Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 29, 2026
Application No. 18/419,175

DISPLAY DEVICE AND OPERATING METHOD THEREFOR

Final Rejection §103
Filed
Jan 22, 2024
Priority
Aug 06, 2021 — RE 10-2021-0104199 +2 more
Examiner
ALATA, YASSIN
Art Unit
2426
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
OA Round
4 (Final)
66%
Grant Probability
Favorable
5-6
OA Rounds
7m
Est. Remaining
81%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 66% — above average
66%
Career Allowance Rate
549 granted / 825 resolved
+8.5% vs TC avg
Moderate +14% lift
Without
With
+14.1%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 11m
Avg Prosecution
36 currently pending
Career history
867
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.8%
-39.2% vs TC avg
§103
79.3%
+39.3% vs TC avg
§102
10.8%
-29.2% vs TC avg
§112
1.0%
-39.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 825 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-4 and 7-15 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. Claims 1 and 14-15 have been amended and claims 5-6 have been canceled. 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 1-4 and 7-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chapdelaine (US 2009/0273711) in view of Gao (US 2018/0047193). Regarding claim 1, Chapdelaine discloses a display device comprising: a display (see at least paragraph 0048); a memory storing at least one instruction (see at least paragraph 0048); and at least one processor configured to execute the at least one instruction, wherein the at least one instruction, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the display device to: receive an image and a closed caption corresponding to the image (receive motion video signal and caption data; see at least paragraphs 0047 and 0049), detect a plurality of region of interest (ROIs) included in the image by using a neural network (the ROI detection modules detect in the sequence of frames defining the shot regions of interest such as faces, text or areas where significant movement exist; see at least paragraphs 0053-0059), generate at least one integrated region by grouping two or more ROI of the plurality of ROIs into at least one group of adjacent ROIs, wherein the two or more ROIs are selected for inclusion in the at least one group of adjacent ROIs based on a determination that each of the two or more ROIs is adjacent to another ROI among the plurality of ROIs (motion activity grid MAG; see at least paragraphs 0065-0067. Furthermore, grouping the ball location 1700 into an area 1702; see at least Figs. 17A-17D and paragraphs 0103-0104), determine a closed caption output region among at least one preset candidate closed caption region, based on whether the at least one preset candidate closed caption region overlaps at least one of the plurality of ROIs and the at least one integrated region (disqualify areas with significant movement and leave only those in which the placement of caption will not mask high action events; see at least paragraphs 0064, 0067, 0101 and 0104-0106), and control the display to display the closed caption in the closed caption output region (the placement of caption will not mask high action events; see at least paragraphs 0067, 0101 and 0104-0107). Chapdelaine discloses grouping two or more ROIs into at least one group of adjacent ROIs, but is not clear about that the grouping is based on a first threshold distance or a second threshold distance, wherein based on a distance between a first ROI and a second ROI adjacent in a vertical direction among the plurality of ROIs, being less than or equal to the first threshold distance, integrate the first ROI and the second ROI to generate a first integrated region, wherein based on a distance between the first ROI and a third ROI adjacent in a horizontal direction, among the plurality of ROIs, being less than or equal to the second threshold distance, integrate the first ROI and the third ROI to generate a second integrated region, and wherein the first integrated region includes a region between the first ROI and the second ROI, and the second integrated region includes a region between the first ROI and the third ROI. Gao discloses the above missing limitations; a bounding box merge process to merge bounding boxes for a group of related blobs into one bounding box. The merging process may determine, based on the proximity of the blobs to each other, that the blobs should be merged, wherein a distance in the horizontal and vertical directions are considered in the merging process; see at least paragraphs 0063-0064, 0125-0126, 0140, 0145 and 0178. Further, Fig. 5 shows the merging of two bounding boxes into a single box that includes an intersecting region 508 and not intersecting regions, i.e. union regions 506, see also Figs. 8B-8C, 13A-13C and 14C-14D. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Chapdelaine by the teachings of Gao by having the above limitations so to provide content-adaptive bounding box merging; see at least the Abstract. Regarding claim 2, Chapdelaine in view of Gao disclose the display device of claim 1, wherein the at least one instruction, when executed by the at least one processor, further causes the display to: determine the closed caption output region based on the at least one preset candidate closed caption region that do not overlap at least one of the plurality of ROIs and the at least one integrated region (Chapdelaine; disqualify areas with significant movement and leave only those in which the placement of caption will not mask high action events; see at least paragraphs 0064, 0067, 0101 and 0103-0107). Regarding claim 3, Chapdelaine in view of Gao disclose the display device of claim 1, wherein the at least one instruction, when executed by the at least one processor, further causes the display to: identify at least one object included in the image by using the neural network, and identify the plurality of ROIs by obtaining information about a location and a size of the at least one object (Chapdelaine; see at least paragraphs 0053-0058). Regarding claim 4, Chapdelaine in view of Gao disclose the display device of claim 3, wherein the at least one object comprises at least one of a text, a person, an animal, and an object (Chapdelaine; see at least paragraphs 0053-0059). Regarding claim 7, Chapdelaine in view of Valadez disclose the display device of claim 1, wherein the at least one instruction, when executed by the at least one processor, further causes the display to: detect the plurality of ROIs based on whether a function for automatically adjusting a display position of the closed caption is activated (Chapdelaine; it is always activated. The claim does not require activation by who; see at least paragraph 0047). Regarding claim 8, Chapdelaine in view of Gao disclose the display device of claim 1, wherein the at least one instruction, when executed by the at least one processor, further causes the display to: based on a plurality of candidate closed caption regions that do not overlap at least one of the plurality of ROIs and the at least one integrated region, determine the closed caption output region based on at least one of contiguity information and location information of the plurality of candidate closed caption regions (Chapdelaine; disqualify areas with significant movement and leave only those in which the placement of caption will not mask high action events; see at least paragraphs 0064, 0067, 0101 and 0104-0106). Regarding claim 9, Chapdelaine in view of Gao disclose the display device of claim 8, wherein the at least one instruction, when executed by the at least one processor, further causes the display to: based on the plurality of candidate closed caption regions including a first candidate region, a second candidate region, and a third candidate region, and further based on the first candidate region and the second candidate region being located contiguously and the third candidate region is located separately from the first candidate region and the second candidate region, determine the first candidate region and the second candidate region as the closed caption output region (Chapdelaine; a GUI presents the user with a variety of options to review detection results and reject the results that are inaccurate; see at least paragraphs 0068-0070). Regarding claim 10, Chapdelaine in view of Gao disclose the display device of claim 8, wherein the at least one instruction, when executed by the at least one processor, further causes the display to: based on the plurality of candidate closed caption regions including a first candidate region, a second candidate region, and a third candidate region, and further based on the third candidate region being located below the first candidate region and the second candidate region, determine the third candidate region as the closed caption output region (Chapdelaine; a GUI presents the user with a variety of options to review detection results and reject the results that are inaccurate; see at least paragraphs 0068-007). Regarding claim 11, Chapdelaine in view of Gao disclose the display device of claim 1, wherein the at least one instruction, when executed by the at least one processor, further causes the display to: based on all of the at least one preset candidate closed caption regions overlapping at least one of the plurality of ROIs and the at least one integrated region, determine, as the closed caption output region, a region in which the closed caption was displayed in an image corresponding to a first frame preceding a second frame corresponding to the image (Chapdelaine; a GUI presents the user with a variety of options to review detection results and reject the results that are inaccurate; see at least paragraphs 0068-007). Regarding claim 12, Chapdelaine in view of Gao disclose the display device of claim 11, wherein the at least one instruction, when executed by the at least one processor, further causes the display to: based on all of the at least one preset candidate closed caption region overlapings at least one of the plurality of ROIs and the at least one integrated region, determine the closed caption output region among the at least one preset candidate closed caption region, based on at least one of a size of a portion of each of the at least one preset candidate closed caption region overlapping at least one of the plurality of ROIs and the at least one integrated region, a position of an overlapping portion, and importance of information displayed in the overlapping portion (Chapdelaine; see at least paragraphs 0101, 0105. Furthermore, a GUI presents the user with a variety of options to review detection results and reject the results that are inaccurate; see at least paragraphs 0068-007). Regarding claim 13, Chapdelaine in view of Gao disclose the display device of claim 11, wherein the at least one instruction, when executed by the at least one processor, further causes the display to adjust at least one of a color of the closed caption displayed in the closed caption output region and a transparency of a background of the closed caption (Chapdelaine; see at least Figs. 9-10 and paragraph 0061). Claims 14 and 15 are rejected on the same grounds as claim 1. Conclusion THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 YASSIN ALATA whose telephone number is (571)270-5683. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 7-4 ET. 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, Nasser Goodarzi can be reached on 571-272-4195. 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. /YASSIN ALATA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2426
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Prosecution Timeline

Show 6 earlier events
Jul 30, 2025
Final Rejection mailed — §103
Sep 30, 2025
Examiner Interview Summary
Sep 30, 2025
Request for Continued Examination
Sep 30, 2025
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
Oct 06, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Nov 03, 2025
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
Feb 03, 2026
Response Filed
Apr 03, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

5-6
Expected OA Rounds
66%
Grant Probability
81%
With Interview (+14.1%)
2y 11m (~7m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 825 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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