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 .
Response to Arguments
Claims 1 and 6-8 stand rejected under Section 102 in view of Bi. Claim 9 stands rejected under Section 102 or in the alternative under Section 103 in view of Bi. Claims 1, 6-8, 11-15, and 17 stands rejected under Section 103 in view of Lu and Bi. Claim 8 stands rejected under Section 112(a) for lack of enablement of the full scope of the claim. Claims 2-18 stand rejected under Section 112(b). Claims 6-18 stand objected to. The drawings and specification stand objected to. Claims 2-5, 10, 16, and 18-20 stand objected to for depending from a rejected base claim, but have been indicated as being allowable if placed in independent form and if the Section 112(b) rejections and the claim objections were addressed.
Applicants amended claims 1, 3, 6, 8, 15-18, and canceled claim 2. Applicants provided an amendment to the specification, and provided replacement drawings. Applicants argue that the application is in condition for allowance.
Turning first to the drawings: Applicants’ amendments address the previously noted drawing objections and are accepted and entered. No new matter has been added. The previously noted drawing objections are withdrawn.
Specification: Applicants’ amendments address the previously noted specification objection and are accepted and entered. No new matter has been added. For the record, the Office notes its interpretation of this language: the spacing gap between two sub-pixels in the second direction (Y direction, in this example) is actually a rectangular spacing gap, with extension sizes in the X direction and the Y direction. The spacing gap is not a linear gap in the Y direction.
Claim objections: Applicants’ amendments address the claim objections, and are accepted and entered. No new matter has been added. The previously noted claim objections are withdrawn. Informalities were introduced in the amendments, which are noted below.
Section 112(b) rejections: Applicants’ amendments overcome the Section 112(b) rejections and are accepted and entered. No new matter has been added. The Section 112(b) rejections are withdrawn. The Office identified an issue with claim 18, which is noted below. The Office notes that the Office interpreted claim 6 (“an extension size of the spacing gap in the first direction is greater than an extension size of the spacing gap in the second direction”) consistent with the discussion of the specification above—see previous page.
Section 112(a) scope of enablement rejection: Applicants’ amendment overcomes the Section 112(a) scope of enablement rejection. No new matter has been added. The Section 112(a) scope of enablement rejection is withdrawn.
Section 102 rejections: By placing allowable subject matter in claim 1, applicants have overcome the previously noted Section 102 rejections. These rejections are withdrawn.
Section 103 rejections: By placing allowable subject matter in claim 1, applicants have overcome the previously noted Section 103 rejections. These rejections are withdrawn.
Updated searches yielded no further prior art that anticipates or renders obvious the claims, or that could be used with previously cited prior art to render obvious the claims.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 3-20 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1, line 14: Add “wherein” at the beginning of the line.
Claim 1, line 15: Delete the comma at the end of the line and add “and”. Move line 16 up to the end of line 15.
Claims 3-20 are objected to for depending from objected-to base claim 1.
Claim 17: Change “1.31.9” to “1.3-1.9”.
Claim 18 is objected to for depending from objected-to base claim 17.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
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 18 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 18, which depends from claim 17, which depends from claim 15, which depends from claim 12, which depends from claim 11, which depends from claim 7, which depends from claim 6, which depends from claim 1: Claim 18 refers to “a preset ratio”, but the claim offers no guidance on how to determine what the preset ratio is. Because the claim is vague on this point, claim 18 is rejected as indefinite.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1, 3-17, 19, and 20 are objected to but would be allowable once the informalities in claim 1 and 17 are addressed.
Claim 18 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter.
With regard to claim 1: The claim has been found allowable because the prior art of record does not disclose “the first spacing d1 meets 0.15d2≤d1≤0.25d2; along a direction from a center of the display panel to an edge of the display panel, an absolute value of a difference between the first spacing d1 and a preset spacing value d gradually decreases in at least some areas, and the preset spacing value d is 0.2d2”, in combination with the remaining limitations of the claim.
With regard to claims 3-20: The claims have been found allowable due to their dependency from claim 1 above.
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 VICTORIA KATHLEEN HALL whose telephone number is (571)270-7567. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
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, Fernando Toledo can be reached at 571-272-1867. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Victoria K. Hall/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2897
Prosecution Insights