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 .
Preliminary Amendment
Preliminary amendment of disclosure filed on 12/11/2025 has been entered. Accordingly, the amended Claims is being considered by the examiner.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in Austria (EP) on 12/17/2024. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the Austrian application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Abstract
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because it exceeds 150 words and contains a number of minor informalities such as missing articles, usage of figure references, syntactical issues, and the like. The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words. It is important that the abstract not exceed 150 words in length since the space provided for the abstract on the computer tape used by the printer is limited. The form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as "means" and "said," should be avoided. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details. The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, "The disclosure concerns," "The disclosure defined by this invention," "The disclosure describes," etc. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
Claim Objections
Claims 1-14 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Figure numbers and/or references thereto are utilized throughout these claims. As it is apparent that the invention can be defined in words, it is requested that such figure numbers be removed. Incorporation by reference to a specific figure or table “is permitted only in exceptional circumstances where there is no practical way to define the invention in words and where it is more concise to incorporate by reference than duplicating a drawing or table into the claim. Incorporation by reference is a necessity doctrine, not for applicant’s convenience.” Ex parte Fressola, 27 USPQ2d 1608, 1609 (Bd. Pat. App. & Inter. 1993), MPEP 2173.05(s).
Inconsistent article and plurality language is noted throughout the claims. “A primary optics”, “the primary optics comprises”, and the like. Please review the claims for proper articles and plurals.
Awkward phrasing is noted throughout the claims along with “characterized in that” language in Claim 1, suggesting the claims are a machine translation from the Austrian document. Please review all claims for appropriate phrasing, word choice, and the like.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being incomplete for omitting essential elements, such omission amounting to a gap between the elements. See MPEP § 2172.01. The omitted elements are: at least three light segments, at least three light sources, at least three light forming devices, and at least two homogenization sections. In light of the spec, and as claimed, also noting the presence of the figure elements, the final light distribution requires LS1, LS2, and LS3 with HS1 and HS2 overlapping accordingly. In order to create such a claimed distribution, all of the abovementioned elements would appear to be required. The claims are interpreted as to have all elements considered omitted above.
Claims 1-14 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.
Regarding Claim 1, it is unclear how “directly adjacent light segments (LS1, LS2, LS3) adjoin each other in an overlapping manner in a boundary area”. More specifically it would appear the phrase “adjoining in an overlapping manner” is an oxymoron. As best understood, the light segments do NOT overlap, rather the homogenization segments overlap the light segments. The remaining claims 2-14 rendered indefinite due to their dependency.
Regarding claim 10, the use of the expression “preferably” in line five renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the structural limitation following the expression is part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-14 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the objections and 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art of record, including that which is listed on the attached PTO-892, namely Furubayashi et al. (US 2019/0351814), Mateju (US 2019/0170990), Yamamoto (US 2017/0241605), Fukui et al. (US 2016/0334074), and Buchhauser et al. (US 2015/0260374), while either alone or in combination teaching as best understood, primary optic for a vehicular headlamp including plural light segments, plural light sources, plural light forming devices, plural homogenization sections, and overlapping homogenization segments, fails to disclose or render obvious in particular each light forming device corresponds to a respective light segment of the segmented light distribution, the light segments in the segmented light distribution are arranged next to each other in such a way that directly adjacent light segments adjoin each other in a non-overlapping manner in a boundary area, the homogenization sections configured to direct part of the light coupled into the respective light forming device to the boundary area of the light segments of the segmented light distribution in the form of homogenization segments, in order to generate a homogenous segmented light distribution as called for in the claimed combination of independent Claim 1.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEXANDER K GARLEN whose telephone number is (571)272-3599. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00-5:00 PM.
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.
/ALEXANDER K GARLEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875
Prosecution Insights