al. (US 2020/0292141 Hereinafter Marroncelli) in view of Sutherland (US 2016/0120008).
Regarding claim 2, Marroncelli fails to explicitly teach an intermediate bracket.
Sutherland teaches the one or more mounting brackets include an intermediate bracket (the second 38 on the left side, Fig. 1), and the first illumination source (34 and 36, Fig. 1) is coupled to the surface of the object (wall or the like, Paragraph 0017) with the intermediate bracket of the one or more mounting brackets between the first end and the second end of the first illumination source (Fig. 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date to have included having intermediate brackets of Marroncelli as taught by Sutherland, in order to allow for different shapes of the lighting devices and to provide a desired light distribution.
Regarding claim 5, Marroncelli fails to explicitly teach an intermediate bracket.
Sutherland teaches the one or more mounting brackets include an intermediate bracket (the second 38 on the left side, Fig. 1), and the second illumination source (34 and 36, Fig. 1) is coupled to the surface of the object (wall or the like, Paragraph 0017) with the intermediate bracket of the one or more mounting brackets between the first end and the second end of the second illumination source (Fig. 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date to have included having intermediate brackets of Marroncelli as taught by Sutherland, in order to allow for different shapes of the lighting devices and to provide a desired light distribution.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marroncelli et al. (US 2020/0292141 Hereinafter Marroncelli) in view of Flaherty et al. (US 2015/0159844 Hereinafter Flaherty).
Regarding claim 7, Marroncelli fails to teach an adhesive material.
Flaherty teaches an adhesive material (adhesive, Paragraph 0024), wherein the adhesive material is configured to couple the one or more mounting brackets (14, Fig. 1, Paragraph 0024) to the surface of the object (house, Fig. 1, Paragraph 0024).
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marroncelli et al. (US 2020/0292141 Hereinafter Marroncelli) in view of Ortwein et al. (US 2010/0118557 Hereinafter Ortwein).
Regarding claim 10, Marroncelli fails to teach the object is at least one of a kayak, a canoe, a boat, a golf cart, or an all-terrain vehicle.
Ortwein teaches the object (50, Fig. 1, Paragraph 0039) is at least one of a kayak, a canoe, a boat, a golf cart, or an all-terrain vehicle.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date to have included adding the lights of Marroncelli to a boat as taught by Ortwein, in order to provide illumination on the boat as required for a given application.
Claim(s) 11 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marroncelli et al. (US 2020/0292141 Hereinafter Marroncelli) in view of Wells (US 2020/0032972)
Regarding claim 11, Marroncelli fails to teach the required specifics of a control module of the current claim.
Wells teaches the control module comprises a top portion (the top section of 400 shown in Fig. 4A), a bottom portion (the bottom portion shown in Fig. 4A) coupled to the top portion, and a sealing ring positioned between the top portion and bottom portion and configured to form a watertight enclosure when the top portion is coupled to the bottom portion (Paragraph 0048).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date to have included having the housing of Marroncelli be made as taught by Wells, in order to provide an explicitly teaching for a housing as required for a given application.
Regarding claim 12, Marroncelli fails to teach a pliable insert (404e, Paragraph 0050) insertable into the top portion and configured to enable waterproof interaction with the switch.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date to have included having the switches of Marroncelli being a pliable insert switch as taught by Wells, in order to allow for the waterproofing of the watertight enclosure as needed for a given application.
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marroncelli et al. (US 2020/0292141 Hereinafter Marroncelli) in view of Chang (US 2009/0303734).
Regarding claim 15, Marroncelli teaches the control module mounting bracket includes a first side (bottom side of 150, Fig. 6) attachable to a surface (the backpack, Fig. 6), a second side (everything above 150, Fig. 6) opposite the first side, and first and second arms extending from the second side (Fig. 6), wherein the control module is receivable between the first and second arms and releasably secureable (Paragraph 0043) via a connection.
Marroncelli fails to teach second surface and a clip-fit connection.
Examiner takes official noticing in pointing out that the first and second surfaces of an object other than the backpack of Marroncelli would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art.
Chang teaches a clip-fit connection (Paragraph 0008).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date to have included having the connection of Marroncelli being a clip-fit connection as taught by Chang, in order to provide a specific connection method which is well known in the art.
Claim(s) 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marroncelli et al. (US 2020/0292141 Hereinafter Marroncelli) in view of Dickie (US 2023/0332765).
Regarding claim 17, Marroncelli discloses a first illumination source (110, Fig. 6) comprising a length of material (the circuit board inside of 110, Fig. 10) and one or more lights (250, Fig. 10 and 11) configured to illuminate the length of the material;
a control module (125, Fig. 4) including a power source and an electrical circuit (Fig. 4), wherein the electrical circuit is configured to electrically couple the power source to the first illumination source based on operation of a switch (220, Paragraph 0056) in the electrical circuit (Paragraph 0056);
a control module mounting bracket (150, Paragraph 0050) configured to be coupled to an object (Paragraph 0050), wherein the control module is selectively attachable to the control module mounting bracket (Fig. 6);
a first wire (120, Fig. 6) electrically connecting the control module to the first illumination source (Fig. 6); and
one or more mounting brackets (340 towards the bottom, Fig. 7) coupleable to the object, wherein a first portion of the length of material is extendable between and secureable to the one or more mounting brackets (Fig. 7).
Marroncelli fails to teach a spool.
Dickie teaches a spool (20, Fig. 1) configured to retain the length of material (30, Fig. 1, Paragraph 0026);
wherein the spool is configured to pay out or collect slack in the first illumination device to selectively increase or decrease a length of the first portion (Fig. 1, Paragraph 0026).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date to have included the teaching of having the spool of Dickie added to the lighting rope of Marroncelli, in order to allow for a visually appealing spool to wrap the additional lighting around and to provide storage as needed.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-17 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/ERIC T EIDE/ Examiner, Art Unit 2875
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