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 allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). 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, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 05/27/2026 has been entered.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 05/27/2026 was considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 –
Claim(s) 26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Umejima et al. (20220043293). With respect to claim 26, Umejima et al. discloses a laptop computer (10) comprising: a base portion (14) comprising a keyboard (20); and a display portion (12, 18, 19) flexibly coupled to the base portion (14) and comprising: a housing component (12, 26) defining: a first wall portion (30a) defining a first exterior surface of the display portion (12, 18, 19); a second wall portion (30b) defining a second exterior surface of the display portion (12, 18, 19) opposite to the first exterior surface; and a composite mid-chassis structure (30c, 30d) coupled to the first wall portion (30a) and the second wall portion (30b) and extending between the first wall portion (30a) and the second wall portion (30b); a front cover assembly (12, 24) coupled to a front side of the housing component (12, 26) and comprising: a first glass member (24) defining at least a portion of a front exterior surface of the display portion (12, 18, 19); and a display (18) coupled to the first glass member (24); and a rear cover assembly (12, 25) coupled to a rear side of the housing component (12, 26) and comprising a second glass member (26) defining at least a portion of a rear exterior surface of the display portion (12, 18, 19), the composite mid-chassis structure (30c, 30d) positioned between the rear cover assembly (12, 25) and the front cover assembly (12, 24).
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, and 26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Umejima et al. (20220043293) in view of Drzaic et al. (20140265822). With respect to claim 1, Umejima et al. discloses a laptop computer (10) comprising: a base portion (14) comprising a keyboard (20); and a display portion (12, 18, 19) flexibly coupled to the base portion (14) and comprising: a housing component (12, 26) formed of metal and defining a set of side surfaces (30); a front cover (24) assembly coupled to the housing component (12,26) and comprising: a first glass member defining at least a portion of a front exterior surface of the display portion (12, 18, 19); and a display (18, 19) coupled to the first glass member; and a rear cover assembly (25) coupled to the housing component (12, 26) and comprising a second glass member (25) defining at least a portion of a rear exterior surface of the display portion (12, 18, 19). Umejima et al. does not expressly discloses an opaque mask structure coupled to an interior surface of the second glass member as presently claimed. The apparatus of Drzaic et al. discloses an opaque mask structure (104, 106) coupled to an interior surface of a glass member (102) as presently claimed. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to incorporate the teachings of Drzaic et al. into the apparatus of Umejima et al.. One having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate the teachings Drzaic et al. to provide means to block structures from view.
With respect to claim 2, Umejima et al. in view of Drzaic et al. discloses the laptop computer (10) of claim 1, wherein: the first glass member (24) defines a first portion of the front exterior surface of the display portion (12, 18, 19); and the housing component (12, 26) defines a second portion of the front exterior surface of the display portion (12, 18, 19).
With respect to claim 3, Umejima et al. in view of Drzaic et al discloses the laptop computer (10) of claim 2, wherein: the second glass member (25) defines a first portion of the rear exterior surface of the display portion (12, 18, 19); and the housing component (12, 26) defines a second portion of the rear exterior surface of the display portion (12, 18, 19).
With respect to claim 5, Umejima et al. in view of Drzaic et al discloses the laptop computer (10) of claim 1, wherein the set of side surfaces (30) defined by the housing component (12, 26) comprises: a first side surface (30c); a second side surface (30a); a third side surface (30d); a first corner surface extending from the first side surface (30c) to the second side surface (30a); and a second corner surface extending from the second side surface (30a) to the third side surface (30d).
With respect to claim 6, Umejima et al. in view of Drzaic et al discloses the laptop computer (10) of claim 1, further comprising a touch-sensing layer (18b, 19b) positioned between the display (18, 19) and the first glass member (24).
With respect to claim 7, Umejima et al. discloses a laptop computer (10) comprising: a base portion (14) comprising a keyboard (20); and a display portion (12, 18, 19) flexibly coupled to the base portion (14) and comprising: a housing component (12, 26) defining a first opening (space defined by support 31, 34) along a front side of the housing component (12, 26) and a second opening (space defined by support 31, 35) along a rear side of the housing component (12, 26); a front cover assembly (24, 18) positioned in the first opening (space defined by support 31, 34) and coupled to the housing component (12, 26), the front cover assembly (12, 24, 18) comprising: a first glass member (24) defining a display region; and a display (18) coupled to the first glass member (24); and a rear cover assembly (12, 25, 19) positioned in the second opening (space defined by support 31, 35) and coupled to the housing component (12, 26), the rear cover assembly (12, 25, 19) comprising a second glass member (25) defining at least a portion of a rear exterior surface of the display portion (12, 18, 19). Umejima et al. does not expressly discloses an opaque mask structure coupled to an interior surface of the second glass member as presently claimed. The apparatus of Drzaic et al. (20140265822) discloses an opaque mask structure (104, 106) coupled to an interior surface of a glass member (102) as presently claimed. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to incorporate the teachings of Drzaic et al. into the apparatus of Umejima et al.. One having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate the teachings Drzaic et al. to provide means to block structures from view.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-25 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: as to claims
8-13; patentability resides, at least in part, in the interconnection and interrelationship between the laptop computer; the base portion comprising a keyboard; the display portion flexibly coupled to the base portion and comprising: a front cover assembly comprising a front cover comprising a first glass material and defining at least a portion of a front surface of the display portion; the display positioned below the front cover; the rear cover comprising a second glass material and defining at least a portion of a rear surface of the display portion; the housing component coupled to the front cover and rear cover and comprising a mid-chassis positioned between the front cover and the rear cover; the first flexible circuit element conductively coupled to a display component of the display and extending from the display along a first side edge of the display, at least a portion of the first flexible circuit element positioned between the mid-chassis and the front cover assembly; and a second flexible circuit element conductively
coupled to a touch-sensing component of the display and extending from the display along a second side edge of the display different from the first side edge, at least a portion of the second flexible circuit element positioned between the mid-chassis and
the front cover assembly and including all of the other limitations of the base claim(s)
respectfully; as to claims 14-19; patentability resides, at least in part, in the interconnection and interrelationship between the laptop computer; the base portion
comprising a keyboard; the display portion flexibly coupled to the base portion and comprising: the housing component; the cover structure coupled to the housing component and comprising: the transparent cover member having a first thickness and defining a first hole; and the transparent camera cover having a second thickness less than the first thickness and positioned in the first hole such that a recess is defined along a rear surface of the cover structure; a display coupled to the transparent cover member and defining a second hole extending through an active display region of the display; and the camera having a lens assembly extending through the second hole and into the recess and including all of the other limitations of the base claim(s) respectfully as to claims 20-25; patentability resides, at least in part, in the interconnection and interrelationship between the laptop computer; the base portion; the keyboard; the display portion flexibly coupled to the base portion and comprising: the housing component comprising: a first wall portion defining a first side exterior surface of the display portion; a second wall portion defining a second side exterior surface of the display portion opposite to the first side exterior surface; and a mid-chassis extending between the first wall portion and the second wall portion and defining an array of attachment holes; a front cover assembly positioned along a first side of the mid-chassis
and comprising: a transparent cover member defining at least part of a front surface of
the display portion; a display positioned below the transparent cover member; and a
mounting structure positioned below the display and comprising an array of attachment
features; a set of fasteners, each fastener of the set of fasteners extending through a
respective attachment hole of the array of attachment holes and engaging with a
respective attachment feature of the array of attachment features; and a rear cover
assembly positioned along a second side of the mid-chassis and defining at least part of
a rear surface of the display portion and including all of the other limitations of the base
claim(s) respectfully.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LISA LEA-EDMONDS whose telephone number is (571)272-2043. The examiner can normally be reached M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Timothy Thompson can be reached at 571-272-2342. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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LISA LEA-EDMONDS
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2847
/LISA LEA-EDMONDS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2847 2026-06-03
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