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 amendments
The preliminary amendment filed 11/06/2025 has been entered.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/06/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements has 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.
Claim(s) 1-7, 11, and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park (US 2010/0103651).
Regarding claim 1, Park discloses a light emitting diode, LED, module (25 and 27, Fig. 2) comprising a printed circuit board, PCB (111, Fig. 4), on which PCB at least one LED (113, Fig. 4, Paragraph 0028) is arranged, where:
the PCB comprises a first mechanical and electrical interface (convex part 117 with conductive sidewall, Fig. 4, Paragraph 0026, 0031) arranged at a first end of the PCB (side surface of 111, Fig. 4) and a second mechanical and electrical interface (concave part 127 with conductive sidewall, Fig. 4, Paragraph 0026, 0031) arranged at a second end of the PCB (side surface of 121, and of 151 at 155, Fig. 4 and 5),
the first mechanical and electrical interface comprises a convex edge (117, Fig. 4, specifically a press-fit convex part rather than a concentric rotatable edge of a defined curvature radius) of the first end of the PCB having a first curvature radius,
the second mechanical and electrical interface comprises, at the second end of the PCB, a concave edge (127, Fig. 4, specifically a press-fit concave part that receives 117) having at most the first curvature radius, the concave edge being configured to receive a convex edge of a first mechanical and electrical interface of another LED module (Paragraph 0026, 0029), and
said at least one LED is arranged in electrical connection with the first mechanical and electrical interface and in electrical connection with the second mechanical and electrical interface (113 and 123 tied through conductive layers on the wall surfaces of 117 and 127, Fig. 4, Paragraph 0028, 0031),
wherein the first mechanical and electrical interface comprises at least a first connection strip (one of 117, Fig. 4) extending from the first end of the PCB, and
the second mechanical and electrical interface comprises an arc-shaped slot (the void of one of 127 that corresponds to the one of 117 above, Fig. 4) in the PCB that is concentric with the concave edge of the second end of the PCB (Fig. 4), the arc-shaped slot having a curvature radius that is greater than the first curvature radius and configured to receive at least a first connection strip of said first mechanical and electrical interface of said another LED module (Paragraph 0029, Specifically the concave/convex shapes may be realized to coupled each other by press-fitting a convex part 127 into a concave part 117; the arc of 127 would need to be less than that of 117 in order for them to be press-fit together).
Regarding claim 2, Park discloses the first end of the PCB and the second end of the PCB are opposite ends of the PCB (Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 3, Park discloses the at least first connection strip comprises a resilient bulge fitting into the arc-shaped slot (Paragraph 0029).
Regarding claim 4, Park discloses the bulge is configured in the form of metal sheet material and shaped according to one of a flat bottom U shape, a U-shape, or an O-shape (Fig. 4, Paragraph 0027).
Regarding claim 5, Park discloses the at least first connection strip is an electrically conducting connection strip (Paragraphs 0027 and 0031),
the arc-shaped slot comprises at least a first electrical contact surface (Paragraph 0031),
the arc-shaped slot being configured to receive said at least first electrically conducting connection strip of said another LED module such that said at least first electrical contact surface connect with said at least first electrically conducting connection strip (Paragraph 0027-0031 and Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 6, Park discloses the convex edge of the first end of the PCB comprises at least a first convex electrical contact surface (one of 117, Fig. 4),
the concave edge of the second end of the PCB comprises at least a first concave electrical contact surface (one of 127 that corresponds to the one of 117, Fig. 4), where
said at least first convex electrical contact surface being configured to electrically connect with said at least first concave electrical contact surface of said another LED module (Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 7, Park discloses the convex edge of the first end of the PCB comprises a first convex electrical contact surface (the curved surface of 117, Fig. 4),
the concave edge of the second end of the PCB comprises a first concave electrical contact surface (the concave section of 127, Fig. 4),
said first convex electrical contact surface being configured to electrically connect with said first concave electrical contact surface of said another LED module (Paragraph 0031),
the at least first connection strip is an electrically conducting connection strip (Paragraph 0031),
the arc-shaped slot comprises a first electrical contact surface, the arc-shaped slot being configured to receive said first electrically conducting connection strip of said another LED module such that said first electrical contact surface connect with said first electrically conducting connection strip (fig. 4).
Regarding claim 11, Park discloses a system comprising a plurality of LED modules according to claim 1 (Fig. 4 and 5).
Regarding claim 12, Park discloses A luminaire (Figs. 3 and 4) comprising a system of LED modules according to claim 11.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-10 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.
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 all of the limitations of claim 8 as specifically called for the claimed combinations.
The closest prior art, Park (US 2010/0103651) teaches several limitations and their specifics as rejected in the office action above.
However Park fails to disclose a second connection strip extending from the first end of the pcb, where the first connection strip is arranged on the front side of the OCB and the second connection strip is arranged on a backside of the pcb the arc-shaped slot is configured to receive the second connection strip of said another LED module as required by the claim and there is no motivation absent the applicant' s own disclosure, to modify the Park reference in the manner required by the claims.
Relevant Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Watanabe (US 2010/0073931) teaches a pcb with LEDs being connected at its ends. Pearson et al. (US 2013/0272000) and Pearson et al. (US 2016/0298832) teach a lighting module connecting to other lighting modules. Cho et al. (US 7371071) teaches PCBs that are snapfit connected. Isoda teaches a protrusion and a recess connecting two lighting modules with connections.
Conclusion
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/ERIC T EIDE/ Examiner, Art Unit 2875
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