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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species I, Figs 1-5, Claims 1-6, 9-12, 16-17 in the reply filed on 12/23/2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 6, 17 are further withdrawn for being drawn to other species. Claim 6 is opposite from claim 3, and claim 17 is drawn to non-elected fig 6.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in China on 3/14/2022.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the included angle of claims 3-5 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). 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 § 112
The following is a quotation of the second paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112:
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 3 is 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention. Claim 3 recites ‘an included angle between the front face and the rear face of the first body portion ranges from 0.5o to 2o’, which is unclear since an included angle is the angle formed where two sides of an object meet. Figs 1, 3, 5 do not show the front face and rear faces meeting at a point that forms an angle. Figs 1, 3, 5 show a side face rather than an included angle. This is confusing.
Claims 4-5 have a similar situation.
Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 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 of this title, 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.
Claims 1-3, 5, 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (US 20230150226 A1, hereinafter Kim) in view of Jang (US 20160299539 A1, hereinafter Jang)
Claim 1. Kim teaches a foldable device, comprising:
a body (ED-1, fig 3a) and a flexible display ([0019] recites ‘a first folding display portion’ and ‘a second folding display portion’),
wherein the body comprises a first body portion (left body portion of fig 3a), a second body portion (middle body portion), and a third body portion (right body portion of fig 3a) that are sequentially disposed, and
the first body portion and the third body portion are respectively rotatably connected to two sides in a width direction of the second body portion (figs 1, 3a, 3b);
the flexible display comprises a first screen portion (NFA1-1), a first bent-screen portion (portion corresponding to FX1), a second screen portion (NFA2-1), a second bent-screen portion (portion corresponding to FX2), and a third screen portion (NFA3-1) that are sequentially connected (fig 3A),
the first screen portion is attached to a front face of the first body portion (fig 3a), the second screen portion is attached to a front face of the second body portion (fig 3a), and
the third screen portion is attached to a front face of the third body portion (fig 3a);
the first body portion is capable of being folded to overlap the second body portion (fig 3b), so that the first screen portion and the second screen portion are opposite to each other and sandwiched between the front face of the first body portion and the front face of the second body portion (fig 3b); and
the third body portion is capable of being folded to overlap the folded first body portion, so that the third screen portion is sandwiched between a rear face of the first body portion and the front face of the third body portion (fig 3b); and
However Kim fails to teach a thickness of a side that is of the first body portion and that is connected to the second body portion is large, and a thickness of a side that is of the first body portion and that is away from the second body portion is small
Jang teaches a thickness of a side that is of the first body portion and that is connected to the second body portion is large, and a thickness of a side that is of the first body portion and that is away from the second body portion is small (figs 1, 2)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the arrangement as taught by Jang into the device of Kim. The ordinary artisan would have been motivated to modify Kim in the above manner for the purposes of saving space, lowering manufacturing costs, and having a lighter device.
Claim 2. Kim in view of Jang teaches the foldable device according to claim 1, wherein the first body portion is in a wedge shape whose thickness gradually changes in a width direction (Jang figs 1, 2).
Claim 3. Kim in view of Jang teaches the foldable device according to claim 2, wherein an included angle between the front face and the rear face of the first body portion ranges from 0.5o to 2o (Jang figs 1, 2).
Claim 5. Kim in view of Jang teaches the foldable device according to claim 2, wherein the third body portion is in a wedge shape whose thickness gradually changes in the width direction (Jang figs 1, 2), a thickness of a side that is of the third body portion and that is connected to the second body portion is large, and a thickness of a side that is of the third body portion and that is away from the second body portion is small (Jang figs 1, 2); and
an included angle between the front face and a rear face of the third body portion is equal to an included angle between the front face and the rear face of the first body portion (Jang figs 1, 2).
Claim 9. Kim in view of Jang teaches the foldable device according to claim 1, wherein Kim further teaches: in a state in which the first body portion is folded to overlap the second body portion (fig 3b), the first screen portion and the second screen portion overlap each other, and the first bent-screen portion is bent into a water drop shape (fig 3b); and
in a state in which the third body portion is folded to overlap the folded first body portion, the third screen portion overlaps the rear face of the first body portion, and the second bent-screen portion is bent into a U shape (fig 3b).
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (US 20230150226 A1, hereinafter Kim) in view of Jang (US 20160299539 A1, hereinafter Jang), further in view of CN213585854U (of record from IDS filed 11/24/2023, hereinafter CN)
Claim 16. Kim in view of Jang teaches the foldable device according to claim 1, but fail to specifically teach a secondary display is further disposed on a rear face of the third body portion, and a protective glass plate is disposed on an outer side of the secondary display
CN teaches a secondary display (5, fig 1) is further disposed on a rear face of the third body portion, and a protective glass plate is disposed on an outer side of the secondary display (specification recites ‘The back display 55 is a single screen and does not need to be bent or folded. It can be protected by glass with higher hardness’)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the arrangement as taught by CN into the device of Kim in view of Jang. The ordinary artisan would have been motivated to modify Kim in view of Jang in the above manner for the purpose of being able to quickly use the device in a smaller form factor without opening it all the way.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 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, and overcoming any 112 issues.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter for claim 4: The closest prior art (which has been made of record) fail to disclose (by themselves or in combination) wherein the thickness of the side that is of the first body portion and that is connected to the second body portion ranges from 4 mm to 8 mm, the thickness of the side that is of the first body portion and that is away from the second body portion ranges from 2 mm to 5 mm,
an included angle between the front face and the rear face of the first body portion ranges from 0.50 to 20;
a thickness of the second body portion ranges from 4 mm to 8 mm, and the front face and a rear face of the second body portion are parallel to each other; and
a thickness of a side that is of the third body portion and that is connected to the second body portion ranges from 5 mm to 8 mm, a thickness of a side that is of the third body portion and that is away from the second body portion ranges from 2 mm to 8 mm, and an included angle between the front face and a rear face of the third body portion ranges from 00 to 2° in combination with the additionally claimed features, as are claimed by the Applicant. Thus, the Applicant’s claims are determined to be novel and non-obvious.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter for claims 10-12: The closest prior art (which has been made of record) fail to disclose (by themselves or in combination) wherein in the state in which the first body portion is folded to overlap the second body portion, the first screen portion and the second screen portion are fitted or at a distance less than 1.0 mm, the first bent-screen portion bent into the water drop shape comprises an arc section, a first transition section, and a second transition section, the first transition section is transitionally connected between the arc section and the first screen portion, and the second transition section is transitionally connected between the arc section and the second screen portion in combination with the additionally claimed features, as are claimed by the Applicant. Thus, the Applicant’s claims are determined to be novel and non-obvious.
Regarding claim 10. Kim teaches the foldable device according to claim 9, wherein Kim further teaches: in the state in which the first body portion is folded to overlap the second body portion (fig 3b), , the first bent-screen portion bent into the water drop shape comprises an arc section, a first transition section (top transition section, fig 3b), and a second transition section (bottom transition section, fig 3b), the first transition section is transitionally connected between the arc section and the first screen portion (fig 3b), and the second transition section is transitionally connected between the arc section and the second screen portion (fig 3b).
However Kim fails to specifically teach the first screen portion and the second screen portion are fitted or at a distance less than 1.0 mm
Kim (US 20230150226 A1) [0095] recites 'The gap G.sub.NP between the upper surfaces of the window WM between the first non-folding area NFA1-1 and the second non-folding area NFA2-1 facing each other in the folded state may be smaller than twice the first radius of curvature R.sub.IN.'. Since [0094] indicates that R.sub.IN may be about 2.5mm, Kim indicates a gap smaller than 5mm, but not specifically a gap smaller than 1.0 mm.
Jones (US 11385682 B2) col 6 lines 60-64 recite ‘Example radii of curvature include, but are not limited to, radii less than 25 mm, less than 15 mm, less than 10 mm, from 1 mm to 25 mm, from 2 mm to 25 mm, from 1 mm to 10 mm, from 2 mm to 10 mm, from 2 mm to 7 mm, or from 5 mm to 15 mm’, however those values still do not correlate to a gap smaller than 1.0mm in combination with the teachings of Kim.
Examiner Notes
Examiner cites particular elements, columns and line numbers in the references as applied to the claims above for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested that, in preparing responses, the applicant fully consider the references in their entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DOUGLAS R BURTNER whose telephone number is (571)272-0966. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9-5.
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, Jinhee Lee can be reached on (571) 272-1977. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DOUGLAS R BURTNER/ Examiner, Art Unit 2841 /ROCKSHANA D CHOWDHURY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841
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