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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim 1 under Zhang (US Patent Publication Number 2015/0063748 A1) 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 Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.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 Liao (US Patent Publication Number 2020/0081298 A1).
Claim 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 (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 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.
Claims 1, 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (US Patent Publication Number 2015/0063748 A1) in view of Liao (US Patent Publication Number 2020/0081298 A1).
Zhang teaches, as in claim 1, an electronic device (”color image display device”, comprising, a light emitting module (Fig. 3: 304, 306, 308) for providing a light having a first waveband ( light from 304 is provided as color 314 which is green ¶0034), a beam splitting film (200 ¶0038 may be designed to pass green and red light simultaneously, while at the same time attenuating the blue band; (¶0045 “The metallic dots can induce an electric field on each side of the dots, opposite to the incoming light, forming a symmetric electric field distribution on both sides of the dot”) arranged on the light emitting module (304, 306, 308); and a diffuser plate (320) arranged on the light emitting module (304, 306, 308), wherein the beam splitting film (200) is arranged between the light emitting module (304, 306, 308) and the diffuser plate (320); wherein the beam splitting film (200) has a first transmittance for the first waveband (314 “green”), and the beam splitting film (200) has a second transmittance for a second waveband (318 “red”, ¶0037) other than the first waveband (314), where the first transmittance is greater than the second transmittance (Fig. 5, the transmission for green (peak 540nm) is greater than the peak for red (¶0026, “dual band filter with resonant peaks at 540 nm (green) and 650 nm (red) with 73% and 68% transmission” ). Zhang does not teach “a light conversion film arranged between the beam splitting film and the diffuser plate.” In a related art, Liao teaches a light conversion film (111) arranged between the beam splitting film (112) and the diffuser plate (120) (para [0029], “Fig. 1, i.e., a second prism layer 112 between a diffusion sheet 120 and a first prism layer 111.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill of the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified an electronic device, as taught by Zhang with the prism sheet as a light conversion film between the diffusion sheet and the beam splitting film, as taught by Liao, for the purpose of providing both latitudinal and longitudinal convergence and optimal horizontal and vertical viewing angles for the display (¶0002).
Zhang fails to teach, as in claim 17, further comprising an optical film set arranged on the diffuser plate. In a related art, Liao teaches an electronic device further comprising an optical film set (111-114) arranged on the diffuser plate (140).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill of the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the electronic device, as taught by Zheng, with the optical film set, as taught by Liao, for the purpose of providing a way improve the brightness uniformity of the light entering the display panel (¶0003).
Zhang fails to teach, as in claim 18, wherein the optical film set includes: a first optical element; a second optical element arranged to be opposite to the first optical element; and a diffuser plate arranged between the first optical element and the second optical element. In a related art, Liao teaches an electronic device wherein the optical film set includes: a first optical element (111-112), a second optical element (113-114) arranged to be opposite to the first optical element (111-112) and a diffuser plate (120) arranged between the first optical element (111-112) and the second optical element (113-114).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill of the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the electronic device, as taught by Zheng and Liao, with the optical film set, as taught by Liao, for the purpose of providing a way improve the brightness uniformity of the light entering the display panel (¶0003).
Zhang fails to teach, as in claim 19, wherein the first optical element includes: a first prism sheet; a second prism sheet arranged to be opposite to the first prism sheet; and an adhesive layer arranged between the first prism sheet and the second prism sheet. In a related art, Liao teaches electronic device wherein the first optical element (111-112) includes: a first prism sheet (111, ¶0027) a second prism sheet (112) arranged to be opposite to the first prism sheet (111); and an adhesive layer arranged between the first prism sheet and the second prism sheet (¶0027 “an air layer or another layer (element) may be between two adjacent prism layers, such as an adhesive element”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill of the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the electronic device, as taught by Zheng and Liao, with the optical film set, as taught by Liao, for the purpose of providing a way improve the brightness uniformity of the light entering the display panel (¶0003).
Claims 7-9, 13, 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (US Patent Publication Number 2015/0063748 A1) in view of Liao (US Patent Publication Number 2020/0081298 A1) and in further view of Chen (US Patent Publication Number 2022/0179264 A1).
Zhang fails to teach, as in claim 7, wherein the diffuser plate includes a first surface; and a first pattern arranged on the first surface. In a related art, Chen teaches a display device wherein the diffuser plate (10, see schematic diagram of three-view drawing (top view, front view and side view) of the conventional diffusion plate in Figs 3a and 3b) includes a first surface (annotated figure below), and a first pattern (91) arranged on the first surface (annotated figure below).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill of the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the electronic device, as taught by Zheng, with the diffuser plate, as taught by Chen, for the purpose of providing a way of achieving the function of making the backlight module to emit more uniform light (¶0004).
Zhang fails to teach, as in claim 8, wherein the light emitting module includes a plurality of light emitting elements, and the first pattern is arranged corresponding to the plurality of light emitting elements. In a related art, Chen teaches a display device wherein the light emitting module includes a plurality of light emitting elements (213/ LED in figure above), and the first pattern (Figs. 3a, 3b, 91) is arranged corresponding to the plurality of light emitting elements ((LED corresponds to the diffuser plate in the annotated figure above).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill of the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the electronic device, as taught by Zheng and Chen, with the diffuser plate, as taught by Chen, for the purpose of providing a way of achieving the function of making the backlight module to emit more uniform light (¶0004).
Zhang fails to teach, as in claim 9, wherein the diffuser plate includes a second surface, and the second surface has a microstructure. In a related art, Chen teaches a display device wherein the diffuser plate (90) includes a second surface (annotated figure), and the second surface has a microstructure (¶0066 “single vertex pyramid”).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill of the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the electronic device, as taught by Zheng, with the diffuser plate, as taught by Chen, for the purpose of providing a way of achieving the function of making the backlight module to emit more uniform light (¶0004).
Zhang fails to teach, as in claim 13, wherein the first pattern includes a plurality of protruding structures respectively protruding in a direction away from the diffuser plate. In a related art, Cheng teaches a display device wherein the first pattern (91) includes a plurality of protruding structures (Fig. 3a) respectively protruding in a direction away from the diffuser plate (90).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill of the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the electronic device, as taught by Zheng and Chen, with the diffuser plate, as taught by Chen, for the purpose of providing a way of achieving the function of making the backlight module to emit more uniform light (¶0004).
Zhang fails to teach, as in claim 14, wherein the microstructure is formed by a plurality of pyramid units arranged repeatedly. In a related art, Chen teaches wherein the microstructure (91) is formed by a plurality of pyramid units (¶0066 “single vertex pyramid”), arranged repeatedly (Fig. 3a).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill of the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the electronic device, as taught by Zheng and Chen, with the diffuser plate, as taught by Chen, for the purpose of providing a way of achieving the function of making the backlight module to emit more uniform light (¶0004).
Claims 10 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (US Patent Publication Number 20150063748A1) in view of Liao (US Patent Publication Number 20200081298A1) and in further view of Imahori (CN Patent Publication Number 113759600 A).
Zhang fails to teach, as in claim 10, wherein the light emitting module includes a plurality of light emitting elements and a second pattern arranged corresponding to the plurality of light emitting elements. In a related art, Imahori teaches a display device wherein the light emitting module includes, a plurality of light emitting elements (111), and a second pattern (13, see Figs. 4B-5B that shows the pattern) arranged corresponding to the plurality of light emitting elements (111).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill of the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the electronic device, as taught by Zheng, with the light emitting elements, as taught by Imahori, for the purpose of providing a way so the deterioration of luminance uniformity can be suppressed (Page 4, third paragraph).
Zhang and Imahori fails to teach, as in claim 11, wherein the plurality of light emitting elements are arranged on a substrate, and a projection of the second pattern on the substrate overlap with the light emitting elements. In a related art, Imahori teaches wherein the plurality of light emitting elements (111) are arranged on a substrate (16), and a projection of the second pattern (13) on the substrate (16) overlap with the light emitting elements (111, see Fig 1 13 overlapping elements 111).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill of the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the electronic device, as taught by Zheng and Imahori, with the light emitting elements, as taught by Imahori, for the purpose of providing a way so the deterioration of luminance uniformity can be suppressed (Page 4, third paragraph).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4, 12, 15, 16 and 20 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 fails to simultaneously teach all the limitations of claim 2 which includes wherein a reflected light is generated when the light passes through the beam splitting film, and the brightness of the reflected light in CIE Lab color space coordinates is between 90 and 100.
Regarding claim 3 has dependency upon allowable dependent claim 2.
The prior art fails to simultaneously teach all the limitations of claim 4 which includes wherein the first waveband is a blue light waveband, and the second waveband is a red light waveband or a green light waveband.
The prior art fails to simultaneously teach all the limitations of claim 12 which includes wherein the second pattern includes a plurality of protruding structures, and a central portion of the protruding structure is recessed toward a direction approaching the corresponding light emitting element.
The prior art fails to simultaneously teach all the limitations of claim 15 which includes wherein the microstructure is formed by a plurality of X-shape lenticular units arranged repeatedly.
The prior art fails to simultaneously teach all the limitations of claim 16 which includes wherein the microstructure is formed by a plurality of tri-pyramid units arranged repeatedly.
The prior art fails to simultaneously teach all the limitations of claim 20 which includes further comprising another diffuser plate arranged between the beam splitting film and the light conversion film.
Conclusion
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JOURNEY F. SUMLAR
Examiner
Art Unit 2872
12 February 2026
/RICKY L MACK/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2872