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 .
DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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 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.
Specification
The amendments filed on 2/10/26 comprising new matter and will not be entered.
Drawing
The amendments filed on 2/10/26 comprising new matter and will not be entered.
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 4 and dependent claims are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 1, “a flexible display screen that traverses a first side of the center portion, a second side of the left portion, and a third side of the right portion, wherein the flexible display screen comprises a center display screen portion that traverses the center portion, a left display screen portion that traverses the left portion, and a right display screen portion that traverses the right portion, and wherein the first side of the center portion is an outward-facing side of the center portion, the second side of the left portion is an outward-facing side of the left portion when the foldable device is in a second orientation, and the third side of the right portion is an outward-facing side of the right portion when the foldable device is in the second orientation” are unclear. This limitation lack antecedent basis. Further clarification is required.
SPEC disclosed: “The frame includes a housing to enclose one or more processor devices and support a center portion of the display screen, a first wing extending from a first side of the housing and connected to the housing by a first hinge to support a first side portion of the display screen, and a second wing extending from a second side of the housing and connected to the housing by a second hinge to support a second side portion of the display screen”
In addition, which the “first side, second side, and third side” is unclear in the claim and SPEC. Applicant further added many labels on the Remark. However, these figures are non-elected embodiment. Also, these labels are new matter.
For example, what’s the “2nd side of the left portion”? Is that a 2nd edge of the partial area on the left or the whole display? No matter which way of interpretation, there is no way to interpret the “3rd side“.
Examiner would like to remind Applicant that when the claims specified “display screen that traverses”, Examiner expect it should be from edge to edge instead of a portion (sub-area) of the “portions”. In addition, the “portion” is also unclear in the claim as well.
There is no support found in the SPEC to support the claimed limitations, especially based on Applicant’s argument.
Finally, it is very surprise that the new amended claim 1 basically claimed to opposite direction compare to the previous version of claim 1. (see the latest two paragraphs) Examiner request Applicant to clearly determine what the “first and 2nd orientations” are in the next response.
In claim 4, “one or more sensors configured to detect whether the left portion and the right portion are folded or unfolded relative to the center portion, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are to further cause the foldable device to: display the first version of the graphical user interface in response to the one or more sensors detecting that the left portion is folded relative to the center portion and the right portion is unfolded relative to the center portion; and display the second version of the graphical user interface in response to the one or more sensors detecting that the left portion and the right portion are unfolded relative to the center portion” are unclear. This limitation lack antecedent basis. Further clarification is required. Examiner suggest Applicant to further amend based on the claim 1.
The Examiner respectfully requests that the Applicant(s) review all claims for any such similar issues.
Appropriate correction is required.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the feature in the SPEC and claims must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Based on Applicant’s argument, Examiner further find out the elected Fig 1-3 are unclear and/or some portion of the image on the display are unclear as well. Examiner request Applicant to provide a clear drawings in the next response.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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 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 –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2, 4-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and/or (a)(2) as being anticipated by MATSUMOTO (US 20150009128).
With regard claim 1, MATSUMOTO discloses A foldable device (abstract, see also fig 1-10) comprising: a center portion; a left portion rotatably coupled to the center portion; a right portion rotatably coupled to the center portion (at least fig 3, fig 7, a left portion rotatably coupled to the center portion; a right portion rotatably coupled to the center portion), wherein the center portion, the left portion, and the right portion are rigid (at least fig 3, fig 7); a flexible display screen that traverses a first side of the center portion (at least fig 3, fig 7; paragraph [74]-[79]), a second side of the left portion, and a third side of the right portion (at least fig 3, fig 7; paragraph [74]-[79]), wherein the flexible display screen comprises a center display screen portion that traverses the center portion, a left display screen portion that traverses the left portion, and a right display screen portion that traverses the right portion (at least fig 3, fig 7; paragraph [74]-[79]); and wherein the first side of the center portion is an outward-facing side of the center portion (see fig 1, fig 3, fig 4, paragraph [131]-[136], [141]-[149], [156]-[158], [93]-[99], [243]), the second side of the left portion is an outward-facing side of the left portion when the foldable device is in a second orientation (see fig 1, fig 3, fig 4, fig 5, paragraph [131]-[136], [141]-[149], [156]-[158], [93]-[99], [243]), and the third side of the right portion is an outward-facing side of the right portion when the foldable device is in the second orientation (see fig 1, fig 3, fig 4-5, paragraph [131]-[136], [141]-[149], [156]-[158], [93]-[99], [243]);
one or more processors (at least fig 1; paragraph [08]-[18]); and one or more machine-readable media storing instructions that (at least fig 3, fig 7; paragraph [74]-[79]); one or more processors (at least fig 1; paragraph [08]-[18]), when executed by the one or more processors, cause the foldable device to: display a first version of a graphical user interface across the center display screen portion and the right display screen portion when the foldable device is in a first orientation (paragraph [84]-[89], [93-102], [103-111], [124-128]); and display a second version of the graphical user interface across the left display screen portion, the center display screen portion, and the right display screen portion when the foldable device is in a second orientation (paragraph [84]-[89] , [93-102], [103-111], [124-128]);
wherein in the first orientation of the foldable device, the left portion is folded relative to the center portion (at least fig 2, paragraph [84]-[89] , [93-102], [103-111], [124-128]), the right portion is unfolded relative to the center portion (see fig 1, fig 3, fig 4, fig 5, paragraph [131]-[136], [141]-[149], [156]-[158], [93]-[99], [243]), the center display screen portion and the right display screen portion are enabled , and the left display screen portion is disabled (at least fig 2, paragraph [84]-[89] , [93-102], [103-111], [124-128]);
wherein in the second orientation of the foldable device, the left portion and the right portion are unfolded relative to the center portion and the left display screen portion (at least fig 2, fig 3, fig 7, paragraph [84]-[89] , [93-102], [103-111], [124-128]), the right display screen portion, and the center display screen portion are enabled (at least fig 2, paragraph [84]-[89] , [93-102], [103-111], [124-128]).
Regarding claim 2, MATSUMOTO further disclosed the foldable device is a tablet computer (at least fig 1-10).
Regarding claim 4, MATSUMOTO further disclosed one or more sensors configured to detect whether the left portion and the right portion are folded or unfolded relative to the center portion (at least fig 2-3, paragraph [67]-[75] , [93-102], [103-111], [124-128]), wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors are to further cause the foldable device to: display the first version of the graphical user interface in response to the one or more sensors detecting that the left portion are folded relative to the center portion and the right portion is unfolded relative to the center portion (at least fig 2-3, fig 4-5, paragraph [67]-[75] , [93-102], [103-111], [124-128]); and display the second version of the graphical user interface in response to the one or more sensors detecting that the left portion and the right portion are unfolded relative to the center portion (at least fig 2-3, paragraph [67]-[75] , [93-102], [103-111], [124-128]).
Regarding claim 5, MATSUMOTO further disclosed the flexible display screen comprises a touchscreen (paragraph [195]-[207] , [93-102], [103-111], [124-128]).
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 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 of this title, 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 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MATSUMOTO (US 20150009128) in view of further in view of Kummer (US 20120280924; supporting material for Examiner’s Official Notice (EON)).
Regarding claim 3, The primary art and/or the modified structure discussed in the preceding claim disclosed all the subject matter except for the foldable device is a mobile phone.
However, Kummer teaches that the portable device comprise communication and/or a mobile phone (fig 1-9).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to include this feature (the device is a mobile phone) and modify to previous discussed structure (with communication feature). The motivation to modify the previous discussed structure with the above feature is to further provide more feature for the modified structure and/or provide phone function.
Examiner’s note:
Examiner has been communicated with Applicant and tried to expedite this applicant including providing proposed amendments (3/6/24). Examiner suggest Applicant to emphasis the efficient way to move this case forward.
In the response filed on 7/10/25, Applicant further added new claims with software design (non-elected for the apparatus application) and argued about the EON. These are not the efficient ways to move the case forward.
In this office action, Examiner would like to invite Applicant to read the SPEC:
[0001] Smart phones, tablet computers, wearables, and other mobile computing devices have become very popular, even supplanting larger, more general purpose computing devices, such as traditional desktop computers in recent years. Increasingly, tasks traditionally performed on a general purpose computer are performed using mobile computing devices with smaller form factors and more constrained features sets and operating systems. Mobile computing devices include handheld computing devices that communicate over high speed wireless networks. Such mobile computing devices include smartphones, personal digital assistants, and media players with varying form factors. Larger mobile computing devices, such as tablet computers, are also available, offering larger display screens, memory, and battery life in some cases. Intermediate-size devices are also being offered, including large form factor smartphones affectionately known as "phablets" for falling between smartphones and tablet computers in size.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
With respect to the Applicants’ remarks that, “Application at least by FIGS. 2B, 5A, and 5B (reproduced and annotated below). (See MPEP § 2163, citing Vas-Cath 935 F.2d 155 (Fed Cir. 1991) ("drawings alone may provide a 'written description of an invention as required by § 112")). FIGS. 2B, 5A, and 5B further provide support for "wherein the first side of the center portion is an outward-facing side of the center portion, the second side of the left portion is an outward-facing side of the left portion when the foldable device is in a second orientation, and the third side of the right portion is an outward- facing side of the right portion when the foldable device is in the second orientation" as recited in amended independent claim 1.” (pages 9-13).
Examiner’s Answer: the Examiner respectfully disagrees and notes that
cited figures are non-elected embodiments.
Even the cited figures and labels are not supported by the SPEC.
See above claim objections for details.
With respect to the Applicants’ remarks that, “Applicant respectfully reminds the Examiner that a claim is anticipated only if each element as set forth in the claim is either found, expressly or inherently described, in a single prior art reference. MPEP § 2131. In addition, "[t]he identical invention must be shown in as complete detail as is contained in the . . . claims" and "[t]he elements must be arranged as required by the claim." Id With regard to the inherency of a reference, "[t]he fact that a certain result or characteristic nm occur or be present in the prior art is not sufficient to establish the inherency of that result or characteristic."Id. Thus, in relying upon the theory of inherency, an Examiner must provide a basis in fact and/or technical reasoning to support the determination that the allegedly inherent characteristic necessarily flows from the teachings of the applied prior art. Id.” (pages 14 to the end).
Examiner’s Answer: the Examiner respectfully disagrees and notes that:
MATSUMOTO discloses A foldable device (abstract, see also fig 1-10) comprising: a center portion; a left portion rotatably coupled to the center portion; a right portion rotatably coupled to the center portion (at least fig 3, fig 7, a left portion rotatably coupled to the center portion; a right portion rotatably coupled to the center portion), wherein the center portion, the left portion, and the right portion are rigid (at least fig 3, fig 7); a flexible display screen that traverses a first side of the center portion (at least fig 3, fig 7; paragraph [74]-[79]), a second side of the left portion, and a third side of the right portion (at least fig 3, fig 7; paragraph [74]-[79]), wherein the flexible display screen comprises a center display screen portion that traverses the center portion, a left display screen portion that traverses the left portion, and a right display screen portion that traverses the right portion (at least fig 3, fig 7; paragraph [74]-[79]); and wherein the first side of the center portion is an outward-facing side of the center portion (see fig 1, fig 3, fig 4, paragraph [131]-[136], [141]-[149], [156]-[158], [93]-[99], [243]), the second side of the left portion is an outward-facing side of the left portion when the foldable device is in a second orientation (see fig 1, fig 3, fig 4, fig 5, paragraph [131]-[136], [141]-[149], [156]-[158], [93]-[99], [243]), and the third side of the right portion is an outward-facing side of the right portion when the foldable device is in the second orientation (see fig 1, fig 3, fig 4-5, paragraph [131]-[136], [141]-[149], [156]-[158], [93]-[99], [243]);
one or more processors (at least fig 1; paragraph [08]-[18]); and one or more machine-readable media storing instructions that (at least fig 3, fig 7; paragraph [74]-[79]); one or more processors (at least fig 1; paragraph [08]-[18]), when executed by the one or more processors, cause the foldable device to: display a first version of a graphical user interface across the center display screen portion and the right display screen portion when the foldable device is in a first orientation (paragraph [84]-[89], [93-102], [103-111], [124-128]); and display a second version of the graphical user interface across the left display screen portion, the center display screen portion, and the right display screen portion when the foldable device is in a second orientation (paragraph [84]-[89] , [93-102], [103-111], [124-128]);
wherein in the first orientation of the foldable device, the left portion is folded relative to the center portion (at least fig 2, paragraph [84]-[89] , [93-102], [103-111], [124-128]), the right portion is unfolded relative to the center portion (see fig 1, fig 3, fig 4, fig 5, paragraph [131]-[136], [141]-[149], [156]-[158], [93]-[99], [243]), the center display screen portion and the right display screen portion are enabled , and the left display screen portion is disabled (at least fig 2, paragraph [84]-[89] , [93-102], [103-111], [124-128]);
wherein in the second orientation of the foldable device, the left portion and the right portion are unfolded relative to the center portion and the left display screen portion (at least fig 2, fig 3, fig 7, paragraph [84]-[89] , [93-102], [103-111], [124-128]), the right display screen portion, and the center display screen portion are enabled (at least fig 2, paragraph [84]-[89] , [93-102], [103-111], [124-128])
Conclusion: cited arts successfully disclosed all the claimed limitations.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JERRY WU whose telephone number is (571)270-5420. The examiner can normally be reached on PHP: M-Th: 8:30-12:30; 2:30-8:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Imani Hayman can be reached on 571.270.5528. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JERRY WU/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841