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 .
This office action is a response to the election of species filed on 4/15/2026.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Species AA, claims 1-4, 7, 10, 12-15 and 18, in the reply filed on 4/15/2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Claims 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 16, 17, 19 and 20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 4/15/2026.
Specification
Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure.
It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3 and 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Hao et al. (US PAT. 11,357,093).
Hao et al. teach a backlight module (as per claim1) and a display device (as per claim 12) comprising: a substrate (10, Fig. 12, col. 18, line 11); a first conductive layer (103, Fig. 12, col. 18, lines 23-34) disposed on the substrate and comprising a signal trace and a first ground line unit; a second conductive layer (LV1, Fig. 12, col. 18, lines 11-34) disposed on a side of the first conductive layer close to or away from the substrate and comprising a second ground line unit; and a light-emitting member (20, Fig. 12, lines 11-14) electrically connected with the signal trace and the first ground line unit; wherein the first ground line unit is connected with the second ground line unit as shown in Fig. 12.
Re. claims 2 and 13: The backlight module comprises a light-emitting area (Fig. 13), a peripheral area adjacent to the light-emitting area, and a driving assembly (210, 202, Fig. 14, col. 20, lines 21-25) disposed in the peripheral area; the light-emitting member is disposed in the light-emitting area; the first ground line unit comprises a first trace (51, Fig. 13) disposed in the peripheral area and a second trace (22, Fig. 13) disposed in the light-emitting area, the first trace is connected between the second trace and the driving assembly as shown in Figs. 13-14, and the second trace is connected between the light-emitting member and the first trace as shown in Figs. 13-14; and wherein the first trace and/or the second trace is connected with the second ground line unit as shown in Figs 12-14.
Re. claims 3 and 14: An insulating layer disposes(50, Fig. 12, col. 18, 17-22) between the second conductive layer and the first conductive layer, wherein at least one first via located in the peripheral area is disposed in the insulating layer, and the first trace is connected with the second ground line unit through the at least one first via as shown in Figs. 12-13.
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 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hao et al.
Hao et al. teach all limitations as set forth above, but silent a width of the signal trace. Since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable rangers involves only routine skill in the art. MPEP 2144.04 (il-A). The applicant has not disclosed any criticality for the claimed limitations. Therefore, since such a modification would have been an obvious design consideration that is within the purview of one having ordinary skill in the art to provide the well-known benefit of obtaining the desirable backlight module.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 7, 15 and 18 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 Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Liu et al. (US PAT. 12,538,626), Tang et al. (US PAT. 12,422,712), Kim et al. (US PAT. 12,401,135), and Notoshi et al. (US PAT. 10,495,924) are cited to further show the state of the art with respect to a backlight module and a display device.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAUL D KIM whose telephone number is (571)272-4565. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday: 6:00 AM-2:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas Hong can be reached at 571-272-0993. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PAUL D KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3729
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