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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
Receipt is acknowledged of a request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) and a submission, filed on 05/12/2026.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) rejected 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.
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.
Claim 1 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.
Claim 1 recites “conductive heat dissipation layer” is electrically conductive or thermally conductive heat dissipation layer or both? As such the claim is unclear and indefinite.
Claims 1 and 15 reciting “the heating dissipation layer” lacks antecedent basis. It is unclear and indefinite if “the heating dissipation layer” is referring to the conductive heat dissipation layer”. As such the claim is unclear and indefinite.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 and 15-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Li et al. 20180203553.
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Regarding claim 1, fig. 5 of Li discloses a display module, wherein the display module comprises:
a display panel, having a display area (region of 14 below 13) and a peripheral area (region of 14 not below 13) located outside the display area;
a protective layer 10/31, disposed on a backlight 34 side of the display panel, wherein the protective layer 10/31 covers at least a part of the peripheral area and the display area; and
the protective layer comprises a conductive heat dissipation layer 31 (dissipates heat produced by electrostatic and conducting it to ground)), wherein the heat dissipation layer is grounded (to a GND line on the button FPC 41 – par [0037]);
a cover plate 33, disposed on a side of the display panel away from the protective layer; and
a conductive adhesive 32 (par [0031]), electrically connecting the cover plate 33 with the heat dissipation layer 31, to reduce charges accumulated on the cover plate ([0037] As illustrated in FIG. 5, when the display module products static electricity, the static electricity not only can be discharged along a path from the electrostatic conducting layer 31, to the conductive component 32, and to the terminal housing 33, but also can be discharged along a path from the electrostatic conducting layer 31, to a GND line on the button FPC 41, and to a GND line on the module FPC 35).
Regarding claim 15, fig. 5 of Li discloses wherein the cover plate has a body area (bottom 33) and a surrounding area (side 33) located outside the body area; the body area covers the display area, and the surrounding area covers the peripheral area, the conductive medium 32 is connected to the surrounding area; the conductive medium 32 connects the cover plate 33 and the heat dissipation layer 31 across an edge of the display panel from an outer side of the edge of the display panel (all elements are connected).
Regarding claim 16, fig. 5 of Li discloses wherein the surrounding area comprises a plurality of contact areas (left side, right side and top side) spaced apart along a circumferential direction of the body area, and the conductive medium 32 is connected to the contact areas.
Regarding claim 17, fig. 5 of Li discloses wherein an outer peripheral surface (outer surface of inside face) of the cover plate is surrounded by a plurality of side surfaces distributed in a circumferential direction (outer surface opposite the inside surface), and a junction between two adjacent side surfaces is a corner (see right angles are formed); any of the corners is located within one of the contact areas; the conductive medium connected to any of the contact areas covers the corner in the contact area (see 32 covers the corner area).
Conclusion
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/VONGSAVANH SENGDARA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2893
