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
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 04/27/2026 has been entered.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 21, 22, 24, 26-34 and 37-40 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yuen (US 2018/0164749, previously cited) in view of Shulman et al. (US 4,545,648).
Regarding claim 21, Yuen teaches a display device (160, fig. 2A and [0063]) comprising a display panel (162, fig. 2C, [0064] and [0078]) and an electroluminescent light source ([0078]), wherein the display panel comprises a first surface (front surface of the 162) which is a front surface and a display surface (162a), a second surface which is a back surface (back surface of the 162), and a panel body (162, [0078]) intermediate the first surface and the second surface; wherein the electroluminescent light source is configured to provide back illumination by projecting light towards the back surface, and the light is to form a visible image and/or an information display on the display surface after passing through the panel body (fig. 1A, [0064], [0065] and [0078]-[0084]).
Yuen surface fails to teach wherein the display surface is an opaque and nacreous and/or iridescent surface.
However, Shulman teaches display surface (22) is an opaque and nacreous and/or iridescent surface (24, fig. 2; col. 5, line 60 to col. 6, line 7 and col. 6, line 66 to col. 7, line 4).
In view of Shulman’s teaching, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Yuen by incorporating the teaching as taught by Shulman so as to enhance display viewability (see the abstract and col. 2, lines 43-66).
Regarding claim 22, Yuen as modified by Shulman teaches all subject matter claimed as applied above. Shulman further teaches wherein the panel body comprises a nacre or nacreous intermediate layer (the back surface of rear layer 22 coated with nacreous pigment), and the display surface is an integral part of the nacre or nacreous layer (fig. 2 and col. 5, line 60 to col. 6, line 7 and col. 6, line 66 to col. 7, line 4). Regarding claim 24, Yuen as modified by Shulman teaches all subject matter claimed as applied above. Yuen further teaches wherein the panel body is opaque under normal ambient room illumination or under mild or diffused sunlight illumination condition (fig. 4, [0096], black (opaque), [0111]).
Regarding claim 26, Yuen as modified by Shulman teaches all subject matter claimed as applied above. Yuen further teaches wherein the display panel has a thickness of between 0.4 mm and 0.5mm ([0113] and [0114]).
Regarding claim 27, Yuen as modified by Shulman teaches all subject matter claimed as applied above. Yuen further teaches wherein the display device is configured as a dial surface of an analogue watch and is operable in a digital mode, and wherein the electroluminescent light source is configured as a pattern generator is to generate a visible pattern and/or information messages on the display surface as a display screen by back illumination for user reading when in the digital mode (fig. 1A, [0064]-[0065] and [0078]-[0084]).
Regarding claim 28, Yuen as modified by Shulman teaches all subject matter claimed as applied above. Yuen further teaches wherein the pattern generator is configured to generate a light emitting pattern having a resolution of higher than 100 pixels per inch or higher than 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 pixels per centimeter ([0082]).
Regarding claim 29, Yuen as modified by Shulman teaches all subject matter claimed as applied above. Yuen further teaches wherein the visible image is casted on the display surface by the electroluminescent light source and is readable by a user with naked eyes under mild or diffused sunlight illumination conditions (figs. 3A-3D).
Regarding claim 30, Yuen as modified by Shulman teaches all subject matter claimed as applied above. Yuen further teaches wherein the visible image has a luminance level of between 20 lux and 45 lux ([0108]).
Regarding claim 31, Yuen as modified by Shulman teaches all subject matter claimed as applied above. Yuen further teaches wherein the panel body is heavily light attenuating and the light is heavily attenuated after traversing through the panel body ([0095]-[0098]).
Regarding claim 32, Yuen teaches an electronic apparatus (timepiece, fig. 1A) comprising a display device (160, fig. 2A and [0063]) comprising a display panel (162, fig. 2C, [0064] and [0078]) and an electroluminescent light source ([0078]), wherein the display panel comprises a first surface (front surface of the 162) which is a front surface and a display surface (162a), a second surface which is a back surface (back surface of the 162), and a panel body (162) intermediate the first surface and the second surface; wherein the electroluminescent light source is configured to provide back illumination by projecting light towards the back surface, and the light is to form a visible image and/or an information display on the display surface after passing through the panel body (fig. 1A, [0064], [0065] and [0078]-[0084]).
Yuen surface fails to teach wherein the display surface is an opaque and nacreous and/or iridescent surface.
However, Shulman teaches display surface (22) is an opaque and nacreous and/or iridescent surface (24, fig. 2; col. 5, line 60 to col. 6, line 7 and col. 6, line 66 to col. 7, line 4).
In view of Shulman’s teaching, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Yuen by incorporating the teaching as taught by Shulman so as to enhance display viewability (see the abstract and col. 2, lines 43-66).
Regarding claim 33, Yuen as modified by Shulman teaches all subject matter claimed as applied above. Yuen further teaches wherein the panel body is heavily light attenuating and the light is heavily attenuated after traversing through the panel body ([0095]-[0098]).
Regarding claim 34, Yuen as modified by Shulman teaches all subject matter claimed as applied above. Shulman further teaches wherein the panel body comprises a nacre or nacreous intermediate layer (the back surface of rear layer 22 coated with nacreous pigment), and the display surface is an integral part of the nacre or nacreous layer (fig. 2 and col. 5, line 60 to col. 6, line 7 and col. 6, line 66 to col. 7, line 4).
Regarding claim 37, Yuen as modified by Shulman teaches all subject matter claimed as applied above. Yuen further teaches wherein the panel body is opaque under normal ambient room illumination or under mild or diffused sunlight illumination condition (fig. 4, [0096], black (opaque), [0111]).
Regarding claim 38, Yuen as modified by Shulman teaches all subject matter claimed as applied above. Yuen further teaches wherein the visible image and/or an information display on the display surface is luminescent and has a has a luminance level of between 20 lux and 45 lux on the display surface ([0108]).
Regarding claim 39, Yuen as modified by Shulman teaches all subject matter claimed as applied above. Yuen further teaches wherein the display panel is configured to conceal what is underneath during normal use when the electroluminescent light source is turned on or turned off ([0089], [0090], [0100] and [0115]).
Regarding claim 40, Yuen as modified by Shulman teaches all subject matter claimed as applied above. Yuen further teaches wherein the apparatus is a smart analogue watch having moving arms and a dial surface which conceals digital capability of the smart watch until operating in a digital mode (fig. 1A and [0015]).
Claim(s) 23, 25 and 36 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yuen as modified by Shulman as applied to claim 21 above, and further in view of Kaku (WO 2018/088217A, previously cited).
Regarding claims 23, 25 and 36, Yuen as modified by Shulman teaches all subject matter claimed as applied above except for wherein the intermediate layer is polished iridescent nacreous layer of a mollusk shell or the panel body comprises an intermediate layer comprising:- hexagonal platelets of crystalized calcium carbonate of 10pm - 20pm wide,- platelets of crystalized calcium carbonate of 0.4 pm - 0.6 pm thick,- platelets of aragonite,- porcelain,- ceramics, or - China.
However, Kaku teaches an electronic apparatus comprising display device (timepiece) having an intermediate layer is polished iridescent nacreous layer of a mollusk shell or a panel body comprises an intermediate layer comprising: :- hexagonal platelets of crystalized calcium carbonate of 10pm - 20pm wide,- platelets of crystalized calcium carbonate of 0.4 pm - 0.6 pm thick,- platelets of aragonite,- porcelain,- ceramics, or - China (page 10, paragraph 7).
In view of Kaku’s teaching, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary
skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the
combination of Yuen and Shulman by incorporating the teaching as taught by Kaku since it is just a matter of selecting an alternative material for the intermediate layer.
Claim(s) 35 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yuen as modified by Shulman as applied to claim 34 above, and further in view of Francois et al. (US 2021/0088973, previously cited).
Regarding claim 35, Yuen as modified by Shulman teaches all subject matter claimed as applied above except for the thickness of the nacre layer as claimed. However, Shulman further teaches the thickness of the nacreous layer can be varied (col. 4, lines 50-56). Moreover, Francois teaches display body (fig. 2) having a nacreous layer (3) and wherein the nacre layer is a nacre foil having a thickness between 50µm and 0.1mm ([0027]).
In view of Francois’s teaching, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Yuen and Shulman by incorporating the teaching as taught by Francois since it is just a matter of design option for selecting an alternative thickness for the nacreous layer.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see remarks, filed 04/27/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 21-40 under 35 U.S.C 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Yuen, Shulman, Francois and Kaku.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Tuyen Kim Vo whose telephone number is (571)270-1657. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thurs: 8AM-6:30PM.
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/TUYEN K VO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
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