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 .
Status of the Claims
Preliminary amendment filed 2 October 2025 is acknowledged. Claims 1-20 have been canceled. Claims 21-35 have been added. Claims 21-35 are pending.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
Information disclosure statements filed 19 January 2024, 29 September 2025, and 10 June 2026 have been fully considered.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
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.
Claims 21-30 and 32-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sato et al. (US Patent Application 2016/0211311, hereinafter Sato ‘311) in view of Lim et al. (US Patent Application Publication 2020/0006694, hereinafter Lim ‘694).
With respect to claim 21, Sato ‘311 teaches (FIG. 13) an electronic device substantially as claimed, comprising:
a display (300) ([0073]), wherein the display comprises:
a pixel definition portion (130) surrounding at least one pixel (120) included in first pixel groups ([0036]);
a first light shielding portion (138) disposed over the pixel definition portion (130) ([0068]);
a second light shielding portion (136) disposed between the pixel definition portion (130) and the first light shielding portion (138) ([0047]); and
a color filter portion (122) disposed over the at least one pixel (120) and surrounded by the second light shielding portion (136) ([0036]).
Thus, Sato ‘311 is shown to teach all the features of the claim with the exception of a plurality of pixels, including first pixel groups viewed at a first viewing angle and second pixel groups viewed at a second viewing angle wider than the first viewing angle.
However, Lim ‘694 teaches (FIGs. 1-6) a display comprising a plurality of pixels (RP, GP, and BP), including first pixel groups (RP2, GP2, and BP2) viewed at a first viewing angle and second pixel groups (RP1, GP1, and BP1) viewed at a second viewing angle wider than the first viewing angle to provide for selectively switching between a security mode and a normal mode ([0008, 0036]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have formed the display of Sato ‘311 further comprising a plurality of pixels, including first pixel groups viewed at a first viewing angle and second pixel groups viewed at a second viewing angle wider than the first viewing angle as taught by Lim ‘694 to provide for selectively switching between a security mode and a normal mode.
With respect to claim 22, Sato ‘311 teaches wherein, when viewed in a direction perpendicular to one surface of the display (300), an inner edge of the first light shielding portion (138) substantially coincides with an inner edge of the second light shielding portion (136) ([0047, 0068]).
With respect to claim 23, Sato ‘311 teaches wherein a width of the first light shielding portion (138) is narrower than a width of the second light shielding portion (136) ([0047, 0068]).
With respect to claims 24 and 25, Sato ‘311 and Lim ‘694 teach the device as described in claim 21 above, but primary reference Sato ‘311 does not explicitly teach the additional limitations wherein the first pixel groups and the second pixel groups are arranged alternately; and wherein one of pixel group of the second pixel groups is surrounded by four pixel groups of the first pixel groups, and wherein one of pixel group of the first pixel groups is surrounded by four pixel groups of the second pixel groups.
However, Lim ‘694 teaches (FIGs. 5 and 6) first pixel groups (RP2, GP2, and BP2) and second pixel groups (RP1, GP1, and BP1) arranged alternately to provide for selectively switching between a security mode and a normal mode ([0008, 0036]). When the arrangement of FIGs. 5 and 6 of Lim ‘694 is expanded outward to form a large array, one could define the first (RP2, GP2, and BP2) and second (RP1, GP1, and BP1) pixel groups in such a way that one of pixel group of the second pixel groups is surrounded by four pixel groups of the first pixel groups, and one of pixel group of the first pixel groups is surrounded by four pixel groups of the second pixel groups.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have formed the first pixel groups and the second pixel groups of Sato ‘311 and Lim ‘694 arranged alternately, wherein one of pixel group of the second pixel groups is surrounded by four pixel groups of the first pixel groups, and wherein one of pixel group of the first pixel groups is surrounded by four pixel groups of the second pixel groups as taught by Lim ‘694 to provide for selectively switching between a security mode and a normal mode.
With respect to claim 26, Sato ‘311 teaches (FIG. 7) wherein each of the first pixel groups includes one red pixel (medium-hashed 142), two green pixels (thick-hashed 142), and one blue pixel (thin-hashed 142) ([0036, 0047]).
With respect to claim 27, Sato ‘311 teaches (FIG. 7) wherein the one red pixel (medium-hashed 142), the two green pixels (thick-hashed 142), and the one blue pixel (thin-hashed 142) are disposed in a pentile structure within each of the first pixel groups ([0036, 0047]).
With respect to claims 28 and 29, Sato ‘311 and Lim ‘694 teach the device as described in claim 21 above, but primary reference Sato ‘311 does not explicitly teach the additional limitations wherein each of the second pixel groups includes one red pixel, two green pixels, and one blue pixel; and wherein the one red pixel, the two green pixels, and the one blue pixel are arranged in a pentile structure within each of the second pixel groups.
However, Lim ‘694 teaches (FIGs. 1-6) a display comprising a plurality of pixels (RP, GP, and BP), including first pixel groups (RP2, GP2, and BP2) viewed at a first viewing angle and second pixel groups (RP1, GP1, and BP1) viewed at a second viewing angle wider than the first viewing angle to provide for selectively switching between a security mode and a normal mode ([0008, 0036]).
Further, Sato ‘311 teaches (FIG. 7) a display including one red pixel (medium-hashed 142), two green pixels (thick-hashed 142), and one blue pixel (thin-hashed 142), wherein the one red pixel, the two green pixels, and the one blue pixel are arranged in a pentile structure within each pixel group ([0036, 0047]) to suppress display defects such as leaking light and mixed colors ([0070]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have formed the display of Sato ‘311 and Lim ‘694 further comprising second pixel groups as taught by Lim ‘694 to provide for selectively switching between a security mode and a normal mode; and to have formed the second pixel groups of Sato ‘311 and Lim ‘694 including one red pixel, two green pixels, and one blue pixel; wherein the one red pixel, the two green pixels, and the one blue pixel are arranged in a pentile structure within each of the second pixel groups as taught by Sato ‘311 to suppress display defects such as leaking light and mixed colors.
With respect to claim 30, Sato ‘311 teaches wherein the display (300) includes an encapsulation layer (134) disposed between the pixel-definition portion (130) and the second light shielding portion (136) ([0046]).
With respect to claim 32, Sato ‘311 teaches wherein the color filter (122) portion is disposed over the encapsulation layer (134) ([0036, 0046]).
With respect to claim 33, Sato ‘311 teaches wherein, when viewed in a direction perpendicular to one surface of the display (300), an inner edge of the pixel definition portion (130) overlaps the color filter portion (122) ([0036]).
With respect to claim 34, Sato ‘311 teaches wherein, when viewed in a first direction perpendicular to one surface of the display, an outer edge of the second light shielding portion (136) protrudes more than an outer edge of the first light shielding portion (138) in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction ([0047, 0068]).
Claim 31 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sato ‘311 and Lim ‘694 as applied to claim 30 above, and further in view of Kwon et al. (US Patent Application Publication 2016/0378224, hereinafter Kwon ‘224).
With respect to claim 31, Sato ‘311 and Lim ‘694 teach the device as described in claim 30 above with the exception of the additional limitation wherein the display further includes a touch pattern layer disposed between the encapsulation layer and the second light shielding portion.
However, Kwon ‘224 teaches (FIG. 26B) a touch pattern layer (SP1-L) disposed between an encapsulation layer (TFE) and a light shielding portion (TS-BM) to form a flexible, touch screen display ([0231-0232, 0235]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have formed the display of Sato ‘311 and Lim ‘694 further including a touch pattern layer disposed between the encapsulation layer and the second light shielding portion as taught by Kwon ‘224 to form a flexible, touch screen display.
Claim 35 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sato ‘311 and Lim ‘694 as applied to claim 21 above, and further in view of Lewis et al. (WIPO Patent Application Publication 2009/050505, hereinafter Lewis ‘505).
With respect to claim 35, Sato ‘311 and Lim ‘694 teach the device as described in claim 21 above, with primary reference Sato ‘311 teaching the additional limitation wherein the display includes a display driving circuit (112) ([0033]).
Thus, Sato ‘311 is shown to teach all the features of the claim with the exception of wherein the display driving circuit is configured to: display an image using the first pixel groups and the second pixel groups in a normal mode, and turn off the second pixel groups and display an image using the first pixel groups in a privacy mode.
However, Lewis ‘505 teaches (FIGs. 2A and 2B) a display driving circuit (p. 5, ln. 19-30) configured to display an image using the first pixel groups (26(b)) and the second pixel groups (26(a)) in a normal mode, and turn off the second pixel groups and display an image using the first pixel groups in a privacy mode (p. 4, ln. 21 – p. 5, ln. 3) to provide a switchable privacy function (p. 3, ln. 3-12).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have configured the display driving circuit of Sato ‘311 and Lim ‘694 to display an image using the first pixel groups and the second pixel groups in a normal mode, and turn off the second pixel groups and display an image using the first pixel groups in a privacy mode as taught by Lewis ‘505 to provide a switchable privacy function.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Christopher M. Roland whose telephone number is (571)270-1271. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 10:00AM-7:00PM Eastern.
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/C.M.R./Examiner, Art Unit 2893
/YARA B GREEN/Supervisor Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2893
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