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 10/21/25 and 5/27/26 have been considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1-5, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kwon [US 2021/0362644].
As to claim 1, Kwon discloses a vehicle light source device [10, figure 1] comprising: a plurality of light sources [110, 120, 130] arranged in two rows and n columns, wherein n is a natural number of 4 or greater [see figure 1], the plurality of light sources including: a plurality of first light sources [120] arranged in a row direction in a first row [see figure 1], and a plurality of second light sources [110] arranged in the row direction in a second row [see figure 1], each of the second light sources comprising a second light emitting element [110a, figure 2b] and a second light transmissive member arranged on the second light emitting element [160, figure 2b]; wherein: the vehicle light source device is configured to irradiate, by individually driving the plurality of the first light sources and the plurality of the second light sources, a light distribution pattern onto an irradiation region of the vehicle light source device such that the light distribution pattern includes a cut-off line in at least a part of the irradiation region [see paragraph 58], the at least the part of the irradiation region being between (i) a group of positions corresponding to the plurality of the first light sources and (ii) a group of positions corresponding to the plurality of the second light sources [see figure 6]; and in a column direction, a length of each of the second light sources is greater than a length of each of the first light sources [see figure 1, paragraph 44].
Kwon fails to explicitly disclose each of the first light sources comprising a first light emitting element and a first light transmissive member arranged on the first light emitting element. Kwon teaches the combination of light emitting element and light transmissive member was well known for the light sources in the array [see 110a, 160, figure 2b]. It would have been obvious to implement such covers and light sources for all light sources as taught by Kwon, in order to provide light with coloring as desired [note 160 is a fluorescent layer, see paragraph 226].
As to claim 2, Kwon discloses the vehicle light source device according to claim 1, wherein: in the column direction, a length of each second light transmissive member that is greater than a length of each first light transmissive member [see figure 1].
As to claim 3, Kwon discloses the vehicle light source device according to claim 2, wherein: in the column direction, a length of each second light emitting element is greater than a length of each first light emitting element [see figure 1, 2a, 2b].
As to claim 4, Kwon discloses the vehicle light source device according to claim 1, further comprising: a light shielding member holding the plurality of light sources collectively [2230, figure 16].
As to claim 5, Kwon discloses the vehicle light source device according to claim 1, wherein: the first light transmissive member contains a first phosphor, and the second light transmissive member contains a second phosphor [see paragraph 47].
As to claim 19, Kwon discloses a vehicle lighting fixture comprising: the vehicle light source device of claim 1; and a lens configured to transmit light emitted from the vehicle light source device [2250, figure 16].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-18 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: as to claim 6 and 7, the claims recite the details wherein: the first light transmissive member comprises a first phosphor part containing the first phosphor, and a first light transmissive part arranged on the first phosphor part and not containing the first phosphor, and the second light transmissive member comprises a second phosphor part containing the second phosphor, and a second light transmissive part arranged on the second phosphor part and not containing the second phosphor.
As to claim 8, the claims recite the details wherein: of intervals between the light sources adjacent in the row direction, an interval between light sources located on an end side is greater than an interval between light sources located on an inner side.
As to claims 9 and 10, the claims recite the details wherein: the plurality of the first light sources include: a plurality of lower first light sources configured to irradiate light onto a region vertically below the cut-off line in the irradiation region of the vehicle light source device, and a plurality of upper first light sources configured to irradiate light onto a region vertically above the cut-off line in the irradiation region of the vehicle light source device.
As to claims 11-13, the claims recite the details wherein: an aspect ratio of at least one of the plurality of second light sources has is different from an aspect ratio of others of the plurality of second light sources, each respective aspect ratio being a ratio of a length in the column direction to a length in the row direction.
As to claims 14 and 15, the claims recite the details wherein: in the row direction: among the plurality of first light sources, an area of light emitting surfaces of first light sources located on an inner side is smaller than an area of light emitting surfaces of first light sources located on outer sides; and among the plurality of second light sources, an area of light emitting surfaces of second light sources located on the inner side is smaller than an area of light emitting surfaces of the second light sources located on the outer sides.
As to claims 16-18, the claims recite the details wherein: an upper surface of the first light transmissive member includes a first upper surface region adjacent to the second light source and a second upper surface region located on a side of the first upper surface region opposite to the second light source, and the first light source further comprises a light reflecting member disposed in the second upper surface region.
The prior art of record fails to teach or disclose the details as recited in combination with other claimed elements and limitations.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Muthular, Mochizuki, Motohashi, Lee, Lee, Ohno, Courcier, Hikmet, Tsutsumi [see PTO-892] all recite the details of light sources with similar configurations to those claimed by applicant.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRYON GYLLSTROM whose telephone number is (571)270-1498. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30-6.
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 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.
/BRYON T GYLLSTROM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875
Prosecution Insights