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 . Claims 1, 5-8, and 10 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments, filed 16 June 2025, fail to comply with 37 CFR 1.111(b) because they amount to a general allegation, “x, y, and z do not teach”, that the claims define a patentable invention without specifically pointing out how the language of the claims patentably distinguishes them from the references. The statement “ref a in view of ref b and ref c does not teach Claim x (limitation of entire claim listed) constitutes a general allegation of patentability.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). It is customary in the display art to provide timing diagrams to indicate the relationship and interaction of claimed driving signals. The drawings submitted with the instant invention claim but do not illustrate the data signal and the synchronization signal. The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore the following claimed features:
the synchronization signal is a signal indicating an order of image data and
the screen control signal is activated upon receiving the synchronization signal indicating the first image data and deactivated upon receiving the synchronization signal indicating the last image data;
must be shown or the features canceled from the claims. No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
Claims 1 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shim (US 2021/0206266) in view of Lee (US 2023/0206860) and Jin (KR 20210144400). All reference is to Shim unless otherwise indicated.
Regarding Claims 1 and 8 (Currently Amended), Shim teaches a display device and a method of operating a display device, comprising:
a casing [fig. 16 @500] having an opening [fig. 16 @unlabeled gap allowing extension of 200 out of 500];
a display unit [fig. 16 @200] configured to be inserted into and withdrawn from the casing through the opening [¶0249];
a display mover [¶0262, “The driving gear 610 is coupled to the inner side of the first frame 500 so as to be rotatable about the rotary shaft S3 thereof, and meshes with the first gear 310 of the second frame 300 so as to be rotated together therewith”] connected to the display unit [¶0246, “The portion of the flexible display 200 that is coupled to the second frame 300 moves together with the second frame 300. The overall shape of the flexible display 200 changes in response to the second frame 300 moving with respect to the first frame 500] and configured to move the display unit;
and a controller configured to transfer a signal to the display mover and the display unit [¶0019, “the controller may be configured to control the flexible display to increase the size of the screen area to a preset size or greater based on the driving state corresponding to a parking state”], wherein
the display unit moves according to a mode [¶0034, “the driving state of the vehicle is sensed by the sensor, and the screen area of the flexible display may be adjusted by the controller based on the sensed driving state of the vehicle”, driving state is construed equivalent to driving mode, ¶0035, “when it is sensed that the vehicle is in a parking mode, the screen area of the flexible display may be increased to a preset area”], so that an area exposed to an outside of the casing differs according to the mode [¶0148, “As described above, in the vehicle display device 102, the driving state of the vehicle 10 is sensed by the sensor 140, and the screen area of the flexible display 200 is adjusted by the controller 180 based on the sensed driving state of the vehicle 10. Accordingly, the screen area of the flexible display 200 may be optimally controlled so as to be changed corresponding to the driving state of the vehicle 10, ¶0150, “as shown in FIG. 5, when the parking mode is sensed in the state in which the screen area of the flexible display 200 is smallest, the screen area of the flexible display 200 may be increased so that various pieces of information related to parking are displayed, as shown in FIG. 6”]
Shim does not teach the display unit includes a display driver configured to control a plurality of horizontal pixel lines included in a display, the controller transfers a screen control signal to the display driver, and the display driver controls image output of the horizontal pixel lines based on the screen control signal, wherein: the screen control signal includes an active period and an inactive period, the display driver applies a voltage to a horizontal pixel line based on the screen control signal of an active state, and a starting point and a duration of the active period differ according to the mode, and wherein: the active period or the inactive period of the screen control signal is based on a synchronization signal, and the synchronization signal is a signal indicating an order of image data, such that the screen control signal is activated upon receiving the synchronization signal indicating the first image data and deactivated upon receiving the synchronization signal indicating the last image data
Lee teaches a display driver [fig. 4 @320] configured to control [¶0064, “the control signal generator 320 may generate the gate control signal GCS based on information about a target gate line set by the operation mode setting unit 310 when the display apparatus 100 operates in the hybrid mode”] a plurality of horizontal pixel lines [fig. 5A @500a-500n] included in a display [fig. 5A @10],
a controller [fig. 4 @310] transfers a screen control signal [fig. 4 @MS] to the display driver [fig. 4 @320], and
the display driver controls [¶0058, “The operation mode setting unit 310 may determine an operation mode of the display apparatus 100 based on a vehicle driving-related signal CDS, a display panel elevation signal DMS”] image output of the horizontal pixel lines based on the screen control signal [¶0083, “In driving of the hybrid mode, the gate driving circuit 13 may generate a gate pulse for displaying of an image on the first display area 10a based on the gate control signal GCS to sequentially supply the generated gate pulse to the first gate lines included in the first display area 10a”]
Before the application was filed it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the concept of driving specific pixel rows based on a control signal, as taught by Lee, into the display device, taught by Shim, in order to control the active area of a display based on a received display mode control signal
Shim in view of Lee does not teach the screen control signal includes an active period and an inactive period, the display driver applies a voltage to a horizontal pixel line based on the screen control signal of an active state, and a starting point and a duration of the active period differ according to the mode, and wherein: the active period or the inactive period of the screen control signal is based on a synchronization signal, and the synchronization signal is a signal indicating an order of image data, such that the screen control signal is activated upon receiving the synchronization signal indicating the first image data and deactivated upon receiving the synchronization signal indicating the last image data
Jin teaches a screen control signal [figs. 22-27 @SW1] includes an active period [fig. 22 @SW1 (low)] and an inactive period [fig. 22 @SW1 (High)],
the display driver applies a voltage to a horizontal pixel line based on the screen control signal of an active state [¶0114, “as shown in FIG. 22 , the pixel data of the first image is sequentially written in the first to k-th pixel lines of the first area A to display the first image, and the second and third areas (B, C) displays black color or retains the previous image”], and
a starting point [fig. 4 @SW1 transition low] and a duration of the active period [fig. 4 @SW1 duration of SW1=low] differ according to the mode [fig. 22 illustrates display mode 1 with associated SW1 control signal, fig. 23 illustrates display mode 3, figs. 22 and 23 illustrates claimed differences in SW1 for mode 1 and mode 2],
and the active period [fig. 22 SW1 (low)] or the inactive period [alternate limitation not addressed] of the screen control signal [fig. 22 @SW1] is based [¶0114 and fig. 22 teach receipt of VST triggers S1] on a synchronization signal [¶0078, “The timing signal of the gate driver may include a start pulse VST”], and
the synchronization signal [fig. 22 @VST] is a signal indicating an order [first order or first driven] of image data [¶0134, “The third control signal SW3 is synchronized with the start pulse VST to indicate the position of the start line of each of the regions A and B”, ¶0140, “The first control unit 321 generates a control signal indicating a start line position and an end line position of the active region according to the input data SDATA” ],
such that the screen control signal [figs. 22-27 @SW1] is activated [fig. 23 @S1 (low)] upon receiving the synchronization signal [fig. 23 @SW3/VST (low)] indicating the first image data [¶0140 teaches a control signal is generated indicating a start and stop line position based in the input data the synchronization signal is construed as the control signal indicating the first image data (SW3/VST) and the last image data (SW2)] and
deactivated [fig. 23 @SW1 (high)] upon receiving the synchronization signal indicating the last image data [fig. 23 @SW2 (low)]
Before the application was filed it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the concept of a display control signal that marks the start driving row location and also marks the stop driving pixel row location, as taught by Jin, into the display device, taught by Shim in view of Lee, in order to control the display area used for displaying images according to the display mode
Regarding Claim 5 (Currently Amended), Shim in view of Lee and Jin teaches the display device of Claim 1, wherein
the active period of the screen control signal is started based on the synchronization signal [Jin: ¶0134, “The third control signal SW3 is synchronized with the start pulse VST to indicate the position of the start line of each of the regions A and B”].
Regarding Claim 6 (Currently Amended), Shim in view of Lee and Jin teaches the display device of Claim 1, wherein
the duration of the active period [Jin: figs. 22 and 23 @S1 is low] of the screen control signal differs based on the mode [Jin: fig. 23 mode 2 active period is longer than fig. 22 mode 1 active period] and
is calculated based on a scan rate [Jin: ¶0078-¶0079]
Regarding Claim 7 (Currently Amended), Shim in view of Lee and Jin teaches the display device of Claim 1, wherein:
the active period and the inactive period of the screen control signal are repeated over time [Jin: fig. 31 illustrates SW1(low) repeating],
the active period is calculated based on a scan rate [Jin: ¶0078-¶0079], n, represented in Hertz [Jin: fig. 31 illustrates first and second active periods based on first and second scan rates], and
the screen control signal has a different ratio of the duration of the active period to a duration of the inactive period in one cycle according to the mode [Jin: fig. 22 illustrates one cycle of active and inactive period in display mode 1, fig. 23 illustrates one cycle of active and inactive period in display mode 2. The ratio of active period to inactive period in display mode 2 (fig. 23) is greater than the ratio in display mode 1 (fig. 22)].
Regarding Claim 10 (Currently Amended), Shim in view of Lee and Jin teaches the method of Claim 8, further comprising
moving the display unit based on the movement control signal by the display mover [¶0019, “the controller may be configured to control the flexible display to increase the size of the screen area to a preset size or greater based on the driving state corresponding to a parking state”], wherein the moving the display unit comprises:
determining a position of the display unit based on a value measured by a sensor [Jin: ¶0126 teaches determining screen position based on number of motor rotations],
driving a motor based on the movement control signal [Jin: ¶0127, “The host system may switch to the partial mode according to the content of the input image or a user command. When a TV signal is received or the user selects a TV mode, the host system drives a motor to automatically adjust the aspect ratio (x:y) of the TV mode to 16:9 as shown in FIG. 29B . In the TV mode, the active area 100A may be 56.25% of the entire screen”], and
determining whether the display unit is moved according to the movement control signal based on the value measured by the sensor [Jin: ¶0126, “the host system may determine the size and movement position of the active region 100A by count.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Douglas Wilson whose telephone number is (571)272-5640. The examiner can normally be reached 1000-1700 EST. 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, Patrick Edouard can be reached at 571-272-7603. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Douglas Wilson/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2622